Do you think removal of S21 "no fault" evictions will make life for renters better or worse?

[Treacletoots]

The rental market is a shit show, we know that. A drop in available properties, rising interest rates etc all leading to increased rents whilst tenants also believe landlords are all deviants who will evict them for complaining about issues.

But.. do we genuinely believe removing the ability for landlords to issue a section 21 "no fault/explanation" evictions will help?

If landlords can no longer regain their property without blame or hassle on either side, for whatever reason, I.e. non payment of rent, anti social behaviour, because they want to sell it etc will they stay in the market?

In the last 2 years rental housing availability has dropped 30% because landlords are leaving the sector. What happens to prices when there is more demand than supply?

What do we think will happen if the government do announce a ban on S21, I estimate half of the remaining landlords will sell up, after all being a landlord is voluntary and most could currently get a better return by putting their money in the bank.

Just wondered whether people have considered the real life outcomes of landlords en mass saying "I've had enough"

Things need to improve, but I genuinely don't think this is the solution everyone needs.

@Miajk I totally agree. In fact it's already happening. Call me cynical but it was obvious when the government brought in a tax (s24) that only impacted mortgaged landlords that the government was moving back to a time when only rich were allowed to be landlords.

Banks are already investing heavily in property and the vast majority of purpose built student properties are owned by pension funds or similar making around about 80% profit for providing basic rip off accommodation. (I used to work in student property)

Wont change anything. Section 21 ban isn’t really a ban as proposed. It’s window dressing/sheep’s clothing to try and sneak through other changes bad for renters without public outcry on the same Renters Reform Bill.

• landlords can still evict for nonpayment of rent, antisocial behaviour, etc. under section 8
• the legal requirements for section 8 are being relaxed to make it easier and the court process faster
• landlords will still have the right to repossess their properties for the usual reasons (sell, move into, major renovations) it won’t be called section 21 but it will still exist.

The only thing changing is that currently section 21 allows landlords to evict for no stated reason, and the eviction notice literally doesn’t require a reason to be given. Landlords will simply now have to pick an accepted reason and state it and then if they lied, good luck proving it! Because the law allows landlords to change their minds after the renter has left the property. As in well I intended to sell, but then changed my mind…

Nope, the Renters Reform Bill puts all renters on rolling tenancies so much easier to evict them than with pesky fixed term tenancies of the usual 1-3yr terms.

My mum has been in a care facility for 14 years. Her rented property helps pay for her care fees. When she dies it becomes mine, and frankly a millstone round my neck. It's nowhere near me, and I'd want to sell it as soon as possible to help my own kids with the roofs over their heads. I'll feel sorry for the tenant, but as a rental it's a total pain, even with an agent.

So how will this new bill affect me? With landlords getting out rather than buying, it's unlikely I'd be able to sell it with her in it, especially as she's not always kept up with the rent, and apparently hasn't kept the place in good order. It's a small house in a cheap area, so the rental coming in is really not much after tax.

I know that mumsnetters say there's no such thing as an accidental landlord, but if I can't get rid of it, that's exactly what I'll be. An unwilling accidental landlord.

@L3ThirtySeven spot on. Except now tenants, if evicted for non payment of rent or antisocial behaviour will find it much harder to rent elsewhere when the real reason for their eviction is now recorded.

They'll also potentially get CCJs and be liable for paying back rent owed. Currently the S21 covers up most of those and tenants get off scot free.

I agree with PP’s saying that as small landlords get out of the market, the properties will be bought up by larger entities, which could be positive-quicker repairs as they’ll have contracts with plumbers, electricians, etc. but I also think it’ll mean an end to any flexibility or understanding for personal circumstances that may currently exist.

A recent thread mentioned a landlord wanting to do an inspection, but the tenant’s had to delay for at least a month due to a chronic illness flare up. That type of understanding won’t exist with a corporate LL, it’ll be their way or the highway.

Plus if a few large entities dominate the market, they’ll ensure that rents remain high. 🤷

Thanks for this link. It’s a well written article with powerful points.

Very true. It will be like the old days where the rent must be paid even if you are starving or going without heat/hot water. If you get a CCJ you will never find a place to rent. There are already more renters than properties for them, in a game of musical chairs no agent or landlord is going to take on tenants with CCJs. Well except for slum lords illegally leasing garden sheds that is.

It is awful in Wales. Our council have old council offices now sold off behind those were the old council nursery sheds. I saw in planning this week they've applied to convert them into emergency accommodation. When I worked in the offices they were used for the lawn tractors, garden tools. Single brick built just for storage. We've homeless in accommodation in an old golf club too.

But that’s not how it works. Not everyone who is in rented wants, or can get, a mortgage. So that house isn’t necessarily going to go to a family that would otherwise be renting.

Yep. My mum's tenant was approached to see if she'd like to buy the house, a couple if years ago. She looked into it, but there's no way she could get a mortgage. And with rates as they are it's even less likely. When my mum dies I'd far far rather sell it to the tenant, for her sake and mine. But it's not going to be a possibility.

If all the rental market is taken on by large companies then surely they will charge more rent as they will be employing people to cover maintenance, taking rental payments etc. It won’t be cheaper than one person with a couple of houses who processes all the rental payments themselves.

There will always be a need for a rental market. There are countless reasons why someone would want to rent rather than buy. It’s wrong to think that every single renter would be a homeowner if only they had the chance.
There was a time when all the affordable houses were being bought up by BTL landlords but I think these changes will see an end to that. Yes this will hopefully meant that there are more low cost home available but I do wonder if this means that those who prefer to rent will find themselves being screwed over.

