What's changing

Renters' Rights Bill

01 Nov 2024

3 minutes read

The Renters' Rights Bill aims to reform the rental market, including no-fault evictions and balancing the rights of tenants and landlords.

The Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced to Parliament on 11 September 2024. The bill is scheduled to become law in 2025.

The bill is not significantly different from its predecessor, the Renters (Reform) Bill.

The Labour government’s renewed proposal seeks to introduce several protections for renters, including:

a ban on ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions
scrapping fixed-term tenancies and replacing these with periodic tenancies, which tenants can end with two months’ notice
making it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children
an end to bidding wars by no longer allowing offers above the listed price to be asked for, encouraged, or accepted
a new Decent Homes Standard (DHS) for the private rented sector
applying Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector, requiring landlords to address hazards, such as damp and mould, within a specified time period
a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman for landlords and tenants in England
a private rented sector database that all landlords must register themselves and their properties on

Our view

We support the proposals to end no-fault evictions, rather than the previous government’s plans to delay the ban until further court reform.

However, without investment for housing legal aid and the courts, the bill will not achieve its aims.

The bill in its current form may lead to an increase in contested hearings in the short term, as landlords that would previously have used no-fault provisions will instead have to show good reason for eviction.

We are calling for the government to outline:

how it intends to manage increased demand on the courts
what additional resourcing it will put in place to deal with existing backlogs

Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are a leading cause of homelessness, with local authorities struggling to find the resources to act against rogue landlords under the Deregulation Act 2015.

However, we recognise that with the abolition of ‘no-fault’ evictions, it is important that landlords have expanded grounds to repossess their properties using section 8 eviction notices.

A section 8 notice gives the tenant a specified period to remedy the issues raised or vacate the property before the landlord can proceed with legal action to regain possession.

We favour proposals to widen the grounds for possession under section 8, while supporting the extended protected period at the beginning of a tenancy to 12 months, during which landlords cannot evict tenants to move in or sell the property.

Restrictions in the bill will also prevent reletting or remarketing the property for 12 months following the service of a possession notice on these grounds.

This will provide a much greater level of security in the rental market which we welcome.

The introduction of a new Decent Homes Standard and Awaab’s Law to the private rental sectors will mean landlords will be required to investigate and fix reported health hazards (such as damp and mould) within specified time frames.

We hope that this, alongside the new private rented sector database, will help identify and remove serially negligent landlords.

However, we believe that penalties against rogue landlords should be strengthened.

The bill will also make it illegal to accept offers over the advertised rent.

Landlords can only increase rent once a year, capped at the ‘market rate’. This is defined as the price that would be achieved if the property was newly advertised to let.

If a tenant believes this exceeds the market rate, they can challenge this at the First-tier Tribunal.

Enforcing the bill’s provisions will require more clarity and further resourcing to be effective.

Local authorities must be provided with the resources they need to make their enforcement powers effective.

Funding for recruitment and training is required to enhance capacity in council enforcement teams and support the sharing of best practice between councils.

Find out more about our court reform work