What is the Renters (Reform) Bill?
Promising the biggest reform to the private rented sector for decades, the Renters (Reform) Bill has taken four years, four prime ministers, six housing secretaries, a global pandemic and a new monarch to reach parliament.
The Bill will deliver the government’s commitment to “bring in a better deal for renters”, including abolishing ‘no fault’ evictions and reforming landlord possession grounds. It will legislate for reforms set out in the private rented sector white paper published in June 2022.
What are its key aims?
The objective of The Renters (Reform) Bill is to ensure renters have access to a secure and decent home and that landlords retain the confidence to repossess their properties where they need to.
The Bill will:
- Abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions
- Reform tenancy agreements such that all tenancies become periodic (no end date)
- Introduce more grounds for possession for landlords where tenants are at fault, for example, where antisocial behaviour or rent arrears persist
- Provide stronger protections against retaliatory evictions
- Introduce a new Ombudsman, which all private landlords must join
- Introduce a new Property Portal, including a database of residential landlords and privately rented properties in England.
- Give tenants the right to request a pet, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse
Additional measures the Government intends to legislate for include:
- Applying the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector
- Making it illegal for landlords or agents to apply blanket bans on renting to tenants in receipt of benefits or with children
- Strengthening local council’s enforcement powers and introducing new requirements for councils to report enforcement activity
When will the Renters (Reform) Bill take effect?
The Bill’s passage can be tracked here. Although no definite timeframe has yet been announced, it is widely expected that the Bill will take effect before the general election takes place later this year.
Hamptons’ recent research, documenting the falling supply of rental property across the UK’s private rented sector (PRS), was presented as evidence to the Renters Reform Bill Committee at its hearing in November 2023. You can read the details here.
Evidence presented to the Committee sought to highlight the consequences (intended and unintended) of this Bill on landlords and the wider private rented sector (PRS). Whilst there is no expectation of the Bill not proceeding, improvements to its implementation are expected as a consequence of this evidence. The Committee’s report is pending and due to be discussed at the bill's third hearing later this month.
