TIMINGS OF THE RENTERS’ RIGHTS BILL
The Renters’ Rights Bill (RRB) has received Royal Assent and officially became law on Monday 27th, marking one of the most significant changes to the private rented sector in a generation.
The Government will confirm an implementation timeline in the coming weeks, outlining when each part of the Bill will take effect.
OBJECTIVES OF THE RENTERS’ RIGHTS BILL
The Renters’ Rights Bill aims to re-balance the relationship between tenants and landlords by offering greater protections to renters while ensuring that landlords meet higher standards of responsibility:
Balancing rights: The Bill aims to strike a balance between the rights of tenants and landlords, ensuring fairness and transparency in the renting sector.
Improving standards: Setting minimum property standards ensure that rented properties meet basic safety and habitability requirements, improving living conditions for tenants.
Ensuring affordability: Landlords will not be able to accept offers over the advertised asking price and rent increases will only be allowed once per year. Tenants will need at least two months’ notice and will have the right to challenge excessive increases through a tribunal.
Balancing rights: Providing tenants with greater security and stability in their rented accommodation. To achieve this, the Bill proposes several key changes, including:
Abolition of Section 21: The main aim of the Bill is to simplify tenancy structures by transitioning all tenancies to periodic contracts. This means that a tenancy will end only if the tenant chooses to leave, or if the landlord has a valid reason.
Changes to Section 8: Following the removal of Section 21, landlords will need to use Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 to regain possession of their property, typically by providing grounds for eviction, which will also include several new and strengthened grounds for eviction.
Periodic contracts: The Bill will end fixed term tenancies. Where a tenant moves in, there will be no end date as per current Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements. The tenancy will continue on a month-by-month basis until the tenant decides to leave, or the landlord has a valid ground for possession.
No bidding wars: Landlords will not be able to accept offers from tenants that exceed the advertised asking price, meaning that accurate pricing will be essential.
Changes to minimum notice periods: Tenants will be given the right to end their tenancy at any time, provided they give two months’ notice. Landlords will also be able to give tenants four months’ notice should they wish to sell or move into their rental property,
While notice periods for other grounds (antisocial behaviour, rent arrears, etc.) will continue to vary.
Restrictions on rent increases: Landlords will be able to increase rents once per year provided that the increase reflects the market rate. Tenants will have the right to contest any proposed increase they believe to be unfair.
Property Portal: All landlords will be required to register on a new digital property portal.
Pets in properties: Tenants will have the right to request permission to keep pets in their property. Landlords will have to consider each request and provide a fully considered response.
LANDLORDS SHOULD BE AWARE OF:
Landlords will need to provide tenants with a minimum of 12 months of tenancy before being able to regain possession using the sale or occupation grounds. Therefore, notices can only be served at month 8.
An overhaul of Rent Repayment Orders will provide additional recourse for tenants or local authorities to go to a tribunal if a landlord commits certain offences.
In addition to strengthened grounds for eviction due to anti-social behaviour, many notice periods will be doubled.
Fines for minor or initial non-compliance can be up to £7,000 but go up to £40,000 for repeat offences, per offence.
Where a landlord serves notice to sell the property or move back in, they will not be able to re-let the property for a period of 12 months from the date the tenants vacated.
Ban on upfront rental payments of more than one month. The Bill will restrict rental payments to a maximum of a month at a time.
Landlords will be required to sign up to a new digital property portal to help them understand and demonstrate compliance with their legal requirements.
A ban on “no children” and “no DSS” advertising.
WHAT SHOULD LANDLORDS BE DOING NOW TO PREPARE FOR RENTERS’ RIGHTS BILL?
Although the Bill is unlikely to take effect until the end of 2025 or early 2026, Hume Homes recommends the following for landlords:
Consider a Rent Protection product: Being without access to their rental property or the income from their rental property is the worst-case scenario for all landlords. Although this is already a risk, the new laws may mean it takes longer to regain possession of your property if a tenant fails to pay rent. You can easily protect yourself against this by taking out a Rent Protection product. Hume Homes offers one of the most comprehensive options on the market, so please contact us to find out more.
Be selective with your tenants: Most landlords will agree that a good tenant is more important than anything else. Take time to select the best tenant for your property and use an agency like Hume Homes which has one of the most robust and stringent tenant referencing systems in the industry.
Optimise your property: The best rental properties will always achieve the best rents and attract the best tenants. Ensure that your property is in good decorative order and presents well to prospective tenants. Also, if your property is suffering from mould or damp, now is the time to get it addressed before the new Decent Homes Standard is applied to the private rented sector. On the flip side, the removal of fixed term contracts means that tenants will no longer be able to lock themselves into long-term tenancies with their rents fixed at a specific amount.
Complaints Procedure
At Hume Homes we strive to provide the best service possible to ensure that the process of buying, selling, letting or renting is achieved as smoothly and as professionally as possible. We do however recognise that sometimes not everything goes as planned.
In order to ensure we constantly exceed expectations we have a complaints procedure that sets out the process for highlighting and resolving any issues that may arise. We pride ourselves on being a forward thinking company and are happy to resolve complaints as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Step 1: Initial contact
We will always endeavour to resolve your issue as efficiently as possible. Please contact Nick Hume via email nick@humehomes.co.uk
Step 2: Formal complaint
If your complaint is not resolved and dealt with to your satisfaction during or after your initial contact, or you wish to submit a written complaint, please address your correspondence to: Hume Homes, 23 Cheryls Close, Fulham, SW6 2AX.
Please enclose as much detail as possible including dates, details of specific complaints and any supporting documentation to ensure that the matter is dealt with as efficiently and fairly as possible.
Your complaint will be acknowledged within 2 working days of receipt and a formal investigation will be undertaken. We will write to you confirming the outcome of our investigation and our final viewpoint within 14 working days.
Step 3: Referral to a third party organisation
We hope that we can settle any complaints internally and to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. If however you would like to take your grievance further, you can refer your complaint to the Property Redress Scheme:
Property Redress Scheme
Premiere House,
1st Floor,
Elstree Way,
Borehamwood,
WD6 1JH.
Tel: 0333 321 9418
Email: info@theprs.co.uk
