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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Government confirms rental reform to be pushed through this year

The government has confirmed that reform of the private rental sector will be a priority for the coming session of Parliament.

A brief reference to the commitment was made this morning by the Queen when she opened the latest Parliamentary session. Her Majesty said that her government would help more people to own their own home while “enhancing the rights of those who rent."

Although the Renters Reform Bill was not mentioned by name, it has been suggested in advance by the government that this Bill will be the vehicle for reform. 

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A government White Paper is expected in the autumn ahead of formal legislation starting its route through Parliament.

The Bill is expected to abolish Section 21 eviction powers for landlords and agents, but to strengthen the Section 8 eviction process. It will also introduce the concept of 'lifetime deposits', allowing deposit payments made in relation to one property to be converted to another; the aim of this is to speed up and reduce the cost of moving rental properties for tenants.

The Queen also said ministers would establish a new Building Safety Regulator to ensure “the tragedies of the past are never repeated” - a reference to the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The concept of the Renters Reform Bill first appeared in the 2019 Conservative General Election manifesto 18 months ago; it was also included in the Queen’s Speech in late 2019, with the pledge it would be included in the legislative programme for 2020. However, the government has said its timetable was delayed by the pandemic.

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    Section 8 will be strengthened? It's mooted to include a fast track possession procedure to get rid of bad Tenants. So effectively a Section 21 in disguise with the bonus for Landlords of Tenant debt inclusion in their proceedings?
    When will the penny drop that Landlords want to keep good Tenants (unless they just want to sell - which they will still do in the future, and Section 8 will include possession provision for too).
    In reality as most in the industry know only too well...'no fault' evictions are the Landlord giving bad Tenants an easy way out, simply because it's quicker and more cost effective.
    One thing's for sure - the abolition of Section 21 will mean more bad Tenants are sued and less likely to get away with debt, damage and anti-social behaviour scot free! Not a bad result for Landlords really.

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    • 11 May 2021 14:28 PM

    I truly hope you are right in those assumprions.

     
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    • JH
    • 12 May 2021 11:18 AM

    Even in more socialist European countries such as Sweden there are much more effective possession mechanisms than our equivalent Section 8, but usually no-fault Section 21 type options just don't exist.
    For any professional landlord who treats this as a long-term business surely that makes much more sense.
    Since Section 21 was created we have had a crazy situation - you can kick out any tenant, including a perfect one if you are will wait 2-8 months but possession is never quicker than that: even if the tenant is a monster.
    In 20 years as a letting agent and landlord I have never used Section 8 for possession, because it simply doesn't work. Our policy has been to keep fixed terms short with Section 21 as our main weapon against bad tenants. I would much prefer a fairer system that would give good tenants more security and keep bad tenants on their toes.

     
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    This is an old post/comment - but stil relevant in its content:-

    The NRLA now seemed to recognise and support S21 for student rentals

    SECTION 21 IS VITAL FOR SHARED HMO'S

    Having met my local MP at his surgery I'd encourage all Landlords to do the same - voice your concerns and impact over scrapping section 21!!

    The student and young professional shared HMO rental market needs fixed term tenancies and the vehicle of section 21 to accommodate this, plus give sufficient swift support to deal with antisocial behaviour and other matters if occurring in a HMO. Otherwise the other decent tenants would be continued to be affected and ultimately their safe enjoyment compromised by their antisocial housemate, leading to all sort of other issues.

    Fixed term tenancies and the great benefit they bring to all parties in shared HMO are too long to list here, but fundamentally provide good quality accommodation to young professionals at a competitive price point, allowing them to save and getting on the property ladder themselves.

    S21 is vital for safe and professional management of shared HMO's. Without this a problematic tenant will be able to cause total havoc and destress to their fellow housemates. A lot of anti-social behaviour by problematic tenants would be very difficult to prove in court and it is not fair to the decent housemates that the landlord will not able to deal with matter fairly and swiftly.

    The government need look at the very different rental demographic, all across the UK and not as they have done with the tenant fee ban, role out "one size fits all" changes.

    The proposed changes will again have a detrimental effect on decent tenants in fairly managed shared HMO's and completely go against the governments goal of providing good quality shared and safe rental accommodation as a fair price!

    The recent S21 consultation completely ignored the HMO shared rental sub market and the Ministry of Housing actually advised that it was more targeted at "single household rentals" and HMO shared rental Landlords would be best to use the "other" box to feed back their response.

    In the following government document, there were an estimated 497,000 HMOs in England and Wales at the end of March 2018.

    How is it possible that so many HMO have not been recognised, or their landlords even encouraged to reply to the consultation?

    This is fundamentally a flawed consultation and strongly suspect that the HMO shared rental students and young professional market will not be excluded from the abolition of S21.

    The Ministry of Housing Confirmed the process would be:-

    1) 12 week consultation
    2) Info analyses and report written to government
    3) Government would decide if to raise a bill
    4) As primary legislation, would require a vote my MP's in parliament.

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    So a CINO government wants to “enhancing the rights of those who rent." Nothing about enhancing the rights of landlords. As I said, Conservative IN NAME ONLY.

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    • JH
    • 12 May 2021 11:10 AM

    Don't be Fedup! Rents are up, house values are up - things are good.
    If we have good properties in good areas and offer a good service none of this hurts too much.
    I have no idea how landlords cope in areas with low tenant demand, and high unemployment but (assuming it is properly improved) Section 8 possession claims are a much better way than Section 21 for dealing with rent arrears and anti-social behaviour.
    Let's be professional about it - the vast majority of tenants are good, honest people who want to feel secure in their home. What is more Conservative than that?

     
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    @ JH, I have a unicorn in my back garden. Would you like it?

    It must be great living in your world. I still say this government is CINO, but I will not respond to your future comments, I have more important things to do.

     
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    • JH
    • 12 May 2021 11:24 AM

    Fair enough, but let's be honest about how good this industry has been to us.
    There are far more tenants than landlords, a government of any colour has to accept that.
    New rules that give good tenants security in their home, and provide new ways to evict bad tenants are surely a no-brainer. That is solid conservative ideology.

     
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