Industry expert urges letting agents to champion the Renters’ Rights Bill

Industry expert urges letting agents to champion the Renters’ Rights Bill

0:03 AM, 26th July 2024, About 9 hours ago

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Since letting agents have crucial knowledge about the private rented sector (PRS), they must push for its improvement and support the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill.

That’s the view of Neil Cobbold, PayProp’s commercial director, and he says agents must engage with MPs to achieve this.

He warns though that landlords need to be confident they can gain possession of their property when they need it.

And that also means the court backlog needs to be resolved.

‘Custodians of reliable information about the PRS’

Mr Cobbold said: “Property professionals need to understand exactly what is being proposed and prove to politicians that they are the true custodians of reliable information about the PRS.

“We know from the experience of the former Renters (Reform) Bill that MPs are prepared to listen.

“We managed to achieve changes to the legislation as it went through Parliament. Now, we must do the same again.”

Court backlog may damage landlord confidence

He continued: “The devil will be in the detail. As it stands, this new Bill will encounter the same problem as the last one – a massive backlog in the courts that may damage landlords’ confidence that they can regain possession of their properties when necessary.

“We need to wait and see what new measures the government intends to put in place to mitigate this and establish the timeline for change.

“But at first glance, agents will be best placed to suggest the necessary amendments to ensure this Bill works for the sector.”


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