As promised we have been keeping a close eye on the progress of the Renters Rights Bill which brings a number of changes to the rules in the private rental sector. The Bill has now been voted through Parliament and Royal Assent has now been granted, with the laws expected to come into place in spring 2026.
We have kept you updated on the main areas of the Bill and little has changed in the last 6 months as the Bill has progressed and now been agreed in its final format.
We have been busy behind the scenes preparing our systems, documents and processes to ensure you can stay compliant with all the new changes that must be adhered to and keep you safe from fines. This is a big change, but rest assured it is our area of expertise and we will be well prepared to guide you through the process, and happily we can do most of the work for you!
The supply of tenants is good. You have always been a diligent Landlord so this will not change a lot for you in real terms, tenants still want a nice place to live for a good amount of time. You can still charge market rent, choose your tenants, increase the rent and expect the tenants to look after your investment as will we on your behalf. We have worked hard to mitigate any risks for you, the main shift being around possible rent arrears and timeframes for eviction, which is why we believe everyone should have the rent guarantee service in place. Otherwise, we will be dealing with all the transition arrangements. All you need to do is to respond with the information or action we require from you as the new rules roll in – this will only be where we are not allowed to do it for you, or we need your agreement.
The new rules that are coming in first are:
- No more section 21 evictions
- New grounds for evictions including if you wish to sell or move back into the property
- Extended time frames for rent arrears to build and extended notice periods for rent arrears evictions
- Taking rent upfront will not be allowed and you cannot request the first month’s rent until the tenancy agreement has been signed. At that point, you are legally bound to allow the tenant to move in, even if they have not paid the first month’s rent. This means tenants can be in rent arrears from day one of the tenancy, which is why having the rent guarantee service is so vital
- All tenancies moving to periodic tenancies – no fixed terms meaning tenants can leave the property with 2 months’ notice at any time
- Rent increases to be done once per annum by a specific mechanism to market rent and the tenants can apply to a tribunal if they think the rent is too high
- No rental bidding is allowed – you need to name the rent and can’t take higher than that (we will price it correctly so this will not be an issue)
- Tenants will have the right to request a pet in the property, you have 28 days to consent or give a reasonable reason to refuse consent
- You cannot discriminate against children or people on benefits – you can still reference people and choose the best Tenant as long as you are not discriminating.
Later provisions so likely not straight away (the government need to make further regulations on these):-
- Introduce a new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman for landlords (there will be a small registration fee) – We can assist you with this.
- Create a Privately Rented Property Portal to help landlords understand their legal obligations and demonstrate compliance – we should be able to update most of the information needed for this.
- There will be a decent homes standard brought in and Awaab’s law which gives specific timelines Landlords must adhere to with regard to damp issues.
We look forward to guiding you through the coming months, our aim is to face these changes pro-actively and the desire to deliver in the best way possible for you has never been higher! We wanted to take this time to thank you for your ongoing valued custom.
