header-logo header-logo

Will the Renters Reform Bill harm tenants?

04 August 2023 / Gary Scott
Issue: 8036 / Categories: Opinion , Landlord&tenant , Property
printer mail-detail
132776
Intended to deliver a ‘renting revolution’, the Renters Reform Bill may ultimately achieve just the opposite: Gary Scott lists some causes for concern

The Renters Reform Bill is a bold attempt by government to change the structure and nature of the landlord and tenant relationship that has been in place for the past 30 years by abolishing assured shorthold tenancies. The aim is to remedy existing issues within the rental sector and to try to balance tenants’ security and a settled home life against the flexibility of landlords to deal with their property. The proposed legislation seems to have at its heart the idea that both parties should play fair.

What’s in the Bill?

What some have called the ‘no-fault’ eviction mechanism will be ended, but it would better be described as the ending of ‘no-reason’ evictions. Landlords would still have specified permitted reasons for eviction where the tenant is not at fault.

The right to end a tenancy for rent arrears is set to be changed

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

CBI South-East Council—Mike Wilson

Blake Morgan managing partner appointed chair of CBI South-East Council

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Birketts—Phillippa O’Neill

Commercial dispute resolution team welcomes partner in Cambridge

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Charles Russell Speechlys—Matthew Griffin

Firm strengthens international funds capability with senior hire

NEWS
The proposed £11bn redress scheme following the Supreme Court’s motor finance rulings is analysed in this week’s NLJ by Fred Philpott of Gough Square Chambers
In this week's issue, Stephen Gold, NLJ columnist and former district judge, surveys another eclectic fortnight in procedure. With humour and humanity, he reminds readers that beneath the procedural dust, the law still changes lives
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ
James Naylor of Naylor Solicitors dissects the government’s plan to outlaw upward-only rent review (UORR) clauses in new commercial leases under Schedule 31 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, in this week's NLJ. The reform, he explains, marks a seismic shift in landlord-tenant power dynamics: rents will no longer rise inexorably, and tenants gain statutory caps and procedural rights
Writing in NLJ this week, James Harrison and Jenna Coad of Penningtons Manches Cooper chart the Privy Council’s demolition of the long-standing ‘shareholder rule’ in Jardine Strategic v Oasis Investments
back-to-top-scroll