An estate agent has warned landlords will stop renting out properties thanks to Labour‘s no-fault eviction ban, claiming some have already started raising rents in preparation for the Bill.
The new legislation, hailed by many as a solution to some of the nightmarish problems plaguing renters, comes into force today.
From bidding wars to rent hikes and evictions after living with mould, renters have faced a wide range of stressful living situations over the years.
But The Renters’ Rights Bill is meant to ensure greater security for renters by creating a ‘level playing field between tenants and landlords’, the Government said.
It will ban section 21 evictions for both new and existing tenancies, and extend Awaab’s Law – named after the toddler who died after exposure to mould in his family’s social rented home – to the private sector to ensure all landlords speedily address hazards and make homes safe.
But an estate agent has warned landlords are sneakily skirting the bill and have been preparing for it over the last 12 months so they can have ‘control’.
Alan Jones, managing director of Curlett Jones Estates warned landlords are sneakily skirting the bill and have been preparing for it over the last 12 months so they can have ‘control’
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said ‘renters have been let down for too long’
Keir Starmer’s government said The Renters’ Rights Bill is meant to ensure greater security
Alan Jones, managing director of Curlett Jones Estates, told Good Morning Britain: ‘My main concern is in relation to the abolishing of the no-fault eviction.
‘We need the government to put in infrastructure for all of these changes.
‘Over the last 12 months, we’ve already seen a huge influx of our landlords who are issuing no fault evictions in readiness for this bill coming through so they can regain control.
‘This has then cause a massive decrease in properties and increase in rents.’
Research by charity Shelter found that 26,000 households have been thrown out through the process of no fault evictions since 2019.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will ban rent increases being written into contracts to prevent mid-tenancy hikes, leaving landlords only able to raise rent once a year at the market rate.
But landlords – aware that this Bill may restrict them – have taken steps over the past year by throwing out their tenants so they can sell their properties.
Some anticipated the clause restricting rent hikes by rushing to raise their tenants’ rents before the Bill came into force.
Michael Gove, the previous Conservative Housing Secretary, had championed similar flagship reforms as key to fulfilling the party’s 2019 manifesto promise to outlaw no fault evictions
The previous government pledged to end section 21 evictions, which allow landlords to evict tenants with two months’ notice without providing a reason, but concern about its impact on landlords and the courts was set to lead to a delay in implementation.
The Conservatives’ Renters (Reform) Bill then ran out of time to progress through Parliament before the election.
A Decent Homes Standard will be applied to the private rented sector for the first time, with the Government highlighting that 21 per cent of privately rented homes are currently classified as ‘non-decent’ and more than 500,000 contain the most serious hazards.
The Government said good landlords ‘will benefit from clear regulation’ which ‘will eliminate unfair competition from those who, for far too long, have got away with renting out substandard properties to tenants’.
Also included in the reforms is a legal requirement for Landlords and letting agents to publish the required rent for a property in a crackdown on the practice of forcing potential tenants into a bidding process.
Landlords and agents will be banned from ‘asking for, encouraging, or accepting any bids’ above the publicly stated price.
Labour MP Jas Athwal apologised after allegedly letting out flats with issues including black mould, broken lights, and even an ant infestation
Picture of the black mould on the ceiling of one of his properties
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: ‘Renters have been let down for too long and too many are stuck in disgraceful conditions, powerless to act because of the threat of a retaliatory eviction hanging over them.
‘Most landlords act in a responsible way but a small number of unscrupulous ones are tarnishing the reputation of the whole sector by making the most of the housing crisis and forcing tenants into bidding wars.
‘There can be no more dither and delay. We must overhaul renting and rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord. This Bill will do just that and tenants can be reassured this Government will protect them.’
A new private rented sector database will also be created to clarify landlords’ obligations, enable tenants to make informed choices and improve councils’ enforcement.
Responding to the Bills publication, Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, said Section 21 ‘has haunted England’s renters for years’ and ’11 million of them will breathe a sigh of relief when these unjust evictions are finally consigned to the history books’.
She added: ‘The Renters’ Rights Bill must be a fresh start to fix private renting. With notice periods so short and more than 60,000 renters forced out of their homes by rent hikes in the past year alone, renters will expect bold action to deliver the security they’ve long been promised – no ifs, no buts.
Jas Athwal poses with Sadiq Khan and Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
‘If the Government is serious about making renting genuinely safer, secure, and more affordable, the Bill must guarantee renters greater protection. Renters need to know they won’t be booted out of their homes by eye-watering rent hikes and the discriminatory practices that push so many into homelessness must be stamped out.’
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said landlords and renters need certainty and reforms must be fair to both.
He added the end of Section 21 evictions ‘represents the biggest change to the sector for over 30 years’ and ‘sufficient time’ will be needed for the sector to prepare.
Mr Beadle said: ‘Over 4.5 million households will need tenancy agreements updating, letting agent staff and landlords will need to undertake training and insurance and mortgage providers will need to adjust policies and rates.
‘None of this will happen overnight and the Government needs to publish guidance.
‘In addition, ending Section 21 will leave the courts needing to hear possession claims where landlords have a legitimate reason.
‘The cross-party Housing Select Committee has warned that without reforms to ensure the courts process cases much more swiftly, they risk becoming overwhelmed. This will not serve the interests of tenants or landlords seeking justice.’
Landlords – aware that this Bill may restrict them – have taken steps over the past year by throwing out their tenants so they can sell their properties
He added that the NRLA supports measures to ensure every rental home is of a decent standard, but warned the changes need to be back up by ‘robust’ enforcement by councils.
But the CEO of Octane Capital Jonathan Samuels has issued a warning to the new Labour government, highlighting that a continued attack on the nation’s buy-to-let landlords could push the current rental crisis beyond repair.
Octane Capital commissioned a survey of UK landlords and 30 per cent stated that they plan to reduce their portfolio size because of a reduction in profit.
CEO of Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, commented: ‘It seems that our new Labour government is picking up where its predecessors left off within the rental market landscape, driving legislative changes designed to deter landlords from the sector.
‘It’s quite worrying to see that such a large proportion have reduced their portfolio size over the last year, with more planning to do so should the proposed changes to capital gains tax come to fruition.
‘A tenant-first approach is all well and good but the key factor driving the current rental crisis is the lack of available stock and by further penalising landlords, Labour are set to push the current crisis to breaking point.
‘Raising rental market standards is an admirable endeavour, but without the homes themselves, rental prices will continue to spiral and it’s tenants that will pay the price, either financially or otherwise.’
A Conservative spokesperson said: ‘Conservatives believe in ensuring choice and freedom, whatever home they live in.
‘But new regulation must be necessary and proportionate.
‘Otherwise, as it has in Scotland, badly drafted laws will cut supply, forcing up rents and reducing choice for renters.
‘We await to see the details of Labour’s proposals and hope they are more coherent and thought-through than their interventions in other policy areas so far.’