Renters Rights Bill - Update 2.0

In our last blog we advised that members of the House of Lords had made several amendments ahead of the latest reading in July. On 8th September, many (and there some sensible) amenments were rejected by the Government.

ARLA Propertymark provided the below update to members this week on the rejected amendments which include -

"New pet damage deposit: An amendment that would have allowed landlords to request a separate "pet deposit" of up to three weeks' rent was overturned. The UK Government's position is that the existing pet consent measures are sufficient and that additional deposits would be a barrier to tenants.

Ground 4A: The UK Government agreed to the original version, which applies only to student houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), to allow for the academic year rental cycle. However, it has been adamant in rejecting any attempts to expand the use of fixed-term contracts or specific grounds for smaller student properties.

Reducing the re-letting period: The Lords had proposed reducing the period a landlord must wait before re-letting a property they previously repossessed to sell, from 12 months to 6 months. This was rejected to ensure tenant protection against landlords seeking to misuse the ground for sale."

If you wish to discuss the changes of the bill in further detail, we’d be delighted to meet, be it in person or virtually to discuss on 01202 554470.