Renters Rights Bill: What Every Landlord MUST Know!

This Renters Rights Bill is a game changer for landlords and property investors! The shift to rolling tenancies and the abolition of Section 21s makes managing properties more complex. I’m particularly interested in how the new rules around rent increases and pet policies will play out. It's essential to stay informed and adapt our strategies to protect our investments and ensure compliance

Reply to the comment left by havens havens at 26/09/2024 - 11:52We can increase the rent only once each year using section 13
The tenant will now have nothing to loose by referring the rent increases to a tribunal because the tribunals will no longer have the ability to increase the rent but they can reduce it.
This must be a win win for the tenant.
The rent that the tribunals set can only take effect from the date the tribunal set the new rent.
Most tenants will be referring increases to the tribunal if only to defer paying the increase and this could take months before the tenants have to start paying the new rate.
I can also see this as a good way of keeping rents low, it will be rent capping by the back door a bit like we experienced pre 1988 housing act.
A disaster!

F-ing ridiculous, totally unbalanced of course ,13 weeks of rent of arrears and will probably rise.
New tenants will now need property owning guarantors to balance this which may exclude many or put more pressure on social housing so this government will now find more homeless and how will they explain that.
So what happens if the directors of the management company or the deed say so pets in a block of flats or other tenants complain or the landlord suffers from asthma or do landlord's no longer have any human rights.

I can only hope that removing Section 21 encourages tenants to behave themselves. After all, if they are evicted through the Section 8 process, the reason will be available for all to see. They will struggle to get another private rental. The council may not have the statutory duty to rehouse them if they are deemed to be intentionally homeless.
Other than that, the RRB is simply depressing for both landlords and tenants. Every single line adds indirect cost or direct costs. Costs that the tenant will, quite rightly, end up paying.

Reply to the comment left by David at 26/09/2024 - 17:42
They are also introducing rent controls by the back door.
We will be allowed to review the rent once a year using section 13.

The tenants can then refer these rent increases to the tribunal who can either agree the rent or reduce it but cannot suggest an increase

Happy in the knowledge that their rent cannot be increased by the tribunal I would say that most tenants would refer these to the tribunal because it is a win win situation for them.

The rent agreed by the tribunal can only take place from the date that the tribunal reviewed the rent which could be several months later.
The tenants increase if any means that they have had extra months where they did not have to pay the increase or on the other hand their rent might even have been reduced.
Over time these tribunals would have the effect of reducing rents substantially

All of these points are valid and quite frankly increase risk for landlords which in turn gets factored into overall rent increases. So tenants will get more rights but will ultimately pay for the privilege. This means more pay required from tenant to cover cost, guess what inflation goes up. So the cycle continues.

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 26/09/2024 - 18:57
"Over time these tribunals would have the effect of reducing rents substantially"

Maybe Stella. Although a more optimistic take could be rents will go up. A lot.

Despite the pathetic political spin, good landlords will be leaving the market because of this (rogue landlords will ignore it as always). Supply goes down, demand increases, therefore rents go up.

The landlords remaining will obviously increase to market rents every year.

The anti-landlord propaganda is;

"ensuring tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents"

They already can!
In reality, existing good tenants enjoy substantially lower rents than market rents (see English Housing Survey).

Landlords will react accordingly to a*seholes taking them to a rent tribunal for reasonable increases. The huge majority of tenants aren't a*seholes. Neither are landlords.

The unpalatable truth for the anti landlord industry is that, up to now, 97% of tenants and private landlords get on pretty well.

Reply to the comment left by Monty Bodkin at 26/09/2024 - 20:33
Yes I understand what you are saying but if tenants take their rent assessments to tribunals now there is a possibility that their rent could be increased and this is a good reason for them not doing it.
When tribunals can no longer say the rents should be higher I am sure that there will be encouragement from Shelter and others for them to use the tribunals and I think it will become more frequent even normal.
I am not keen on tribunals having experienced how they used to work pre 1988 housing act.
I can only hope that this time that things will be different!

Reply to the comment left by Stella at 26/09/2024 - 21:21
Anyone showing up on this register won't get a viewing from any half competent letting agent or landlord;

https://www.gov.uk/residential-property-tribunal-decisions

Even if they did a very obvious landlord referencing question would be;

1. Did they pay the rent on time, every time?

2. Did they try and screw you over at a rent tribunal?

3. etc...

This also links into the fact that every landlords should pursue through the courts tennants who fail to pay rents, an unsettled MCOL equals CCJ which I as a landlord would want to know