New renter rights act is a bloody good thing!

[Pineapplewhip]

Naturally landlords have some justifiable concerns/questions but those that are up in arms about the whole thing are completely bloody immoral. The slum landlords have spoilt it for the good ones and the decent landlords should blame them and not the government for protecting people.

If you arent aware of the actual points of the bill - I've listed them below. I cant see how any reasonable person can disagree that it's just enforcing the most basic human decency and regulation.

• End to no fault evictions: landlords can only evict renters if they want to sell, move in themselves, move their family into the property or there are serious rent arrears. They have to prove they are selling too - they cant just say they are!

• Rent can only rise once a year, any rise above market rate can be disputed fairly and 2 months notice is given.

• Landlords can't refuse you for having children or being on benefits (if you prove that benefits/finances make the property affordable). This isnt about being on full benefits either. Many single parents need benefits to top up income.

• Landlord ombudsman - tennants can raise fair disputes and repair issues for free online and landlords cannot just ignore it/grey rock. Repeat offenders will be visable in the database. Landlords legally must act on the complaints.

• Faster action must be taken on damp and mould. Basic human rights! No more shitty emails from a middle man letting agent just blaming the tennant for not opening a window - when actually (for example) a house needs its brickwork repointing.

The only legitimate thing I have empathy for is the concern that it will be more of a process to evict non paying tennants as it will need to go through a court. However - this is why landlord insurance exists!!

Please ask yourself - if your child was renting - wouldn't you want them protected like this?

I think you’re right, it’s just it used to be an obligation from both sides. The core idea is that someone wants to rent a property out meets someone who wants to rent it and they agree a price and a time frame, that is no longer possible. I have no idea how it will play out long term but I’d hazard a guess that there’s less people who want to rent out a property.

I don't think that many new small time landlords will step up to fill those leaving. For one the tax has changed so your mortgage interest isn't deductible. There's also second property stamp. This is all relatively new. So you need really to be already a landlord or close to mortgage free to enter now, cover tax and turn a profit on rent..I predict big landlords with portfolios will step in, possibly overseas investors. Not sure if that's good or bad yet we will see.

When my mortgage came off it's fix, it went from £300 pm to £1350 pm. I kid you not. 6% inflation predicted as worst possible case. The end of low interest rates and possibly over a year
to get back your investment? I'm not sure that's tempting unless you have ten plus houses to spread your risk.

As a pp said one local landlord has just evicted all 15 of his tennants in a close by village to sell up and ship out. So as well a big landlord spreading their risk, conversely thats 15 tennants chasing non existent 15 house in a tiny village. My mate being one of them. She moved 7 miles away to a town. Which is fine for her, not so much if your child is a short walk from school.

It will be interesting watching it play out and I'm grateful to neither be a landlord or private tenant right now.

Yes, most people aren’t going to set up a ltd company just to rent out a flat for two years they may or may not get back without a year long legal battle to go and work in a different/country temporarily or test moving in with a partner and see how the relationship goes. They most likely will just stay where they are or just leave it empty.

I own a couple of rentals in London. I don’t feel that these new laws affect me negatively because I’ve always had fantastic tenants, I’m a good landlord (imo) and I have never kicked anyone out. I tend not to put up the rent when tenants are in place and I look after the place, conduct all the usual gas and electrics checks etc. If anything it will affect me positively because there’s a far small number of rentals in my area now and supply and demand mean that rents are very high.
Looking at one of them in particular, I charge £2k per month for a tiny one bed flat and it’s below mark rate.
The only concern I have is that tenants with the new laws can now leave whenever they like I might get a European couple coming to London for the summer, me thinking they’ve moved to London for proper jobs, in reality, they might just be there for a few months so I’d have to go through the ball ache of getting new tenants in. If that does happen, I’ll change it to an unfurnished property, less likely to be too many time wasters if they have to supply their own furniture.

All of that being said - and I am not expecting sympathy here - I don’t make much money from the flat, once the management fee, mortgage, tax and sinking fund have been paid. But for me the value of keeping it is that my offspring will have their own flat in a nice area after university, should they choose to move to London, rather than having to live in an overpriced grotty flat share in a dodgy part of town. It’s the only reason I don’t sell it.

"Rent can only rise once a year, any rise above market rate can be disputed fairly and 2 months notice is given."

