Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law – here’s what it means for you

The mandatory threshold for an arrears eviction will increase from two months’ to three months’ rent.
If the landlord gives notice for these reasons and the tenant does not leave within four months

So 4 months of not paying before they can evict? 

Not great, not terrible. Seems like it could’ve gone further.

Landlords have been reacting to this for a while

We’ve just purchased our new home and in the last 6 months we must’ve looked at a lot of houses. At least 90% of places we were told had previously been rented out for years and now up for sell.

The place we brought the owner couldn’t answer any of our questions really, because he hadn’t even been to the property in 20 years!

Been looking forward to this coming in. Fantastic changes to rent/tenancies across the board.

So happy they passed even if it is a massive headache for landlords.

This is not going to have the desire effect the Government wants and I say this as somebody who rented for nearly 15 years.

Yes we as renters do need extra protections but then so do Landlords.

The renters bill needed to be fair to both parties and this is very one sided.

All that is going to happen is many private renters selling up and Corporate Landlords taking over which is horrible.

That and less rental properties which will just push prices even higher.

Something that’s not mentioned in the article, is an expansion of rent repayment orders, as there are now some new ones (of most note, knowingly or recklessly misusing a posession order), and raising the amount due back to the tenant, up to 2 years worth of rent (from one). They aren’t used super often, but they are quite noteworthy, and to any tenants who have had incorrect eviction notices served, and successfully challenged them in court, I shall simply note that you can, and should seek one against your landlord.

Also, fun fact, once the new database kicks in, other than a very small number of grounds, if the landlord isn’t on the database, they can’t actually evict you (once the relevant aspects of the law kick in). I’m sure we all know where this is going…

Now put a cap on greedy landlords charging ridiculous prices for shared accommodation and 1 bed flats.

We have holiday lets and HMRC used to allow winter rents for us but this bill has stopped that. Clearly a use case too far, but they managed to get student rentals covered. Overall a good thing but needs a bit more work.

Every one on here supporting this, you realise that landlords will just put rental prices higher, only rent to full time employment tenants, and many landlords will inevitably sell and therefore less houses available, subsequently meaning higher prices.
Source: I deal with rentals in london and this is already the discussion amongst many landlords. They will just filter out self employed/high risk tenants and put a higher guide price to counter the cap. But then again, what do you expect from a government that increased taxes already and going to increase them again next month.

I’m a landlord, well I was, my tenants gave notice last month. I didn’t even know about yearly contracts, I never put a date on the tenancy, all I said was one month’s notice if they want to move out, which they now are.

I know they’re few and far between, but not all landlords are shitty

It’s not really an issue to us. Our properties meet standards and we keep on top of maintenance.

We don’t usually increase the rent during tenancies (properties are popular with 2 or 3 year let’s). Unfortunately that will have to change if the government push our costs up.

Low income tenants with CCJ’s and poor credit will have no chance of renting privately.

We have been planning for this for a few years and already only take low risk tenants with good income and a guarantor. Plus we buy rent insurance. The sector as a whole has been slow to take this on board. But I’m seeing evidence that things are going to change and most landlords will reduce risk. Remember we often have 50 applicants for each property.

Expect more risky tenants queuing outside the council.

Abolishing S.21 seems fair but it can have a downside. Landlords with problem tenants often used it as the easiest way. Now they will have to use S.8 and the real reason they want to evict. Suddenly no fault evictions which made tenants eligible for council support become “fault” evictions where the council has no duty.

Supply is definitely being reduced as landlords sell up. Good news for those with money and credit to buy as more properties on the market.

So basically good for some tenants, bad news for others. Time will tell.