Ultimately it all comes down to greed! People should have the right to a secure roof over their heads as a basic human right.
Instead we have the rich exploiting those less fortunate once again. It really is that simple!

Housing should be affordable.
Rentals should off a secure home for tenants and things like having pets should be a given.
Housing should be in good liveable condition.

The reason this isn't the case currently is purely greed. The race to get more profit constantly. Money is more important than the welfare of other humans. And it isn't going to change till it all collapses!

So, who owns the house that people rent?

I don’t think it’ll lead to a major influx of landlords selling up.

I live in Scotland. We haven’t had section 21 evictions since 2017. There are still landlords and a rental market.

Don't know if it's connected to Section 21, but my children's landlord announced he was increasing their rent by 25% yesterday because his mortgage and the cost of living have gone up 🤬. Their pay hasn't and they're already struggling to pay their fuel bills. I have no idea what will happen to them.

When landlords sell properties they are not knocked down.

1. Owner occupiers buy them.
2. Other landlords buy them.

AirBnB accounts for just 0.6% of dwellings in England. The reason why there is not enough rentals to go around is because there are many more single adult households than there were 10 or 20 years ago. Relationships are more fragile and many more couples do not couple up for as long.

The death of the traditional buy-to-let landlord is coming. The landlord of the future will be a corporate entity with 100 or more properties, licenced and hallmarked. Most properties will be semi-serviced.

Good luck on taxation. Policy is gradually moving towards traceability (soft-drinks levy, health & social care levy, bank levy, CIL, to name just a few). With 'generation rent' paying 60% or more of disposable income on housing rent, they have little chance of making much of a pension so the state will inevitably end up funding housing for a larger part of the population. That money will only come from the same source - landlords - then it will be self-funding.

Yet landlords will be landlords where they see bricks and mortar as the only safe place to put their money. Daft really because other asset classes will always outperform in the long run. It's madness to think the UK's wealth can be built on residential buy-to-lets. It is no easier to do that than stand in a bucket and lift yourself up.

@justgettingthroughtheday whilst I don't disagree that people should be allowed pets, too many landlords have been burnt by tenants allowing badly behaved pets to destroy their houses.

On one occasion I had to replace every single carpet in our house, as the tenant had had their dog shit on every one and did a piss poor job of cleaning it. That cost 2.5k. The maximum deposit now allowed because of the Tenants Fee Act is 800. You figure out why landlords don't like pets.

Housing should be affordable, but like with any other commodity it is subject to markets and other factors such as interest rates and the increased costs due to legislation. When demand outstrips supply, prices go up. When interest rates go up, so do rents, when government's continue to add legislative requirements that cost landlords thousands but don't benefit tenants in any way, except for you guessed it, their rents going up to accommodate these new legally required changes.

I 100% agree houses should be of an acceptable standard. I just don't believe that when the proposed S21 changes come in, that it will be the slum landlords who will flee. The decent ones who look after their homes and tenants will be the ones who finally say, I've had enough.

It's the difficulty in getting the property back that put me off renting my last house (it was empty for nearly a year) and would stop us renting our current house when we go travelling - we plan to go for a year and are quite happy to rent it at a reduced cost to someone to look after, so they can live in a nice place affordably but we have to know that they would leave at the end without a fuss so we won't, we'll pay a local lady who cleans to pop in monthly to keep the dust at bay.

If you want a decent rental market you need lots of landlords and circumstances means people are pulling out - i could have bought a property to rent to a family who needs a home myself in fact but instead it's sitting in a stocks and shares isa

@LawksaMercyMissus no probably not connected to the S21 proposals.

Very likely because their mortgage has gone up by 25% and they're also considering how to pay for the work required to upgrade the property to meet the EPC requirements in a few years. (This is a government proposal)

Also, possibly they've been hit by a local authority registration fee (some are 2k yearly+). And that's before I go into the S24 tax hit...

So between the banks and the government...

Hampton estimate 30000 landlords are leaving the sector each month I am a landlord I’m looking to exit which will leave my tenants in not a great place as none of them could pass affordability it’s a total mess and really sad to see. The government is insane getting all housing up to a C is impossible with all our Victorian stock the new corporate landlords will not be like me one tenant is waiting on money coming it will happen and because I’m relaxed about his rent he’s doing me a cheap roof it’s not all about the money.

Build social housing. Laughable. The country is broke if you hadn't noticed. Can't even afford to run the NHS and treat people with potentially terminal illnesses in time.

If it wasn't the governments intention to wreck the private rented sector, they have done an incredible job and the new legislation is just increasing that direction.

Pets...well realty they make houses smell and cause significantly increased wear and tear that new tenants don't like, hence most landlords refuse.

So what is happening (rapidly) is landlords selling up and these houses which the govt proudly announces will be available to buy, are being bought but not by their tenants who usually can't or don't want to buy for other reasons but would rather like a roof over their heads.

We have a small portfolio which I am busy selling at appropriate points. However some have tenants I just don't have the heart to kick out...yet anyway and she is a delighted single parent with two children, wonderful tenant and cannot afford to move or go into a dilapidated council house even if offered one. However, I've made clear the Sec 21 legislation will be the line in the sand and I will have to sell

AirBnB accounts for just 0.6% of dwellings in England.

Just? That's a huge number that would make a big difference if they went on the residential rental market. I'm amazed that more than 1 in 200 houses/flats are Airbnbs.

Is she really going to live in the rental for the rest of her life or is she eventually going to sell it/give to kids? She may get a small bit of relief but will still need to pay capital gains tax on the gain during the time it was rented out.