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 am a professional landlord with multiple properties and my girlfriend is an accidental landlady, renting her house out having moved in with me.

Her current tenants have just given notice. She met some potential new tenants recently. Their finances are OK but if the husband lost his job they would probably struggle. Due to the RRA, I’ve advised she hold out for a family which either has 2 earners who could cover the rent or one with enough savings to cover a long period of unemployment. I think she is better off having it empty for longer (she won’t as hers is the only 3 bed property available in the town anyway), so if we are typical, this means there will be fewer rental properties available and it will be much more difficult for tenants with marginal finances to get nicer properties.

Plus inevitably landlords will leave the markets and rents will go up as those who remain in the market will need a higher return to make it worth their while taking the additional risks.

It will definitely make renting more expensive, but maybe more secure and predictable. I think rental increases will be more like yearly CPI +1 like with a mobile phone contract. I have the strong suspicion this will be one of the many Labour policies that will be rolled back once they’re gone.

ive been looking tonight

there are 3 brand new properties for rent, all in a row and all private rental - is this the large operates buying them up? many flats without a chain for sale and they certainly look like they were rental properties from the pictures

rental market is going to change

looking in my town and there has been 4000 house built on 4 estates in the last 7 years - nothing 3 bed under £1500 per month for rent thats with a population of 36000 and 6 properties which are 3 bed between £1500 and £3000 a month

They did all these things for renters but they should also have made it easier for landlords to get rid of tenants that don't pay. Plenty of shitty landlords but plenty of shitty renters too, and something should be done about them.

I would never be a landlord.

Rents have been rising, above inflation, way before the RRA & smaller LLs have been leaving the sector for many years.
My point is there is little factual evidence that the numbers leaving has risen.

The courts system is broken, an S8 takes no longer to get to court than a S21, both were/are 2 months.
This doesn't add extra costs & there are millions of tenants in private rented, % wise, very few end up court.

I'm not quite sure why you're so against the RRA, perhaps you've some older sub standard properties your tenants live in?

No party inc Labour have any plans to increase rents by CPI plus 1%, you're clearly mis informed.

No one knows the GE result in 2029, its likely, if anything, to be a coalition

The Government aren’t in charge of private rental rises, but by bringing in open contracts and limiting to yearly raises what will actually happen is it will guarantee yearly rises on every property. It will be some sort of inflation index plus a bit, it will be across the industry,

My properties are all good, thanks, with longstanding tenants. I’m just realistic.

So like myself and many others, you've not sold up.

Cooling Down (2025–2026): As of early 2026, the rental market is moving toward better balance. With affordability limits reached and a slight improvement in rental supply, annual rent growth slowed to roughly 1.9% to 3.5%

Whilst this is UK wide, this tends to go against your belief LLs are selling up in droves.

I like to wait for real evidence before making v large financial decisions.

Im realistic that the RRA will not be cost-neutral. You do you, I’ll do me.

It would be if landlords weren’t selling their houses right left and centre in Leeds making it more difficult for my daughter to find a place to live. The ones left have increased rents astronomically!

Some data you might be interested in as opposed to ChatGPT.

https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/why-more-uk-landlords-are-leaving-homes-empty-or-selling-up

The government aren't going to make it easier for private landlords to evict tenants that don't pay - who do you think those tenants would turn to for housing?

The article i posted from was research done by the Big Issue, i haven't got ChatGPT but like you, i do use Google!

I could have posted positive articles from Shelter but thought that might be a bit too biased

Landlords selling in record numbers
Recent data confirms that landlord sales are running at historically high levels. According to the National Residents Landlords Association

Plus their data is from 2024.

The NRLA has fought tooth and nail against the RRA, another biased pov.

As it stands, i just don't see why anyone would be against the RRA atm, in practice it really does make very little difference, its the proposed EPC changes and the better homes standards that will, if introduced as reported that will make LLs sell, inc me, its a big worry for many LLs/Tenants.

I think we are arguing about the wrong thing here.

There has been no changes in evicting tenants who don't pay, its still via the courts.
In fact non payment of rent S8 eviction notice is just 2 weeks, a S21 was 2 months.

A S8 will lead to a CCJ against the tenant (requires a court hearing) making re renting or any other financial decisions bad for the tenant.

