Sarah Bush, Head of Lettings at Cheffins comments:
“The Renters’ Reform Bill which will be introduced to Parliament today will see a number of pledges in favour of tenants’ rights. The Bill, which was first promised in 2019, includes a series of measures which will seek to provide higher quality homes within the Private Rented Sector (PRS), while also protecting tenants from “no fault evictions”, and making it easier for tenants to keep pets.
This Bill has been the elephant in the room for landlords since 2019. As always, the devil will be in the detail, however there are a number of positives which may come out of it; finally landlords will be getting some clarity on what new regulations will entail, enabling them to plan accordingly. Most importantly, this Bill should not cause wide-spread panic within the PRS, in fact, it should make it easier for landlords to take possession of their properties from tenants for anti-social behaviour or repeatedly missed rent payments. In addition, the new Private Renters’ Ombudsman ought to ease the costs of disputes between tenants and landlords, while the new property portal should give some clarity in terms of compliance. It is therefore not the “Anti-Landlord Charter” many in the industry are making it out to be.
Undoubtedly, we have a housing crisis. Too many homes in the sector are of poor quality and too many tenants are living in conditions which are unacceptable. However, the government needs to be careful not to penalise the large numbers of good, responsible landlords in the sector for the sake of a proportion of rogue operators. Landlords have come under increasing scrutiny from the government over the past decade, and as rental prices increase and stock levels fall, it is important that the PRS does not become a completely unattractive option for the responsible landlords within the sector.
Hopefully this Bill will help to level the playing field for both tenants and landlords across the country, and ensure better quality housing throughout the sector and also end the fear of no-fault evictions for the some 11 million private tenants in the UK. Hopefully when there is more meat on the bones of the changes afoot, both landlords and tenants will be able to operate within the sector with greater confidence.
With the spotlight shining so strongly on the sector, landlords ought to look to professional managing agents to ensure they remain compliant with all legal changes as the Bill makes its way through Parliament.”
For more information on how Cheffins can help landlords, please click here or call Cheffins Cambridge Lettings on 01223 271916, e: cambridge.lettings@cheffins.co.uk