With parliament returning after its summer break, the government is moving forwards with its legislative agenda, including the Renters’ Rights Bill. In fact, this piece of legislation is due back in both the House of Commons and House of Lords in early September, where final amendments will be agreed.
Once this last process of back and forth between the two houses concludes, the bill will go for royal assent and pass into law. However, the government has stated that it will implement the bill in a staged manner to give landlords time to comply with the new rules.
This is therefore an excellent opportunity to speak to your letting agent to find out what, if any steps, you need to take now to ensure you are compliant when the new legislation passes into law.
As Propertymark pointed out, while some areas of the legislation have received a lot of press coverage, others have flown under the radar. For instance, the abolition of Section 21 evictions has received a lot of coverage.
But one area that has not had so much attention is the likely ban on rent bidding. This means that both landlords and agents will be legally prevented from accepting rent above the rate advertised.
Rent reviews, meanwhile, will be restricted to once per year and the government has said it will provide a standard template form to notify tenants of any rental increases once the bill becomes law.
What else will change for landlords?
Another change on the horizon will be the establishment of a private rental sector (PRS) database, which all landlords will be legally required to register with. This database will not only contain the landlord’s details, but also information about every property they let.
The aim is to ensure that both local authorities and tenants have one source of information about landlords and their properties. There will be penalties for any landlords who let properties without signing up to this database.
Given that the fines for non-compliance start at £7,000 and go up from there, it’s essential that landlords keep up to date with the new legislation and make sure they are aware of when the new database is set up and how to register for it.
This is why having a letting agent is beneficial, because they will be coordinating the sign up for all their landlords and can therefore support you to provide the correct information and enter your data.
In addition to joining the database, landlords will also need to join the PRS Ombudsman, which will provide oversight
There is still some debate over some of the other aspects of the bill, such as what (if any) additional deposit pet owners will be required to put down if they have a pet in rented accommodation.
But the government has made it clear that this bill is a priority, so it’s likely that within the next month or two we will have a better idea of its final form and the dates on which the different stages will be introduced.
