Welcome to the Landlord Law Newsround, let’s see what has been trending in the news this week.  Our first headline is on the Renters Reform Bill….or lack of!

More delays to the Renters Reform Bill

The much anticipated Renters Reform Bill that was due to be published this week has been delayed yet again.

The Mirror newspaper has reported that ‘procedural issues’ is what is causing the delay. This very long anticipated bill has been promised since 2019 when the abolishing of Section 21 was first announced.

Renters were told they would get ‘a better deal’ from Boris’ government. Since then there have been six different housing ministers added into the mix causing delays in getting the bill before parliament.

Shadow housing secretary, Lisa Nandy warns

Our message to the government is clear, do not backtrack on the promises you have made, do not drop any commitments, do not roll over to your backbenchers again.

Labour promises to bring in its own reform charter, she says, if they get into power:

We will tilt the balance of power with powerful new rights and protections for tenants, including longer notice periods, a ban on no-fault evictions and the right to make changes to your home.

Nandy also heavily criticises the Conservatives for not building enough homes and the dilution of the existing draft legislation.

When the Renters Reform Bill is finally published, it will have been four years since the government first announced its proposals.

Oli Sherlock, director of Goodlord says

This Bill has been kicked along the road too many times to count and further delays are feeding uncertainty in a private rented sector that desperately needs stability and a long-term vision. We hope this delay in publishing means within the next week – rather than months.

Furthermore, the NRLA has chipped in as well.

18 months for the Renters Reform Bill to take effect

The NRLA have announced this week that even once the Renters Reform Bill has been given to parliament it could still take another 18 months or more for it to become law. The danger here is that by that time we could be close to the next General Election (or it could even have taken place with a new government elected).

The whole process has to go through various reading stages, going through the Commons, the Lords and finally Royal Assent. The NRLA says

Since the Renters’ Reform Bill is likely to contain a considerable number of changes to current legislation, it is unlikely – though possible – that it will reach Committee Stage before Summer Recess, with Royal Assent and implementation more likely to be in the latter part of this year or early next.

Even once Royal Assent is granted, it is likely to be at least eighteen months before ongoing tenancies are required to move onto the new regime.

So it looks like we still have a long way to go.

Sub-standard housing for the vulnerable

The National Audit Office has claimed that too many Landlords are profiting from letting out sub standard housing to some of the most vulnerable people.

Gaps in regulation allow this to happen they claim.  There are an estimated 650,000 supported homes in Great Britain which are also meant to provide supervision and care for those who need it most.

But this is proving to be a loop hole as it is exempt from normal limits on housing benefits so unscrupulous landlords can charge higher rents.

The National Audit says

Some areas, such as Birmingham, have seen increasing numbers of landlords who circumvent the regulations, enabling them to profit by providing costly sub-standard housing with little or no support, supervision or care.

Between April 2019 and September 2021, Birmingham City Council recovered £3.6m fraudulent overpayments to supported housing landlords. The government is being called upon to support councils to fix this problem which is caused by the gaps in regulation.

A government spokesperson said

We are investing £20m over the next two years to improve the quality of supported housing and better protect the most vulnerable people in society. The supported housing (regulatory oversight) bill will raise standards in supported accommodation and stop rogue landlords from exploiting the system. We have also commissioned research to provide an up-to-date understanding of the supported housing sector.

Ditch the ‘landlords are bad’ attitude

A new report out by Cambridge University Land Society has told the government that they must stop thinking that private landlords are bad and social housing and owning your home is good. If their mindset was changed then it could solve the rental stock and costs crisis. They need to incentivise.

They say

Homes rented privately are no less valuable or important than owner occupied or social homes, but they are typically less well capitalised even before the need to retrofit and yet only sticks are used to incentivise action – no carrots – because this tenure is positioned as worse.

They go on to suggest that property owners who provide long-term tenancies should be offered discounted mortgages and tax breaks. They also encourage a move away from the terms ‘landlord’ ‘tenant and use ‘property owner’ and ‘resident instead.

Some interesting points there, be interesting to see if any of it is taken onboard by the government.

EPC changes now forcing landlords to sell

Never far from the headlines is the impending EPC changes due to rental properties.  And there are some very interesting and startling figures out. Over 65,000 rental properties are now up for sale in the first three months of this year with 36,460 of them having EPC rating of D or lower.

Landlords need their properties to be at a rating of ‘C’ by 2028 or face heavy fines. Shockingly only 0.2% of landlords would qualify for government funding, according to David Hannah, group chairman of Cornerstone Tax. He says

I believe getting all rental properties to a standard EPC rating of C will be far too costly for landlords, and as a result, there must be more government funding. We are currently experiencing a huge demand for rental stock at a time when there is worrying undersupply, and I fear this will only worsen as more landlords look to sell. I advise landlords to work out how much it will cost them to make these changes and offset the time it will take for their investment to pay off.

The government needs to step in.

Snippets

Manchester rolls out next wave of selective licensing schemes
Education job needed for tenants to make link between cold and mould
Section 24 petition falls far short of signature target
Activists want more anti-landlord measures even before Bill is published
MPs make millions as private landlords – claim
HMO prosecution is warning to landlords, says council

Newsround will be back next week.

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