I understand how you could measure whether 1 rent rises above market rates. But when you pass a law that applies to the whole market, how on earth can you determine what market rate is?

But in general, if you make being a landlord less appealing, surely you should expect some landlords to exit the market? Time will tell about the magnitude of this effect, but the idea that you have to be a monster to think this will be net negative seems mad.

I didn’t request that you asked permission.

You required people to open the bathroom windows every time they showered? Even in winter? Did you not install an extract?

Exactly. Old Victorian houses were not designed to breath, they were just full of draughts.
There is a very good reason single skin houses haven’t been built for over 100 years.

Well the good thing is that as it has to go through the courts to evict, the landlords will ultimately see through a CCJ for non payment tenants whereas before the tenants escaped it as a landlord would use a S21 for ease.

Rents will increase as supply will dwindle. People will be busy blaming landlords for the governments decisions though as they like to make the landlord the villain.

It isn’t as black and white as good and bad landlords.
The good will now have increased risk and higher costs.

Don’t be fooled into thinking if landlords sell there will be more property to buy. They are being bought up by big corporations. You will soon have supermarkets offering rentals.
Tenants will soon miss the small landlords who they dubbed as the bad guy.

All costs will eventually get passed to renters, inc LL protection insurance, which is very expensive, more LL's leave the market, total lack of enforcement, councils just don't have the staff (or the will) they know if they crack down too hard, LL will sell up, they will have to rehouse.
Same with the moves to a tighter EPC of C and changes to how this is assessed, again, costs will be passed to renters or sell up, why would a LL spend 15k on ASHP's etc which saves the tenant £150 per year?

The RRA is a classic Cart before the Horse, there is very little alternative to private renting, until there is, we need the sector to operate well, the 'act penalises good LLs, whilst allowing the bad ones to carry on as before.

My biggest concern though is the appeals and courts systems, 12month back logs are common, 7 months is the average for rent appeal, this should have been sorted first.

The Corporate LLs aren't interested in buying up single or even multi portfolios of older housing stock, they want the new builds in estates, the down side is the return to ghetto style areas.

I agree no fault evictions should go but there also needs to be better protection for LLs against bad tenants, this bill makes matters worse for both, reduced supply, higher rents, LL s will be far more picky who they accept.

There wont be a new wave of BTL LLs, better returns in a savings account, let alone long term equities investments using ISA wrap to avoid any tax.

Yes there was a fan. But they wouldn’t use the fan OR open the windows. I open the window every time I shower and I live in a new build which doesn’t require anywhere near the amount of ventilation that a Victorian building does. I also have fans in all shower rooms. It’s good to use both tbh. I also open windows in my new build every day. Last time I checked, opening a window didn’t kill me.

Why on earth people take umbrage to ventilating houses properly I’ll never know. My mother has been a right pain. Moved to a Victorian house and refused to open windows. It was beautiful when she first moved in. Within six months mould everywhere. Never opened windows. She complained bitterly. I was sick of hearing my own voice telling her why she had mould. Mould spores on the walls directly outside the bathroom door. Would she open the bathroom window after a shower? No she would not. So stupid. When she went in a care home, I yet again had the back breaking task of washing every single wall down with mould treatment. Her house never got mould again once she was out of it.

Half the housing stock in the UK is ancient and yet we have no idea how to respect the building materials used.

it’s funny to me how despite me listing a real life list of horrific abuse from tenants over a decade, people just can’t accept that tenants are often terrible and are desperate to pin the housing crisis on landlords. When it’s the governments fault. There are bad people everywhere and you don’t suddenly get majority bad people because they happen to be landlords.

Here is why I sold my rental
house last year:

abusive tenants causing £1000s damage
feeling like a parent to tenants, eg phones calls asking me to change light bulbs for them or replace AAA batteries on thermostats (how thick can you possibly be, who raised these people??)
rent defaults
causing the lovely neighbours noise pollution
treating pets inhumanely
removing the ability to use mortgage interest as an expense
EICR reports
upcoming demands to EPC ratings which will destroy most of the Victorian stock in the UK and will have condensation dripping down internal walls but everyone seems unable to grasp the needs of old buildings
tax returns
unpredictable nature of tenant abuse - my dad was dying and I still had to go rip up urine soaked flooring to desperately try to cover the vacancy period that I didn’t know was coming because the tenant defaulted on rent then did one in the middle of the night with no notice
never made a profit
called all kinds of name by people on the internet
and the new bill coming in which means abuse from tenants will just intensify

I’m so happy I am free!! I’ve never felt so good since I sold. I still pinch myself that I’ll never have to suffer abuse as a landlord ever again.

