Hardship Tests To Stop Some Evictions
Planned new hardship tests would make it more difficult for landlords to evict poorer tenants. The idea has reportedly found favour with Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook.
It is based on a system that’s been used in France since 2008. Tenants there facing eviction can appeal if they have no prospect of being rehoused.
This may prompt some UK landlords to act swiftly and evict tenants before similar rules become law over here.
Get Expert Legal Advice On Evicting Tenants
Tougher Energy Performance Certificate Rules For Rented Properties
The government could also force landlords to improve properties so that they reach a minimum Energy Performance Certificate rating of C.
This was originally a policy under the previous government but it was abandoned around a year ago.
The estimated cost of making a property more energy efficient ranges from £10,000 to £27,000, depending on its current rating (and who is doing the estimating).
Renters’ Rights Bill
The government has promised a Renters’ Rights Bill following the demise of the previous administration’s Renters (Reform) Bill 2023.
The Renters’ Rights Bill would “make renting fairer for all” and that “responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their tenants have nothing to fear,” says the government.
Landlords are unlikely to see it that way. Especially not after all the tenant-centric legislation from the previous government.
No wonder so many landlords have quit the sector in the last few years.
Will More Landlords Be Driven Out Of The Market?
Politicians seem to have forgotten why landlords choose to invest in a portfolio of properties to rent out.
Landlords rent out properties as an investment. Very few ever do so as a charity. So if there is no money in the investment, they will quite simply look to end tenancies or increase rents to cover extra costs.
Many homeowners in this country – including older citizens whose Winter Fuel Payment has just been revoked – cannot afford to make environmental upgrades to their properties.
So why should landlords have to incur this cost on their properties (when they are already subsidising the government’s lack of social accommodation by providing properties to rent)?
There are already minimum EPC requirements in place for landlords. And there is a housing shortage in the private rented sector.
So the answer is not to drive more landlords out of the market.
Balancing Compassion And Commercial Reality
It is important not to lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with human beings.
But politicians must understand that landlords must be able to make a reasonable return , while not acting unscrupulously or profiteering. There must be a level playing field.
And on that basis, landlords worry that the Renters’ Reform Bill may not be fit for the purpose.
Remember Whose Property It Is
Tenants who rent a property should understand that the landlord owns the property and – within the law – can do with it as they wish.
Most landlords simply want reliable tenants who:
- pay a reasonable rent
- act reasonably
- look after the property.
If the tenants pay the rent on time and behave sensibly, why would the landlord want to evict them?
Yes, a landlord may want to take back possession of their property so they can live there themselves. It is their property after all.
But abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions doesn’t help tenants in the long run. The mere threat of legislation prompted many landlords to evict tenants (while they still could) then sell up and quit the sector.
Ironically, the planned abolition of Section 21 prompted and hastened the very thing it was meant to stop – the eviction of tenants.
And those evicted tenants then found it harder to find new homes, due to the shortage caused by the exodus of justifiably worried landlords.
When the evicted tenants did finally find a vacant property, it may well have been smaller or less desirable than the home they’d just left.
Rents inevitably rose too because of the law of supply and demand. Ask the tenants how happy they were about that!
So in the end, who benefited from this ill-fated and ill-advised attempt to meddle with the private rented sector?
No-one. It was a complete waste of time (and taxpayers’ money when you consider all the parliamentary resources squandered on it over the years).
So What’s The Solution?
Not a Renters’ Rights Bill – though that won’t stop the new government from flexing its majority and forcing legislation through Parliament.
A better option would be a good dose of common sense, and for landlords and tenants to abide by their respective legal requirements and act reasonably.
This could be overseen very easily by a privately funded operation (paid for by both tenants and landlords).
It might help to ease the burden on our overstretched courts that – through no fault of their own – are finding it harder to deal with matters quickly and cost effectively.
Ultimately, streamlining the whole process might encourage more landlords to remain in the sector.
That would mean more properties to rent, greater market stability, and therefore happier landlords and tenants.
Get Expert Legal Advice
Worried about the impending legal changes? Concerned about rent arrears? Need to evict tenants?
Get expert legal advice from Coles Miller’s highly experienced Debt Recovery Manager Eric Holt, whose specialisms include landlord and tenant disputes. He is based at our Poole office.
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