The Government has published its fairer private rented sector white paper today as it looks to improve rental conditions.
The Government said thefairer private rented sector white paper will ensure millions of families benefit from living in decent, well looked-after homes as part of the biggest shake up of the private rented sector in 30 years.
The white paper marks a generational shift that will redress the balance between landlords and 4.4 million private rented tenants.
It provides new support for cost of living pressures with protections for the most vulnerable, and new measures to tackle arbitrary and unfair rent increases.
This is part of a wider reform agenda to improve lives and level up the country, delivering more housing and greater protections for tenants and homeowners.
The majority of tenants enjoy safe and secure rentals, but for the 21% of private renter and households who currently live in unfit homes, this ‘New Deal’ will extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private sector for the first time, levelling up opportunities.
This means homes must be free from serious health and safety hazards, and landlords must keep homes in a good state of repair so renters have clean, appropriate and useable facilities.
So-called ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions – that allow landlords to terminate tenancies without giving any reason – will be outlawed. More than a fifth of private renters who moved in 2019 and 2020 did not end their tenancy by choice, including 8% who were asked to leave by their landlord.
Measures published today also include:
- Helping the most vulnerable by outlawing blanket bans on renting to families with children or those in receipt of benefits
- For the first time, ending the use of arbitrary rent review clauses, restricting tribunals from hiking up rent and enabling tenants to be repaid rent for non-decent homes. This will make sure tenants can take their landlord to court to seek repayment of rent if their homes are of unacceptable standard
- Making it easier for tenants to have much-loved pets in their homes by giving all tenants the right to request a pet in their house, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse
- All tenants to be moved onto a single system of periodic tenancies, meaning they can leave poor quality housing without remaining liable for the rent or move more easily when their circumstances change. A tenancy will only end if a tenant ends or a landlord has a valid reason, defined in law
- Doubling notice periods for rent increases and giving tenants stronger powers to challenge them if they are unjustified
- Giving councils stronger powers to tackle the worst offenders, backed by enforcement pilots, and increasing fines for serious offences
In addition, the estimated 2.3 million private landlords will have greater clarity and support through the following measures:
- A new Private Renters’ Ombudsman will be created to enable disputes between private renters and landlords to be settled quickly, at low cost, and without going to court
- Ensuring responsible landlords can gain possession of their properties efficiently from anti-social tenants and can sell their properties when they need to
- Introducing a new property portal that will provide a single front door to help landlords to understand, and comply with, their responsibilities as well as giving councils and tenants the information they need to tackle rogue operators
These reforms will help to ease the cost of living pressures renters are facing, saving families from unnecessarily moving from one privately rented home to another hundreds of pounds in moving costs.
We have already taken significant action over the past decade to improve private renting, including reducing the proportion of non-decent private rented homes from 37% to 21%, capping tenancy deposits and banning tenancy fees for tenancy agreements signed after 1 June 2019, and introducing pandemic emergency measures to ban bailiff evictions.
Today’s measures will form part of the Renters Reform Bill as announced in the Queen’s Speech, to be introduced in this parliamentary session. This will deliver on our commitment to give renters a better deal and make the private rented sector fit for the 21st century with safer, more secure and higher quality homes.
Levelling Up and Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “For too long many private renters have been at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords who fail to repair homes and let families live in damp, unsafe and cold properties, with the threat of unfair ‘no fault’ evictions orders hanging over them.
“Our New Deal for renters will help to end this injustice by improving the rights and conditions for millions of renters as we level up across the country and deliver on the people’s priorities.”
While the majority of private rented homes are of good quality, offering safe, comfortable accommodation for families, the conditions of more than half a million properties – or 12% of households – pose an imminent risk to tenants’ health and safety, meaning around 1.6 million people are living in dangerously low-quality homes, driving up costs for our health service.
The sector offers the most expensive, least secure, and lowest quality housing to millions of renters, including 1.3 million households with children and 382,000 households over 65. Rents are also rising at their fastest level for five years. This can damage life chances and hold back some of the most deprived parts of the country.
Today’s move marks the latest phase in delivering on the government’s levelling up missions, taking serious steps to halve the number of poor-quality rented homes, across both private and social tenures, by 2030.
Last week the Government introduced the Social Housing Regulation Bill which means failing social housing landlords could face unlimited fines and Ofsted-style inspections.
