Renters Reform Bill worse than feared

I've read some of the material on the new bill. If I understand it correctly, some of the functions of section 21 have been moved to section 8. And if I understand the situation correctly it is proposed that if a tenant is more than two months late with rent on three occasions then you can just evict.

Does this proposal mean that if the tenant is always one month in arrears (i.e. not more than two months late with payment but always in arrears) that you can never evict? Surely that would mean that if you have a 5 week deposit, but the tenant is always one month late with payment this means that in effect you have a 1 week deposit and you can't evict?

If that's right and I've not misunderstood the proposal this basically takes your deposit off you. You have no deposit and the tenant has no incentive to look after the property.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 18/05/2023 - 11:22
Courts also have the discretion to ignore minor errors such as typographical errors in the clause numbers.
The answer is to make sure that your document is properly drafted using phrases rather than section numbers

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 23/05/2023 - 12:17
Does the bill remove the ability to get a guarantor...if not, a guarantor will become standard practice, just as it already is in the student accommodation field

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 23/05/2023 - 12:17
There's a new mandatory ground of possession. As you say, in arrears of more than two months' worth of rent on three or more occasions in a period of two/three years (I'd need to check). It's to help with the Ground 8 evasion tactic of bringing the arrears below two months' worth just before the possession hearing. Nobody makes you take tent from the deposit.

Reply to the comment left by ListedBuilding. org at 25/05/2023 - 11:47
Yes judges do but often they don't and the consequences for a landlord are immense.

Bear in mind that it was not necessary to add this requirement to section 8 applications. Why are they being made harder when the Government says it is making it easier for landlords to evict defaulting tenants?

Reply to the comment left by Julesgflawyer at 25/05/2023 - 13:35So if the tenant is always 7 weeks late but never 8 weeks late, or perhaps >8 weeks on only two occasions for say 6-12 months does that mean that you can't get rid of them? I've had tenants like this that I've had to chase every single month for payment and they are a pain in the a**e.
I used to be able to get rid of them.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 25/05/2023 - 14:02
There will still be Grounds 10 and 11, but they are both discretionary.

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 25/05/2023 - 14:02Can anyone tell me what 'an occasion' is? Would January, February and March be 3 occasions?

Reply to the comment left by JB at 26/05/2023 - 08:49
theoretically if rent due monthly then yes I take that to mean it could be concurrently so three months in a row. BUT as there is no clarity, occasions could mean weekly (if your put in your contract that said rent arrears would be chased on a weekly occasion basis?? )

I feel that the 'within 2/3 years' is unneccesary. Once is enough, twice is purposeful, three times is just taking the p***.

If I had to use this ground I would stick to what I would see as min required to tick this ground.

Within 2 calendar years of date of the tenancy start, min two months of rent missing on three sep occasions. Eg rent two months behind on 1 Jan.
7th Jan would be first occasion missed, second week Jan the second and third week the third.

There are your three occasions where rent min 2 months in arrears missed.

It states IN a period of 2/3 years. Does it have to be within exactly that? The arrears HAS to spread into year 2 minimum to comply with the ground? What if its within a calendar year(as example above)?

Reply to the comment left by JB at 26/05/2023 - 08:49Best to read what the Bill actually says:
“Ground 8A
Within a three year period ending with the date of service of the notice under section 8—
(a) if rent is payable monthly, at least two months’ rent was unpaid for at least a day on at least three separate occasions,
or
(b) if rent is payable for a period shorter than a month, at least eight weeks’ rent was unpaid for at least a day on at least three separate occasions.
For the purposes of this ground, occasions are “separate” if in between those occasions the amount of the unpaid rent reduced to less than the amount mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or sub-paragraph (b) (whichever is applicable) for at least one day.