0:05 AM, 9th October 2024, About 11 hours ago 4
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Renters in England are facing an average cost of £2,216 for unwanted house moves following eviction, according to research from Generation Rent.
This ‘eviction tax’ includes costs such as the deposit, ‘overlapping’ rent from old and new tenancies, and other moving expenses.
As MPs debate the Renters’ Rights Bill in the Commons today, the organisation wants the law to stipulate that landlords waive the last two months’ rent.
It says the average rent in England is £1,327, meaning two month’s compensation would cover the ‘eviction tax’ costs.
Generation Rent’s chief executive, Ben Twomey, said: “£2,216 is an astonishing amount of money to have to stump up for a move you didn’t choose to make.
“Along with the inconvenience of being uprooted and having to find a new home, you can play by the rules but still rack up thousands of pounds of debt when the landlord decides to kick you out.”
He added: “The cost of renting crisis continues to cut deep, and these enormous moving costs can be the difference between renters finding a new home or finding themselves out on the streets.
“The government must use the opportunity of the Renters’ Rights Bill to compensate evicted renters by making landlords waive the last two months’ rent, so we have the breathing space to make the savings we need to keep a roof over our heads.”
While the Bill will abolish the Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, it will still allow landlords to evict when selling a property or moving back in themselves.
The Renters’ Reform Coalition (RRC) is calling on the government to introduce two months’ rent compensation for tenants evicted under these grounds.
It says that compensation would help mitigate the financial hardship faced by renters who are forced to move out of their homes.
The RRC argues that having to pay compensation in the case of a no-fault, landlord-need eviction would reduce the number of evictions that result in homelessness.
It would also discourage landlords from trying to ‘abuse’ the new eviction grounds as a ‘backdoor’ to the banned Section 21 process, the RRC warns.
Tom Darling, a director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: “It’s totally unjust that a renter can be evicted through absolutely no fault of their own and have to meet costs of more than two grand – this is just another factor in our broken renting system which contributes to homelessness and poverty.
“We welcome the government’s Renters’’ Rights Bill – the end of section 21 will mean greater security for millions of renters across England.”
He adds: “But let’s be clear: no-fault evictions will continue.
“That’s why we’re calling on the government to go further and protect tenants against the ‘eviction tax’ through two months’ rent as compensation.”
The organisations are also urging MPs to pay attention to their other proposals, such as:
Cider Drinker
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Sign Up9:18 AM, 9th October 2024, About 2 hours ago
Deposits are protected in government schemes. Any deductions are wholly justified or the tenant can seek arbitration. Leave the property as you found it (with the exception of fair wear and tear) and the deposit will be returned in full.
Tenants need to give a month’s notice to end a tenancy. This means they may well need to pay rent for two properties for up to a month whenever they move home. Labour, in their infinite wisdom, are increasing the notice period to two months. This will potentially double the overlapping rent period.
I have some sympathy for other moving expenses where the tenant has not been at fault (plenty of no fault grounds under Section 8 of the Housing Act). If the landlord didn’t clearly state that the tenancy would be brought to an end by a given date, a contribution towards moving expenses could be warranted. This must be limited and, of course, needs to be an allowable expense for tax purposes.
If the government made letting property an attractive investment, tenants wouldn’t need to move so often.
Cider Drinker
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Sign Up9:32 AM, 9th October 2024, About An hour ago
Average tenancies are three years. I’ll need to add 6% to the rent so that I can pay two months compensation. Maybe I’d better make it 10% to allow for the risk of my tenancies being shorter than the average.
Every cost comes at a price.
Dylan Morris
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Sign Up10:34 AM, 9th October 2024, About 27 minutes ago
Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 09/10/2024 - 09:18I also disagree with the proposed two months notice that a tenant needs to give to end the tenancy. Much better if it stays at one month. Image a tenant approaches a landlord to rent a property, but has to give two months notice to their current landlord. As the new landlord will I be happy for the new tenant not to move in for two months ? The tenant can of course start paying for the new tenancy straight away but there will be an “overlap”of rent of two months costing the tenant a lot of money. Much better to keep as now with one month notice.
Cider Drinker
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Sign Up11:08 AM, 9th October 2024, Less than a minute ago
Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 09/10/2024 - 10:34
Exactly. These void periods are immensely wasteful.
It would be better if notice periods could be agreed between two adults.
Perhaps one week when the property is returned in a condition suitable to re-let and viewings have been permitted to two months when the property is returned in a non-lettable condition and/or when viewings have not been permitted.