In a major reset of power between tenants and landlords, residents will be able to demand information and rate their landlord as part of new satisfaction measures.
Taken together with today’s renters reform white paper, the Bill will form a key part of the government’s mission to level up across the country and deliver on the people’s priorities.
Reaction
Paul Wootton, Nationwide’s director of home:
“Nationwide believes everyone should have a safe, secure and comfortable home, which is why we are committed to improving standards within the private rented sector.
“When implemented, the proposals outlined in this long-awaited Bill will have a positive impact on housing quality and conditions for tenants and provide much-needed clarity on rules and regulations as well as additional support for landlords.
“As a buy-to-let lender we are keen to understand more about how the changes will be implemented, to ensure we fulfil our important role of balancing the needs of landlords as well as tenants.
“We are keen for the legislation to be delivered as soon as possible as the rising cost of living is continuing to exacerbate the issues the Renters Reform Bill is looking to address.”
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman:
“In principle, we welcome the announcement that tenants will have the legal right to keep pets. However, the most important question with any new rule affecting the private rental market is – does it pass the test of not reducing the number of properties to let and is it likely to increase rents? The answer in my opinion on both counts is – yes, provided it is fair on landlords AND tenants.
“Landlords must not unreasonably withhold properties from tenants with pets whereas, on the other hand, tenants should have a legal duty to cover the cost of any damage made by their pets. The change should improve letting activity in theory bearing in mind we find the single biggest reason why private tenants move is to find pet-friendly properties.
“This trend became more popular during the pandemic as tenants spent increased time working from home but has continued now lockdown restrictions have eased.
‘We anticipate other regulations may also be amended such as relaxation of the tenant fee ban which presently limits the amount of deposit held by a landlord unless the cost of repairing damage can be covered by insurance. It may not be practical in cases where the lease of a block of flats does not permit pets or properties are let with expensive furniture.
“Landlords who could be reluctant to embrace the new arrangement will probably find – as we do – that tenants with pets tend to stay longer and keep properties in better condition. Provision should also be made for the difficult cases when excess damage is caused so that landlords get the chance to re-let without penalty.
“Again, the removal of landlords’ ability to end tenancies by way of section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions is no surprise as has been mooted for several years. In our opinion, it can’t be right for long-term, well-behaved tenants to be asked to leave.
“However, it’s not reasonable either for landlords having to spend thousands evicting a tenant not paying their rent or exhibiting anti-social behaviour. Therefore, the alternative Section 8 eviction route must allow landlords to regain possession of their properties if required for their own use or required for future tenants. Otherwise, overall supply will fall and rents will rise.”
Nathan Emerson, Propertymark CEO:
“After waiting three years to see exactly what this reform will look like, we’ve now got a set of proposals titled ‘The Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper’. But there are some elements that don’t appear to be so. How is it fair that a tenant can simply end a tenancy at a time of their choosing, but an agent or landlord has to present a valid reason that is defined in law?
“We’ve already set out broadly what we think reform should look like in our The Future of Renting paper.
“Now we have the detail of what’s being proposed, we will be closely scrutinising it and working with Ministers to help them understand how on a practical level it will impact our letting agents members and their landlords.
“Our sector provides around 4.4 million households in England with a place to live. Property is a good long-term investment but the number of property owners choosing to withdraw from this area is growing*. That’s the result of a decade of tax and regulatory burden that simply does not incentivise investment, especially for single property landlords who make up 43% of the market.
“The private rental market is already under huge strain with renters outstripping available properties and we need to be able to attract new investment.
“If Ministers really do want to create a ‘fairer private rented sector’, they must work with us to ensure these reforms are carefully balanced and any interventions to achieve short-term objectives do not constrain the market in the longer term.”
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association:
“Whilst headline commitments to strengthening possession grounds, speedier court processes and mediation are helpful, the detail to follow must retain the confidence of responsible landlords, as well as improving tenants’ rights.
“We will be analysing the Government’s plans carefully to ensure they meet this test. A failure to do so will exacerbate the housing crisis at a time when renters are struggling to find the homes they need.
“The eventual legislation needs to recognise that government actions have led to a shortage of supply in the sector at a time of record demand. It is causing landlords to leave the sector and driving up rents when people can least afford it.”
