End to section 21 notices. When will it happen?

[NConthe]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has any insight into how quickly the ban on section 21 notices could come in. Could it be instant with the Royal assent of the bill/law or will there definitely be a period of time whereby landlords can serve a section 21 notice? I can’t find anything definitive

While I’m no fan of corporates taking over, they will no longer be able to officially discriminate on some of these grounds under the new legislation.

Thats not to say they won’t unofficially discriminate…

I'm sure they will still be able to discriminate on affordability/credit score grounds- which will amount to the same thing.

You are right, they will still discriminate
When you are unsucessful in scuring a Rental the Agent/LL does not tell you why so it will still be possible to discriminate for any reason as is the case now
The pet amendment gave me hope but it was scrapped so you can't offer any additional rent or deposit for having a pet and most LL's will give you a swerve

With the pet thing you can lie about having pets then, once you're in, if they find out, under the new rules, they are very unlikely to be able to do anything about it. It's the one part of the new legislation that I'm broadly in favour of.

And the selling prices of such properties will fall as there’s an increase in supply of them on the market. Great for a FTB who can afford it, not so great for an owner occupier wanting to move town/go up the property ladder who may now be in negative equity or at least take a hit financially.

I agree unless its a No Pets building as per The Head lease OR if its "unreasonable" but that definition is not fixed in law - I suppose 2 Great Danes in a 1 bed flat or 6 monkeys in a 2 bed house or something

Well yes, apart from that sort of thing. Otherwise hiding having pets is a strategy I will recommend.

Me too

Surely the landlords will just increase ALL rents by say £50 pm to cover potential pet damage thus the provision that you HAVE to accept pets will lead to increased rents for everyone because you can't impose it on just pet owners

Probably
They will probably all advertise really high rents as well as you can't offer over the advertised rents under the new Act so they will advertise high and see who offers the closest I imagine

Yes, but many FTB either don't have deposit or can't get the multipliers as only one person out of couple works. I'm leaving mine until 2026 then selling 1 then another in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The government will offer a grant but you have to pay the first £15k. I've been quoted £13.5k per house for internal cladding and redecorating so the tenant can save about £134 per annum. It just doesn't make economic sense to me. They are between 2 and 4 points from EPC C but I've done the easier fixes like new boiler, individual thermostats, loft lagging and lighting. I am only charging rent of between £700 and £850 pcm for these 2 and 3 bedroom Victorian Terraced houses. I'd rather take the hit on CG tax and spend some of the money on more holidays and give some to DC to pay off their mortgages. I'll still have 8 btl houses that are already EPC B or C.

This doesn’t make renting out a property sound more attractive

I agree. But in this instance my animal welfare hat takes priority over my landlord one.

Again though, most reasonable landlords will allow a reasonable tenant a cat or a dog if the property is suitable. The tenant will be responsible for any damage to the property.

But there is a substantial minority of tenants who will use this change to keep unsuitable pets in unsuitable properties. Flats where yappy dogs bark all day and night. Dogs that howl while the owner is out - often most of the time. Or one of those lovely pit bull type beasts that never harm a fly.

Again the onus will be on the landlord to deal with the fall out. Housing associations eventually act on dangerous dogs, but usually after they have injured someone. Individual landlords have to fund the court process themselves and will find that more difficult once this legislation comes into force.

But it is the neighbours who have their quality of life destroyed by other people’s poor choices.

The Renters Rights Bill (not reform, that’s the the Conservative version of the original bill) is almost at the point of Royal Ascent, which is expected within around a week. The government have previously stated they will allow sufficient time for landlords and agents to prepare, six months has been mentioned though nothing definitive.

The act, once passed, will abolish section 21 notices, as I understand it those already served will still be valid. However the courts are likely to be incredibly backed up, and become increasingly so once the bill is in effect.

I’ve found Suzanne Smith very helpful in keeping up with the details of the bill, there’s also a landlords hub which provides support to members. https://theindependentlandlord.com/

The Tenant will only be responsible for damage up to the amount of their deposit (5 weeks rent). It may be possible to take Tenants to court for further damages but that will be costly and take ages.
A pet (or child or bad Tenant) can do a lot more damage than 5 weeks rent. The damage to the Rental MIL had was around £5000 and the deposit was £1000

Now this suggests that the section 21 notice will be abolished immediately upon royal assent and also suggests the government will give landlords time, possibly up to 6 months.

It can’t be both?!

I don't know what Suzanne Smith has said, but Section 21 notices will definitely not be abolished on Royal Assent. The bill is clear that the relevant provisions do not come into force on Royal Assent. The Secretary of State has to make regulations setting a date when they will come into force. As per my previous posts, the regulations cannot be made until at least 40 days after Royal Assent.

Section 21 notices already served will remain valid. If possession proceedings have already started, the notice will remain valid until the conclusion of those proceedings. If possession proceedings have not started, the landlord has until 6 months after the notice was issued or 3 months after the new legislation comes into force, whichever is earlier, to start proceedings. Provided they do so within that timeframe, the Section 21 notice will remain valid until possession proceedings have concluded. If the landlord misses that timeframe, the Section 21 notice will cease to be valid.

Thanks, and that applies to any new section 21 notices issued in the period between royal assent and the act coming in to force?

Correct.

For a lot of people they won’t ever be booted out of a private rental again because they won’t be able to get/afford one in the first place.

Removing something like section 21 is not going to give renters what they think they are going to get.

I suspect there will be huge numbers facing homelessness in the New Year as those landlords who can will be evicting their tenants.

I also suspect that the number of short term rentals will be rising.

Those that sell will find that there are very few FTBs willing to push a sale through and the place will most likely go to a landlord who might not be someone who has their tenants best interests at heart.

I'm going to issue a section 21 on April 24th. I can't issue earlier as tenants only moved in on December 23rd. They send long ranting messages of complaints on a weekly basis. A few were legitimate complaints like radiator stopped working in one bedroom so we got a new one fitted 4 days later. They complained an old door was left in back garden after fitting a new door. DH went to remove it for them. They regularly complain the rent is too high but they knew the rent before the signed contract and I have not put it up. One complaint was a door squeeked! Another complaint was the plug in wash basin was not a perfect fit. DH said it stopped water running away but got them a new one anyway. In total they sent 35 separate messages of complaint in 3 months. I have 11 other btl houses and have received 6 messages from these houses combined over 3 months and one of those simply said thank you after I replaced a fridge freezer. I have only used a section 21 once apart from this in 23 years. I hate doing it because they have 3 very young DC and pregnant again but if I don't do it now it will be harder after April 30. I will sell this house as these tenants are just too much hassle. I am hoping the council might accommodate them.

. I have 11 other btl houses

Jesus Christ

@caringcarer - make sure you do absolutely everything by the book - you only have till 31 July to start possession proceedings after serving a s21 under the old system. It’s going to be to the wire. Apologies if you aready know that.