Renters Reform Bill
As a prime central London-based Lettings and Property Management specialist, we are committed to keeping our clients updated on changes in UK legislation that may affect existing UK landlords and the UK property market our Clients invest in. With this in mind, we want to share three important topics related to landlord and tenant law that have recently been announced.
The UK Government proposed the Renters Reform Bill in May 2023, which plans to deliver "once-in-a-generation" reforms that aim to deliver "safer, fairer, and higher quality homes".
So what does this mean for Landlords?
1. Landlords can only evict tenants under ‘reasonable circumstances’, such as selling a property or needing it for family, which will require a 6-month notice period and removes the option of no-fault evictions.
2. Landlords will benefit from mandatory tenant eviction where a tenant has been in at least two months’ rent arrears three times within three years, regardless of the arrears balance at a court hearing. This stands to increase transparency within the process and certainty of tenant eviction when needed.
3. Landlords need to be prepared to absorb the registration cost with a new government-approved ombudsman, which all landlords will be required to be members of. Whilst this cost isn’t likely to be high, it is another cost landlords will need to pay.
And what does this mean for tenants?
4. Tenants can’t be incentivised to agree to a fixed-term tenancy agreement. Instead, the government want tenancy agreements to be simplified by all being ‘periodic contracts’, which are often referred to casually as ‘rolling’ contracts, removing ‘fixed term tenancies’
5. Rent increases are now limited to once per year and must be provided with a minimum of two months’ notice
6. Landlords can’t unreasonably withhold consent for tenants to have pets in their rented properties.
The UK government hopes that these changes will improve tenant-landlord relationships by creating a more equal footing for both parties, reducing the likelihood of disputes and disagreements.
If you want to read more about the Renters Reform Bill, click the button below.
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