Rental Reform - Time Is Of The Essence

The future of the private rented sector in England has been back under the Westminster spotlight in the last two weeks with two debates and an inquiry evidence session.

Despite a Ministerial presence at all three, disappointingly for letting agents and their landlords there remains very little insight into how much progress has been made almost five months on from the A Fairer Private Rented Sector white paper’s publication in June.

The concern among agents is the impact further unnecessary delays to the legislation being published will have on the sentiment of their landlords.

We ran an online poll and over a third of agents cited legislation and regulation as the main reason being given by their landlords for selling a rental property. We already know from previous research that as many as half of rental properties being sold do not return to the rental market.

The continued lack of progress since the 2019 manifesto pledge of the current government has created a vacuum that continues to be filled with anti-agent and anti-landlord rhetoric of the sort that dominated the Westminster Hall debate led by Labour MP Dan Carden on ‘the potential merits of ending Section 21 evictions’ and the backbench debate in the House of Commons on the contents of the white paper led by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, also a Labour MP.

MPs queued up to tell their ‘horror’ stories of constituents being evicted simply for making too many complaints to their landlords, sudden and excessive rent hikes, and landlords taking their homes out of the long-term rented sector and into the short-term let market, where margins are higher.

There were no examples of the cases of the bad tenant behaviour we hear of from our member agents or any context to the reasons why landlords are having to use the unhelpfully termed ‘no fault’ Section 21 notices to regain possession of their properties.

There was encouraging support from speakers at both for greater protections for landlords against incidences of anti-social behaviour by tenants and a general agreement of the need for a review of Local Housing Allowance rates which are not keeping pace with rising rents in the private sector.

Propertymark agrees with many of the issues raised by MPs and sent out briefings ahead of the debates. Enforcement of sub-standard properties and the poor working practises of the bad landlords by local authorities is not good enough. Giving them more powers as proposed in the white paper will achieve nothing unless they come with more resources.

Yes, agents and landlords are relying on serving Section 21 for incidences of anti-social behaviour (ASB). That’s because of the high legal bar and lengthy court delays they face when going down the intended route of a Section 8. There is a solution: set out a clear definition of what constitutes ASB and how it can be proven through statutory guidance; provide guidance to local authorities, police, and other agencies as to how they can help landlords, letting agents and tenants in such situations; and consider how a formalised system of reporting ASB could be introduced and work in practice.

The white paper’s plan to make all tenancies periodic show the lack of political understanding of current tenancy arrangements. They will provide less security for landlords beyond the proposed two months’ notice for tenants and, therefore, no long-term guarantee of rent. Tenants can already leave a property early through break clauses or the costs the Tenant Fees Act allows agents and landlords to recover in such cases. We say the new system should give both sides the option to set a fixed term.

Appearing in front of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee on Monday, Ms Buchan told MPs she continues to engage with those working in the PRS to ensure she ‘gets it right’.

The committee says it will publish its inquiry findings early in the new year. There is an expectation the Department will want to wait to see those findings before showing its hand, while conscious of its manifesto pledge to pass the legislation before the current Parliament ends in a little over two years’ time.

* Timothy Douglas is head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark *

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