Landlords warn Renters' Rights Act plan meaningless without detail

Key guidance needs to be published by the Government as a matter of urgency if its Renters’ Rights roadmap has any chance of succeeding, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned.

The association made the call after it was revealed the first of the changes coming in under the new Act will be introduced on 1st May next year.

This is despite the fact that essential information - including details as to what must be included in new tenancy agreements – is yet to be made public.

Ben Beadle, NRLA Chief Executive said: “The announcement of a commencement date for these important reforms is welcome. However, a deadline alone is not enough. 

“We have argued consistently that landlords and property businesses need at least six months from the publication of regulations to ensure the sector is properly prepared for the biggest changes it has faced for over 40 years.

“Unless the Government urgently publishes all the guidance documents and written material needed to update tenancy agreements to reflect the changes to come, the plan will prove less a roadmap and more a path to inevitable failure.

“Without this, landlords, tenants, agents, councils and the courts will be left without the information required to adapt, creating utter confusion at the very moment clarity is most needed. 

“Ministers also need to explain how the county court will be ready to process legitimate possession cases far more swiftly than at present. As the cross-party Justice Committee has rightly warned, the court is simply dysfunctional. Vague assurances about digitisation, without an idea of what that means in practice, are simply not good enough.”

-ENDS-

Notes:

The NRLA has argued that a minimum of six months will be needed before Part 1 of the Bill (related to ending Section 21 repossessions and fixed term tenancies) takes effect, starting from the point at which all necessary regulations have been agreed by Parliament. This will allow a smooth transition, including:

• Informing over 11 million tenants in England about changes to their tenancy agreements.
• Equipping landlords, agents, and legal professionals with guidance and training to manage the transition effectively. That needs to include a comprehensive plan as to how the Government will ensure landlords understand their new responsibilities given Part 1 of the Act is likely to be implemented before the planned PRS database is up and running.
• Allow time for the publication of the updated Housing Health and Safety Rating System so that landlords have clarity about hazards and the opportunity to self-regulate before this element of the Decent Homes Standard is introduced. Adjusting policies and rates by insurance and mortgage providers.
• Ensuring solicitors fully understand the new possession requirements and the new mandatory contents of tenancy agreements. Landlords and agents will be reliant on them to update all of their new tenancies and any existing oral tenancy agreements before the commencement date. This is a substantial amount of work for a small number of specialist solicitors, and the influx of demand for such services will take months to resolve.
• Adapting court procedures, ready for an influx of in-person hearings. The Justice Select Committee has recently warned that the County Court is “dysfunctional”.
• Updating internal letting agent processes.
• Providing time for computer systems to be updated, new documents to be uploaded and technical problems to be ironed out.
• Providing local authorities with time to update their enforcement policies and recruit adequate staff to enforce new and existing standards.
• Ensuring the Property Tribunal is prepared for an increase in the number of rent appeals they may be asked to consider as a result of the Bill. We note that there are currently just 34 judges sitting on the Tribunal for potentially 4.7 million rent increases a year to determine.

Further information about the NRLA can be found at www.nrla.org.uk.  It posts on X @NRLAssociation.

For further information contact Ed Jacobs by emailing [email protected] or calling 07900 052659.

The NRLA’s press office can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or by calling 0300 131 6363.