A raft of reforms for families living in private rented homes are on the cards, including changes that mean landlords can no longer refuse to allow pets, children or benefits claimants to live in their properties.
But there will also be more rights for landlords to enable them to repossess their properties more easily if tenants miss paying their rent or act anti-socially under the The Renters' Reform Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament today, May 17.
Described as a "once in a generation overhaul", the Bill will also mean that private renters will be able to take complaints to a new ombudsman for resolving low-level disputes between landlords and tenants, which will prevent tenants having to go through the court system.
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The Bill is designed to better protect the 11m tenants in private rented accommodation across England from poor landlord practice and local fair housing campaigners ACORN said the Bill would give renters the confidence to stand up for their rights to security and safety in their homes - as long as it was watertight.
The Bill has been promised by the Government since 2019 and still needs to be passed through Parliament before it can become law. Although this can be a lengthy process, the Government has said it plans to introduce the new measures "at the earliest opportunity", although some measures of the Bill will take longer than others.
Here are the main changes on the cards:
Ban on no-fault evictions
Currently, landlords can evict tenants whose fixed-term contract has ended for no reason by issuing a Section 21 notice, which givens the tenant two months to leave their home. This has been abused by some landlords, who use this notice to break rental contracts so they can bring in new tenants paying higher rent. This new Bill will stop this and a tenancy will only end if a tenant ends it themselves or a landlord has a valid reason to do so.
Tenants get more rights to keep pets
Tenants will have the legal right to request to keep a pet in their home, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. If they do then the tenant can challenge the decision. However, landlords will be entitled to require pet insurance to cover any damage to their property.
New ombudsman to resolve disputes
All private landlords who rent out properties will be required to join an ombudsman scheme, which will ensure disputes are settled quickly, at a low cost, and without going to court. The new ombudsman will have powers to put things right, including making landlords apologise, provide information, take remedial action and/or pay compensation of up to £25,000. All landlords will have to join this scheme and if they don't they will face enforcement action.
New property portal
A new online portal will be introduced and will provide rental information for both tenants and landlords. This portal will also give tenants performance information to hold their landlord to account, and help councils crack down on poor practice. It will also help landlords understand their legal obligations.
Bans for tenants on benefits or with children to be made illegal
Under the new rules, discrimination against potential tenants who have children or who claim benefits will no longer be allowed. Currently, some letting agents and landlords will not take either of these groups on, so they can often find it difficult to find a private rental home. The new rules will make adverts stating "no DSS" illegal.
Greater enforcement powers
Councils will be given more powers to crack down on criminal landlords as they will be required to report on enforcement activity.
Introduce the "Decent Homes Standard" in the private sector
The Decent Homes Standard' currently only applies to social housing but the new Bill extends this, meaning that privately rented homes must, among other things, be free from health and safety hazards, fall and fire risks, and carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as ensuring they don't fall into disrepair.
Easier to repossess property not paying rent or bad behaviour
The Bill will make it easier for landlords to recover properties when they need to, by "broadening" the disruptive and harmful activities that can lead to eviction and make it quicker to evict a tenant acting anti-socially. Notice periods will also be shortened for tenants who break their tenancy agreement such as missing repeated rent payments or causing severe damage to the property. The Bill will also introduce new repossession rights for landlords who want to sell their property or want to move themselves or family members into it.
Increase in rent notice periods and ending the use of rent review clauses
Notice periods for rent increases will be doubled from one month to two months and tenants will also be able to challenge landlords if they deem a rise is unjustified. Rent review clauses in contracts which mean the rent can be increased will be abolished. Tribunals will also be restricted from hiking up rent and tenants will be repaid rent if found to have lived in a home that doesn't meet certain standards.
Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com said: "We have long needed a statutory single private rental ombudsman, so I'm pleased to see it in the legislative plans. After all, disputes are often between two individuals - landlord and tenant - rather than companies, so it can be very personal and difficult to sort. Crucially, it won't be voluntary; all private landlords will be required to join the ombudsman and it will have the legal authority to compel apologies, take remedial action and pay compensation."
Andrew Cummings, the chair of ACORN Newcastle, part of a UK-wide network of low-income people campaigning for fairer housing, said: "Private renters have gone without legal protections and have been left at the mercy of their landlords for too long. In our city we’ve seen countless examples of families being evicted with only two months notice for no fair reason. The fear of being evicted as revenge for complaining has stopped people from challenging unhealthy conditions in their homes.
"Only recently we saw our member being forced to leave their home after they challenged their landlord about the state of their property. After months of living with fly infestations, which came from dead pigeons in the cavities of their walls, they had enough and complained. Rather than give them the safe home they were paying for, their London based landlord chose to serve them a no fault eviction notice and they had no choice but to leave. We know that stress is often dealt with down the line by our mental health services, housing advice centres and the NHS, so we all pay for the price for evictions in the end.
"This Bill has the potential to have a massively improvement in the lives of millions of private renters across the country but we need tough rules to make sure landlords do not evict tenants by claiming they want to move in themselves or sell their house, only to put it back on the market again as we’ve seen in Scotland.
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"ACORN will still be campaigning to make sure there are no loopholes for dodgy landlords to exploit and we will also be campaigning for a cap on rent increases during a tenancy so landlords don’t hike up the rent to force tenants out after asking for repairs. We need tough rules to make sure landlords do not evict tenants by claiming they want to move in themselves or sell their house, only to put it back on the market again as we’ve seen in Scotland. The Bill gives renters the confidence to stand up for our rights to security and safety in the homes we are paying for. But, it needs to be watertight."
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