Corporates wont buy up random, old stock housing, they want new builds, A or B EPCs, discount multi buys.

So renters forced to live, not in a mixed area, perhaps close to work, schools etc but in large rented only estates, located wherever Blackstone etc have bought.

@greenappletasty i agree with you, older properties need ventilation, a fan can help but still needs fresh air, esp now with so much insulation and DB glazing.

Yes again, plenty of terrible tenants, just as there are terrible LLs

I think they must be selling up in our area as you used to be unable to buy any 1 bed flat for less than £150k, now there are loads under £100k. Never seen so many on the market!

So, then why all the anger directed towards people saying they were "accidental landlords"?

I never set out to become a LL. It was never part of my plan at all. I merely inherited a bungalow from my nan and I was so emotionally attached to it I couldn't sell it (I spent most of my childhood there). What on earth is wrong with me renting it out? I rented to a single mum on benefits actually so I am not sure what your problem is. You seem really angry.

I suppose you want me to take personal responsibility for a systematic housing issue that is beyond my control. Well sorry, not gonna do that I'm afraid. Take your blame elsewhere.

I had an inheritance, invested in equities, made a mint but a family member found herself being evicted, so i bought her house and she rents it off me for a below market rent, it was the right thing to do, i make a bit less money but if the EPC rules change (its currently a C) and criteria changes, the costs will be huge and i will have to think again.

So thankyou Labour.

I completely agree OP, renters do need to be protected from exploitation and I think the new act is a good thing.

Also I would much rather rent from a large corporate than a hobby landlord. The corporate landlords take better care of their properties and are more responsive to tenant issues in my experience.

In addition there are loads of buy to let properties for sale atm in a buyer’s market so it is creating more opportunities for renters to buy their own place (I have benefited from this personally).

Completely disagree. There are masses of ex rentals on the market at the moment and I, an ex-tenant, am buying one atm.

Also corporate landlords treat tenants way better than hobby landlords, I’d much rather rent from Tescos frankly.

I have to say on paper it sounds great! In reality less so. I volunteer for a charity, since November we have been inundated with people being evicted as their landlords are selling up.

Yes that’s true, I’ve also been evicted via S21 by my landlady ahead of the bill coming in. Shite behaviour by her, which just adds to my believe that renters need protecting from landlords. Worked out ok though as I’m now buying a lovely ex rental while landlady can’t sell (way overpriced). Karma 😂

Thats great for you and many other renters who can afford to buy but many tenants are too old for a mortgage, lack a deposit, don't earn enough, poor credit rating.
What about them?

No one has to be a LL, they can leave the market enmass.

Yes you may prefer renting from Tesco etc but that will be in a large development, you wont be able to chose the area, they do that, as i said corporates don't buy random properties in traditional residential areas.

This will have knock affects for rural areas and locals being able to stay close to where they born/live

Also corporate landlords treat tenants way better than hobby landlords, I’d much rather rent from Tescos frankly.

As someone who works with the vulnerable and disabled this is absolutely not true at all. Ive had many occasions to raise safeguarding concerns with these corporate landlords because their negligence has put vulnerable people at risk.
Half the time you cant even speak to anyone on the phone and they dont get back to you. The idea that corporate landlords care about their tenants is utterly laughable 🤣

Not in my experience @puddingwisdom, they were more responsive than the small landlords I’ve rented from and much more professional. Couldn’t even get an answer from my previous landlady on maintenance matters, it was just all about the rental income for her. It’s not right when these are people’s homes.

And my experience has been completely different. I've had to get social workers involved because the corporate landlords werent dealing with mould or dangerous housing conditions and these were vulnerable and disabled people! If you think corporations arent after money and profits then you are very naive

If the EPC rules change and they don't cap the costs to upgrade, lots more people will evicted to sell up. Our 1980s house was a draft and get to C it needs a heat pump and all the costs of that