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?

What will happen is so obvious and this government are refusing to see it, in preference for what they think is a short term headline win.

it used to be (years ago) that rent was paid direct to LLs if receipients were in receipt of housing benefit- then it was deemed unfair and paid direct
ro recipients who in turn pay their LL - a crazy system which has resulted in months of non payment to LLs who struggle to deal with non payers.

I have no issue with these new regulations BUT it should be balanced by new regulations enabling swift legal evictions of bad tenants and debt recovery.

There is decreasing incentive to be a LL so in the long run rents will rise, LL will become even more choosy, it will be more difficult to find a property to rent if you have pets or children.

Balance and fairness for both sides is crucial.

Unless it's a council house, in which case the rent is paid directly to councils. The politicians knew exactly what problems this would cause with unpaid rent to private landlords, but did it out of spite.

it is. On the other side of it though- my 82 year old mum needs to sell her rental property so that she can move house into something manageable. The tenant was given notice 3 months ago and is refusing to move out so now she has to take thrm to court. The tenant thinks they’re standing up to a big mean landlord, not a little old lady who desperately needs to liquidate the asset to buy herself a more suitable property after being widowed.

The policy is aimed precisely at the type of person who doesn't understand the law and thinks landlords evict on a complete whim with zero notice.

The old Section 21 gave a reasonable backstop (usually 2 months' notice after the initial period) so that both sides had an exit route.

Under the new Act, tenants can still give two months' notice and leave whenever they like. Landlords, however, now have to prove a specific ground under Section 8 and go through the courts – which are already notoriously slow (median wait around 6 months or more in many areas).

That means:

A landlord who needs to sell (maybe for retirement, inheritance tax, or their own family circumstances) or move a relative in could be stuck for a very long time.

Bad tenants (rent arrears, damage, anti-social behaviour) become much harder and more expensive to remove. Several experienced ex-landlords on this thread have described exactly that nightmare.

The "sacrifice" you're describing falls entirely on the landlord's side, while the tenant keeps an easy exit.

Private renting only works if enough people are willing to be landlords. When the risk and hassle go up sharply, many (especially small and accidental ones) sell up or sit on the property empty. We're already seeing rents rising and supply tightening in many areas as a direct result.

Homes matter to landlords too – it's often their pension, inheritance, or life savings tied up in bricks and mortar. Treating every landlord as a greedy profiteer who deserves extra punishment ignores the thousands of ordinary people providing housing the state can't or won't supply.

The point of the law was better tenant security. The likely outcome is fewer homes available to rent at all, which makes everyone (especially families with kids in school) worse off. Economics isn't optional here.

A lot of them deserve to be bashed!

Councils have not helped the situation by telling tenants they needed to be evicted, not just given notice, for help with housing.
The eviction process is stressful for thd tenant and landlord.

The slum and illegally operating landlords will continue.

It is currently illegal to advertise and rent to tenants of a specific characteristic. But a national paper exposed this was happening last week in many locations. Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Decent landlords will exit the market and slum landlords taking cash from tenants and ignoring overcrowding and subletting will continue. The tenants won’t complain for fear of it costing more.

Women on low incomes will stay in shitty abusive relationships as they are unlikely to meet the criteria. When houses are in short supply tenants with professional jobs who can’t get CCJs/defaults/bankruptcy for fear of losing their job will be in great demand. Why would a landlord take a risk on anyone else?

As a single property landlord I have no issue with the RRA.

The issue for me remains the difficulty in getting bad tenants out. It's not fair to have to go through a lengthy and expensive legal process and it's infuriating that Councils encourage tenants to break the law by overstaying S21. This is the main risk in being a landlord and I raised my rents (despite my current tenants being no problem) because I have to build up an emergency fund to cover this risk should I have to go months and months without payment.

How would you take 6 months rent up front?

I’m a long term landlord and yes there are bad landlords and bad tenants….. additionally there are ignorant tenants and ignorant landlords (those that don’t know how to manage a property) and cause damage. Whilst in principle I agree with improving tenants rights, making it easier to evict BAD tenants has not happened, the court system is in a terrible state, this is my main issue with the new law. AND these costs will be carried by the landlord and tenants. So future rent increases will include a monthly amount that covers future eviction, but that burden will be spread across all tenants.
cost breakdown pcm example
rent £1000
mortgage -£250
repairs and maintenance -£150 ( this includes ongoing costs and tenant change over)
eviction costs -£50
tax -£250 (approx)
Result is £300 profit (aka £3600 per annum on a £200,000 property value).

a landlord has to put aside money each month for repairs and maintenance and future evictions, now ed Miliband wants to pass on the cost of improving energy efficiency, this will add another monthly cost (energy efficiency improvement -£100, it’s just not a sustainable model and the risk return model is radically shifting.

