Renters’ Rights Bill – Proposed Amendments from the Second Reading in The House of Lords
The Renters’ Rights Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Lords and will now progress to committee stage, where it will receive detailed, line by line, examination of all clauses, schedules and any viewpoints presented. Amendments may be offered to the Bill at this stage and the committee members will vote to accept or reject any changes.
Those watching the progress of this extraordinary Bill, which represents the largest and most far reaching shake up, of the Private Rental Sector, in the last 30+ years, may have noted some interesting and, in our opinion, common sense proposals for amendments in the second reading (4th February 2025). What particularly stood out for us, is that these proposed amendments were cross party. There was a strong statement from Lord Truscott (Independent member of the House of Lords and ex Labour member of the European Parliament) when addressing the Bill’s proposed abolition of fixed term tenancies, where he commented that this was “…a solution in search of a problem…” and many comments from various members of The House, on the Bill as a whole, highlighting “…a need to get the balance right…” “recognising the vital role and service good landlords provide…” “…not using blanket regulatory burdens as a blunt instrument to deter good landlords…” and “…a landlord is not a charity and some depend entirely on rent to pay mortgages…”
We have spoken with hundreds of landlords, during the progress of this Bill (and its predecessor The Renters’ Reform Bill) and written several articles on both and here are some of the Proposed Amendments from its 2nd reading in The House of Lords, from topics that we have seen to cause the most concern amongst landlords. It is important to note that these are proposed amendments at this stage and there are no guarantees – but they will surely flavour the discussions, examinations and subsequent voting of the committee stage. We have read the Parliamentary documents so that you don’t have to, but if you’d like to read them for yourself, you will find them here.
The Proposals:
- Fixed Term Tenancies of up to 12 months to be retained, with the ability to agree extensions of the fixed term after 4 months occupation.
- Student tenancies to remain as fixed term tenancies (to provide certainty to both tenants and landlords in the sector).
- Small landlords (who let fewer than 5 properties) to be able to continue to issue Section 21 (the so called no fault evictions).
- All possession grounds to be discretionary.
- Tenants to give Notice to Quit not earlier than 4 months after the commencement of a tenancy, meaning a minimum tenancy of 6 months (as opposed to 2 months as is currently in the Bill).
- The removal of S21 to be delayed until the Lord Chancellor has published an assessment of the operations of the possession process and the Secretary of State has been satisfied that the court service has sufficient capacity.
- An amendment to provide for a tenant to pay up to 12 months rent in advance, if mutually agreed with the landlord (overseas students were particularly acknowledged here).
- Rent increases, during the first 4 years of tenancies, to be index linked (using this metric in place of market levels), with limits on tenants’ ability to challenge rent increases on this basis.
- Proposed removal of the requirement that rent can only be decreased by a Rent Tribunal, therefore removing the incentive for tenants to appeal all rent increases.
- Scrapping of the delayed date that a rent increase would come into effect – thereby removing the incentive for all tenants to appeal all rent increases, to delay implementation.
- Restrictions on the circumstances under which a landlord can request a Guarantor.
- New training and qualification requirements for Agents.
- Landlords to have the comfort and confidence of an increased deposit for pets.
- An appeal to the market for better, more comprehensive and workable insurance products for pets, to allow peace of mind for both landlords and their tenants.
- With suitable evidential safeguards, properties should be made available to rent after 6 months of being marketed for sale (not 12 months as currently in the Bill).
- Bring Home Office tenancies (for Asylum Seekers etc.) under the Banner of the Decent Homes Act.
These proposals for amendment mean that the committee stage (date yet to be announced at the time of this article going to press) will be an interesting one and, as you would expect, we are watching this space very carefully!
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