The Renters Rights Bill will be back in the House of Lords on October 14 for its final stages before Royal Assent.
It had been thought that the Bill would become law before Labour’s annual conference at the end of this month, but it is thought that with the resignation of former Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, this became a less significant deadline.
Instead, the government has announced that it’s delayed the Bill’s return to the Lords until the end of the main party conference season when it will go through the ‘ping pong’ process whereby any of the rejected amendments can be modified and then resubmitted. The government is widely expected to reject any significant amendment.
The Lomond lettings and estate agency group has issued a series of ‘what you must know’ statements for agents and landlords.
1. The Bill is still going ahead and will soon become law: The Bill is structured so that most reforms will come into force immediately such as abolition of S21, introduction of new possession grounds, end of fixed term tenancies and rent-in-advance restrictions – whilst the landlord database and potentially the Ombudsman requirement will follow later, after a transition period to allow the sector to adjust and infrastructure to be put in place.
2. No requirement for separate pet deposit: One of the suggested changes would have let landlords request a separate pet deposit of up to three weeks’ rent, on top of the usual deposit cap, but that idea was turned down. However, the government has already said the current five-week limit already covers potential damage, and adding more would make things harder for tenants financially.
3. No requirement for pet insurance: Requiring tenants take out pet insurance was also rejected, with Government noting that the insurance industry is not yet ready to offer suitable products at scale. Whilst pet owners can take pet insurance out if they wish, it won’t be something landlords can enforce.
4. No change to the 12-month re-letting restriction after a failed sale: Another change that didn’t make it through was a plan to shorten the timeframe a landlord has to wait before re-letting a property after asking a tenant to leave in order to sell. The House of Lords suggested reducing it from 12 months to six, but this was also rejected. The government asserted the full year is important to stop landlords from abusing the grounds of repossession.
5. No extension of student possession grounds to smaller properties: Allowing landlords to use the student housing ground for possession for smaller properties, like one- or two-bedroom flats and not just HMO’s, was also rejected. The Government said that the current rules already strike a fair balance and help protect students who don’t fit the typical mould, like postgrads and students with dependents.
