Renters Rights Bill - Update

The lettings industry is about to go through its biggest shake-up in more than 30-years. It’s hard to imagine that it can be any more shaken-up given what landlords have been expected to do over the last few years, however successive governments have wanted to make changes, and changes there will be!

The Renters Rights Bill, has been on the cards for almost a year now, and although we do not have certainty as to when it will actually be coming in as law, we do know almost for certain that it will be.

A few highlights –

• There will be the removal of fixed term tenancies, possibly from day one as soon as the bill is passed, which will retrospectively remove any pre-existing fixed terms.
• No more Section 21 – landlords will need to rely on specific grounds for possession under Section 8 – most common are likely to be grounds for selling and moving either yourself of a family member back in. These notices are for four months, with landlords restricted from re-letting for 10 months from service.
• Tenants will be able to serve notice at any point by giving two months’ notice.
• Up front payments will no longer be permitted, for example from an international student or someone with bad credit. Rent will only be able to be charged monthly in advance.
• Expansion of Awab’s Law and Decent Homes Standard into the private rented sector, this relates to the management and treatment of mould within properties, with possible criminal proceedings for non-compliance.

There are many more aspects to the bill, and with potentially huge fines for non- compliance (£7000 per breach in some cases) it is imperative that landlords appreciate, prepare and understand this.

As a responsible agent we have been educating ourselves on this topic for months attending webinars, seminars and conferences to try and understand the impact not only
on you as landlords but on ourselves as a business enabling us to confidently guide you through the changes.

Thankfully we have great resources such as Propertymark and Goodlord within our professional network which enable us to be ready to guide you when it eventually does
come in. Work that we have done already has included –

• Expansion of our maintenance reporting software to include AI diagnosis and immediate acknowledgment of maintenance. Offering tenants immediate advice and saving landlords time on diagnostics by giving contractors a full picture before attending jobs.
• Investment within our CRM and tenancy softwares to ensure the latest contractual amendments are updated frequently including the swap over to Assured Tenancies from ASTs which will happen as the bill is introduced. This also ensures that we meet all prescribed formats of document service, built in rent reviews, and further exclusive legal and insurance products for landlords designed to protect them when things go wrong.
• Development of our rent collection systems – so all new tenancies are reminded of rent payments automatically two days before they are due, and then automatically followed up each day until rent is paid. Reducing the possibility of rent arrears.
• Ongoing investment in staff training, and recruitment.

Despite the upcoming changes please try and stay positive, we are your partners and are here to try and make the process as stress free as possible.

Our commitments to you remain the same –

• To ensure that we deliver high-quality tenants at the best rents possible.
• To ensure you feel looked after by our team, under whatever circumstances we
• face together.
• To offer effective partnerships to ensure your needs are fulfilled.

If you wish to discuss the changes of the bill in further detail, I’d be delighted to meet, be it in person or virtually to discuss. As ever we are really grateful for your business and welcome your call on 01202 554470.