Renters Reform Bill Explained

For those of you unaware of the Renters (Reform) Bill, this was introduced as part of the Government’s Levelling Up Housing and Communities programme and centres around changing the law about rented homes, including provision to abolish fixed term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies; imposing obligations on landlords and others in relation to rented homes and temporary and supported accommodation; and for connected purposes.  You can read more about this here.

For those of you who are concerned about the Bill, and the impact of these changes, we wanted to offer some reassurances by addressing a few key points..

Firstly, just to make it clear, this Bill isn’t yet in place.  It is currently nearing the end of the first of a three-stage process.  This process means it must pass through the House of Commons, the House of Lords (a further 5 stage process) and then pass through the Final stage - so it is early days.  The details of the first read have been made available and understandably there are concerns around the potential changes to come; but we wanted to cover a few key points to offer some reassurance.  

The ending of Section 21 Notices and the use of Section 8 Notices. 

• If you want to regain possession of your property because you want to move back in, sell or have family who are going to move in – this will still be possible.    
• Section 8s have always been around, the reason for the possession will most likely fall within Section 8 grounds – so little will change, and the law has been strengthened.  
• There will be no fixed term on the tenancy, so you get more flexibility on when a Section 8 can be served.  

The move to Periodic Assured Tenancies.
This will give tenants and landlords more flexibility around giving notice and invariably tenants stay for longer than the initial contract length, so not much will change.  
There will be more time to plan for tenants moving in, which could mean fewer void periods.  

Changes to how rents can be increased. 
You don’t need to wait for the renewal period to increase rents – this can now be done once a year.   Rents will need to increase in-line with market rates.  According to a recent Goodlord report, “Greater London and the South East saw the biggest rise in average prices. The capital saw an upward swing of +8%, with the South East recording the highest rise, with rents up by +14%”.

This information is intended to be a guide, and not used for legal purposes. Please do contact us to discuss any of these in depth.  White & Sons Lettings Team.  

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash