Richard Heath, FARLA, FNAEA, CRLM - Barbers Lettings Director, provided the following update to all our landlord clients as a useful article on the private rental sector.
The General Election has returned the Labour Party to power with a parliamentary landslide and I want to look at what that may mean for the Private Rented Sector.
The main headline of the previous Governments Renters (Reform) Bill was the banning of the so called “no fault” evictions, Section 21 notices. As the bill was not passed before the dissolution of Parliament, everything was thrown out, meaning we can still provide a two month notice to evict a tenant once their fixed term comes to an end, without giving a reason and any new bill will have to be started again from scratch.
One of Labours manifesto pledges was to ban Section 21 notices and at it is clear that they intend to deliver on this pledge; this was part of the Conservative Manifesto in 2019 and it still never passed during their tenure. Angela Rayner, the deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, has called this the “Renters Rights Bill” when addressing the issue of ending Section 21. She had previously admitted that they would need to deal with the issues within the court system before introducing a ban as the courts are currently not fit for the purpose of dealing with the volume of cases. Currently around a third of all possession cases are carried out through Section 21 which bypasses the court system, so any plans to remove this would require an extension to the existing alternative grounds for possession meaning you would simply require a reason to gain possession. Consequently, you will always get your property back if needed.
Licensing for letting agents and a new code of practice is also part of the Governments agenda and anything to do with the regulation of our sector I am in favour of. Most of our staff here hold a nationally recognised qualification - we all need to work to a high standard. They have also recognised the need to end bidding wars on advertised rents. For me, this is an unlawful process now as the priority is getting the right tenant rather than the one who is prepared to pay the most rent. Tenants would not be prevented from voluntarily offering to pay more so how this would be enforced remains to be seen. It does feel like they are trying to address the symptom and not the cause which is a shortage of rented property, basic supply and demand!
At Barbers, we are members of ARLA Propertymark who represent our industry and they meet with elected representatives and civil servants across Westminster weekly to put across our views. Our input on your behalf will provide a strong base of evidence for any decisions and legislative change that is proposed over the coming years. We will keep you updated on any changes as and when they happen. My message is a simple one. Don’t panic, carry on letting!!"
To find out more about how Barbers can help with your rental portfolio then please call into one of our local offices where you will find a qualified member of the lettings team.
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