The UK government announced the Renters’ Reform Bill yesterday (17th May), which hopes to deliver on the 2019 manifesto commitment to abolish ‘no fault’ evictions
The Renters’ Reform Bill is part of the government’s levelling-up mission. It follows wider housing reforms in the Social Housing Regulation Bill and Building Safety Act.
These forms aim to address the systemic social housing issues highlighted in the Grenfell Tower tragedy. They hope to improve safety regulations and the quality of social housing for tenants across the country.
The Renters’ Reform Bill will be introduced alongside a reformed courts process
The Renters’ Reform Bill will also protect over two million landlords by making it easier for them to recover properties. Notice periods will also be reduced where tenants have been irresponsible.
A new Ombudsman will provide quicker and cheaper resolutions to disputes, and a new digital Property Portal has been introduced.
The digital Property Portal will help landlords to understand their legal obligations and help tenants when signing a new tenancy agreement.
The Bill hopes to reduce discrimination among social housing tenants
The Bill aims to reduce discrimination among tenants by making it illegal to enforce blanket bans on renting to tenants receiving benefits or living with children.
The Renters’ Reform Bill will also give councils higher enforcement powers to help target criminal landlords.
The proposal to extend the Decent Homes Standard has not been included in the Bill
So far, last year’s proposal to extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector has not been included in the Renters’ Reform Bill.
This proposal is a key component to the government’s levelling-up mission to halve the number of non-decent rented homes by 2030.
The Renters’ Reform Bill aims to protect tenants against unsafe living conditions
Commenting on the introduction of the new Renters Bill, housing secretary Michael Gove said: “Too many renters are living in damp, unsafe, cold homes, powerless to put things right, and with the threat of sudden eviction hanging over them.
“This Government is determined to tackle these injustices by offering a New Deal to those living in the Private Rented Sector; one with quality, affordability, and fairness at its heart.
“Our new laws introduced to Parliament today will support the vast majority of responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants, while delivering our manifesto commitment to abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.
“This will ensure that everyone can live somewhere which is decent, safe and secure – a place they’re truly proud to call home.”
Abolishing Section 21 evictions hopes to improve the relationship between tenants and landlords
Dan Wilson Craw, acting director, Generation Rent, stated: “The Renters’ Reform Bill is a huge opportunity to improve the lives of the 11 million people who now rent from private landlords in England.
“Arbitrary Section 21 evictions make it impossible for tenants to put down roots and report problems about their home with confidence.
“Abolishing them will take away much of the stress of renting and improve communication and trust between tenants and landlords. The new Property Portal and Ombudsman have the potential to make it much harder for criminal landlords to operate.
“These reforms wouldn’t be happening without the tireless campaigning of members of the Renters Reform Coalition and thousands of renters over many years. We look forward to reading the Bill and working with ministers and parliamentarians to make sure the legislation achieves what it sets out to do.”
The construction industry reacts to the new Renters’ Reform Bill
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has welcomed the publication of the Renters (Reform) Bill but has urged that the government needs to deliver on decent homes.
Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said: “This Bill relates to issues that CIEH has been concerned about for a long time, such as banning no-fault evictions and the introduction of a Property Portal.
“We have long campaigned for a national register of all landlords, alongside better resourcing for local authority housing enforcement teams. Environmental health professionals have a crucial role to play in tackling poor housing conditions and thereby reducing ill health and saving lives.
“We will be scrutinising the proposals carefully and are pleased to have been one of a group of organisations who were recently invited to a roundtable with Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, to discuss the reforms.
“We are concerned, however, to find out why the white paper proposal to extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector has not yet been included in the Bill.
“The proposal for a Property Portal is a step in the right direction in terms of oversight and regulation of the sector. We will need to scrutinise the Government’s plans for the portal carefully, however, as it remains unclear whether the portal will provide local authorities with the information they need in order to check the suitability of landlords before issuing a property licence.
Crucially, the Property Portal will not remove the need for the Government to make it easier for councils to use selective licensing schemes to improve housing conditions.”
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