The time taken to introduce legislation reforming the private rented sector is triggering an exodus of landlords, a lettings industry chief warns.

The government’s White Paper – ‘A Fairer Rented Private Sector’ issued at the start of the summer – aims to reform the rules around the rental sector in the UK and improve the balance between tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities.

It includes a commitment to scrap Section 21 eviction pqwers, the adoption of a ‘Decent Homes Standard’ and the establishment of a new Ombudsman to settle disputes. 

But the associated legislation – known as the Renters’ Reform Bill – has still not entered Parliament, meaning the exact details of the reforms are still unknown. And this is deeply unsettling according to Joanne Millward, divisional lettings coordinator at Fisher German.

She works with landlords all over the country and is urging the government to press ahead with putting the Bill through Parliament.  

Although the proposed reforms will not be entirely helpful to landlords, the uncertainty in the meantime is causing much harm. 

Millward says: “The industry is essentially stuck in limbo until we know the details of what will appear in the legislation. While the White Paper improves rights for tenants, some of the proposals in it will make becoming a landlord more difficult and will give current landlords more problems to deal with.

“Many landlords are taking things into their own hands as a result and it is yet another reason for many to sell up, reducing rental stock across the country. The supply of rental housing is already under strain in the UK, and this delay is only making it worse by discouraging landlords to keep going.”