I need to increase rents by 30%. I hope the tenants are getting ready for this… and it makes me very sad for them.

In summary the government wants corporation landlords, less necks to grab…. But once this happens the power balance will shift again and you know that landlord who has not increased your rent for 3+ years bye bye.

its simple more regulation = more costs = rent increase

and as a landlord I will actually become more selective on tenants, I will actually request to view the property they are currently renting to see how they treat it.

Shitty landlords will take it cash with no audit trail. If you are faced with this or being homeless people will take the risk.

As do a lot of tenants, just read this thread.

That means:
A landlord who needs to sell (maybe for retirement, inheritance tax, or their own family circumstances) or move a relative in could be stuck for a very long time.

they’d serve a section 8 if they want to sell or move family in

Completely agree, I rented for 8 years in the UK, the 2nd house had terrible damp problems which would get tarted up cheap after every tenant, I complained to the letting agent who just swanned in and fobbed me off with some condensation bulls* among other things. Not all landlords are shit, but IME the vast majority are.

If you’ve got 6 months rent up front in cash, it’s doubtful you’re facing homelessness

Of course a landlord can refuse you if you are on benefits, you are stupid (sorry) if you think they wont

they wont tell you thats why they dont want you, they just wont accept your offer. as long as they dont say thats the reason why, there is no comeback. They will just accept another offer- they dont have to give a reason why

also all landlords are now selling off, as they cant be arsed with the new regs. So the tenant will now have lots of shiny new rights- but there won’t be any properties to have them in

It’s not without its disadvantages but I’m thrilled arsehole landlords can no longer evict tenants with no legitimate reason.

And no, most landlords won’t be able to sell quickly and at the prices they want, not in this terrible market. Especially if their properties are leasehold and / or flats.

There will be fewer and fewer family homes available for private rent. Not worth the hassle for smaller landlords to rent these out and with a Labour government in power I know we will certainly be selling our 4 bed family house that has been a long term rental when the current tenants move out. More and more 4 bed houses locally being converted to HMOs by developers. This seems to be the way things are going in my city.

I find that hard to believe, 9 times out of 10 it is extremely hard for any tom dick or harry to get private rented and you often need a guarantor, this was the case for me and that was 15 years ago! So the landlords would get all this protection and the tenant merely gets a roof over their head albeit a leaky one.

Actually it’s not
the landlord isn’t allowed to ask for upfront payments

but the Tennant can offer and the landlord can accept

maybe read up on the law your so happy to trash

The Tennant can offer an upfront payment

the landlord isn’t allowed to adl
or make it a condition of the tenancy

This type of issue is the real problem.

I'm a professional but have always rented for a few reasons that were beyond my control and one year just rolled into the next.

I was in my last house for over a decade. Rent increases were modest and the landlord said when I moved in that I was to treat the place as my own. So I did. I redecorated as and when I wanted to, kept the garden beautifully and, when I moved out, they bought me a card and a gift thanking me for looking after the house so well.

I've been in my current place for 5 years and, at the inspection, the LL literally gushed at how beautiful I'd made the place, how lovely it was and how well kept it was. The garden was a bit of an overgrown mess and is now a lovely garden with borders.

I've never caused any damage to a house and treat it as my home.

But then I've always had LLs who did things properly and then left me to get on with it.

Eg I book my own gas inspections directly with the gas man so no having to fit around someone else's schedule. In the last place, I'd message the LL with any issues (very, very few over the years) but I had the numbers of the tradespeople they used and contacted them directly to arrange repairs. There haven't been any issues in this place.

The problem isn't landlords or tenants per se. It's always some people.

ETA I spent a.weekend with a friend of mine in her house that had been rented out and tbh, it was shocking. It was absolutely filthy, it stank, there had been damage done. It cost her thousands to repair. More than anything, I was shocked that anyone had allowed themselves and their childen to live in such conditions!

The concept of reforming renters' rights began with the Conservative government under Theresa May in 2019, which led to the Renters (Reform) Bill introduced by Michael Gove in May 2023.

Genuine question but as pretty much every house up for rent has multiple people applying for it, how would anyone ever be able to prove that the landlord chose to rent it to the person with a full time job and not the person on benefits? Surely when people go to viewings they will talk about what they do for work. I don't think the bill is going to stop that from happening. I'm a tenant who gets UC though very lucky to have come into some inheritance so I can buy a house. I don't think the bill is as strong as people think.