Sure they'll be some tenants who wont care, as there has always been but for the majority, they wont want this, could lead to quicker repossessions?

You have a great deal more faith in S8 than I do. I’m part of a large community of LL friends and the horror stories they can all tell of judges making ridiculous judgements when there is no legal basis to do so would make your eyes water.

S21 was often used to avoid S8, even when the tenant was at fault. Of course, no data was ever collected on this so it’s easy for you to dismiss. But the removal of S21 will make a real difference to LLs.

“Ground 8 (Rent Arrears): The tenant owes at least 3 months' rent (or 13 weeks if paid weekly/fortnightly) both at the time of the notice and at the court hearing.“

I assume landlords used section 21 for troublesome tenants who paid one month but not the next or frequently paid late, were low level antisocial etc, did not report minor issues until they became big expensive ones to solve, and just a pain in the backside.

A troublesome tenant can now just what bring the money below the 13 week threshold of arrears before the hearing?

I agree landlords should not easily evict good paying tenants who report issues promptly and look after properties in a fair manner and comply with all their obligations. And landlords should also have to comply, with all their obligations. However, if the regulatory burden on landlords is far higher than on owners (e.g EPCs etc) then it is unfair - as why should renters pay more than owners. That part is entirely absurd. The cost is always passed to the tenants. If we want more green housing, then the obligation needs to be placed on the deepest pockets aka owners.

However, if the situation is now for private landlords have to take on difficult tenants who really should be in social housing (because they just do not have their act together), then clearly a lot of landlords will leave, because it is a misappropriation of risk. Or councils will need to ensure they pay those landlords a fair amount directly by underwriting said properties. A tenant who does not look after the property is more expensive than a tenant who does, in the long run. If I as an owner neglect my house too, then it devalues.

Regarding tenanted houses, unfortunately the “maintenance” is never 100 per cent the landlords as reasonable amounts of care, airing etc need to be taken by tenants too. And a lot of arguments arise over what is fair wear and tear. And again, families with pets typically can cause more fair wear and tear. A single professional couple at work most of the time will cause less. That is just basic common sense.

These judgments would have been occurring under previous legislation.

If no data collected, then neither of us know but it is absolutely been the case that some tenants have abused both the system and LLs, costing some a great deal of money, this is why its always been vital to have LLs insurance to cover this, i hope you have such insurance, its always been needed, same as you have building insurance.

I do not have faith in anything to do with Govt legislation, but as i keep repeating, i want to see the evidence, rather than a constant stream of anecdotal scare stories.

How do you see the rolling tenancy and ‘fair’ annual rent increases going ? I used to generally only put it up for new tenancies but now it will be yearly. Do you think it will end up being an industry wide yearly rise in line with inflation?

You can request it
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-landlord-request-for-a-managed-payment-or-rent-arrears-deduction

I've requested it twice.

First one the tenant moved out. She'd really enjoyed Christmas using two months rent payments.
Someone took an angle grinder to the wall to remove the TV bracket.

Second one got me nowhere as he wasn't claiming at that address. That one cost me an awful lot more than the rent missed, as the house was stuffed full of absolute crap. And I mean absolutely stuffed.

Why would you put rent up yearly now when you could have put it up yearly or more before?

Are you saying you re going to use the RRA to increases rents, despite no real increases to your costs?

I just did it when renewing contracts or new tenancies before. I’m not going to be renewing contracts anymore, so a yearly inline with inflation seems to make sense. I can see everyone doing it this way, some inflation index plus.

So you upped rents despite no real increases in your costs and now you re going to increase rents yearly and higher than the CPI inflation rate.

Its this type of behavior that has bought about the RRA and now the PRS database.

I think we can't afford to miss a yearly increase now as we're limited to once per
year. Although there is no limit, it's restricted to market rent so a LL doesn't want to fall too far behind that.
I read a lot about LLs allowing the rent to fall behind market rent as a 'reward' for being a good tenant. Unfortunately when the margins are as tight as they are now, it ultimately doesn't do the tenant any favours. It means less money to maintain and repair is available.

Costs have increased hugely. When you factor in a new kitchen and bathroom every 15 years, new flooring every 10, repairs and maintenance, agent costs, statutory requirement costs, finance costs, changes to leasehold, etc, there's little profit without capital growth. And there's going to be little capital growth in the next 5 years at least.