“In the pantheon of destructive, counterproductive laws”, the new Renters' Rights Act “must be up there with the worst”, said Tim Briggs on CapX. The legislation, which came into force last Friday, has been sold by Labour as a “moral crusade” that will drive rogue landlords out of England's private rental sector, protecting tenants from abuse.
It abolishes Section 21 “no-fault” evictions, whereby landlords can evict tenants without giving a reason. Instead, they must rely on specific legal grounds – rent arrears, antisocial behaviour, an upcoming sale – to regain possession, which will mean “more lawyers” and more litigation; those who wish to sell must give four months' notice. Fixed-term tenancies have been abolished, replaced instead with rolling contracts with no end date. Rent increases are limited to once per year; these can be appealed at tribunal.
Together, the measures represent “a regulatory avalanche” – sending a clear message to small landlords: get out. “Fewer landlords mean fewer rental homes. And fewer rental homes mean higher rents.”
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I'm a landlord, and I welcome the new law, said Rebecca Tidy in The Independent. If your business depends for its profitability on no-fault evictions, “it's safe to say that the sector – and society – is better off without it”. Up until now, renting a property has been a “terrifying lucky dip where you have no idea what kind of landlord you will get”. I've heard “endless stories” of people booted out of their homes in favour of more lucrative tenants, or for complaining about black mould that is affecting their children's health. This legislation will end all that.
It's hard to overestimate how draconian “no-fault” evictions are, agreed Oliver Edwards on Inside Housing – and how precarious they make renters' lives. As a housing lawyer in Manchester, I see cases like this all the time. My recent clients have included a family of seven, with older parents and a severely disabled adult son; and a single mother with an autistic son who had “finally settled into school”. They've all been moved on, with just a few weeks' notice.
Many in the industry think that the Renter's Rights Act will force out rogue landlords and improve standards, said Emily Braeger in The i Paper. But it will also become more difficult for landlords to evict problem tenants, and the burden of compliance may become too much for many of them. Research by the lender Pepper Money suggests that there will be 220,000 fewer homes to rent in England by the end of the year. The long-term impacts of the legislation will not become clear for years, but this is certainly the most significant reform to the sector since the Thatcher era.
