New Renters’ Rights date revealed
The Renters’ Rights Bill will be back in the House of Lords on 1st July, for first of three Report stage debates.
With the further sittings schedules for the 7th and 15th July, it is looking increasingly unlikely that the bill will receive Royal Assent ahead of the summer recess, which will run from 22nd July to 1st September. This means the Bill will likely become law in September, with implementation expected to begin towards the end of this year or the start of 2026.
Report stage is one of the final opportunities for peers to debate and secure changes to the bill and we have been stepping up our interaction with peers to highlight what we believe are key issues with the proposed legislation.
These include:
The protection of the student market
With an estimated 600,000 shortfall of beds in the student market we are calling for the new possession ground for student landlords, ground 4a, to be extended to cover one and two-bedroom homes as well as HMOs.
Rent tribunal claims
The Renters’ Rights Bill will introduce new powers for all private rented tenants to challenge any rent increase. This could potentially see a huge increase in cases to be dealt with by the tribunal service. We are calling for claims to be ‘triaged’ before they reach this point, to assess whether figures being proposed are fair and in line with market rents.
Protections on arrears
Under the bill arrears will be allowed to build up for three months before notice can be served and this notice period will increase from two weeks to a month. In addition to this, arrears arising from the non-payment of Universal Credit will be excluded from consideration. We are calling on the Government to retain the existing two-month threshold and two week notice period, as well as asking for the inclusion of Universal Credit arrears.
Court readiness
Once section 21 is eliminated by the bill, possession claims will rely on grounds that will have to be proved in court. With recent Ministry of Justice data showing average wait times are already six months, we want extra funding to open up more courts to allow more claims to be heard. We are also supporting calls from peers for a statutory review of the Bill’s impact on the judiciary system.
What happens next?
We will continue to keep you updated with the latest from the Lords and the bill’s progression into law. In the meantime we have a number of resources to help you prepare for the changes up ahead.
- For the NRLA’s exclusive member guides outlining how you can start to prepare for the Bill click here.
- Extra dates have been added for our new Renters’ Rights course, after training sessions sold out in record time. For more information and to book click here.
- We have also added a new eLearning option for the Renters’ Rights course, allowing you to take the training at a time and place to suit you. For more information and to book click here.
- For a more detailed look at the NRLA calls ahead of Report stage click here.
