Haslams are encouraged but await the finer details following the release of the Levelling Up White Paper.
The government plans to “re-set the relationship between landlord and tenant” by amending “the decent home standard” to extend to the PRS rather than just social housing. This aims to provide safer, more energy efficient property for tenants, abolishing the section 21 notice but also open a consultation on a national landlord register to try eliminate rogue and non-compliant landlords.
Our Group Compliance and Lettings Director, Peter Fuller shares his view:
“Big changes can be daunting but rest assured we will continue to support our landlords and tenants through any changes that occur. Naturally we are keen to hear the exact details around the renters reform bill and how that impacts our clients, but until then business as usual.”
Some concerns by those within the industry have been expressed, principally around the ability for landlords to take back possession of a property. Critically however, the industry norm is that 95% of tenants serve notice and not the landlord. There is a clear majority of landlords who prefer a tenant to stay in a property, rather than wanting them to leave.
Currently, tenants can be evicted at the end of a fixed-term or rolling tenancy without reason. The Renter’s Reform proposes strengthening the grounds of Section 8 – improving the grounds for possession and the overall court process, which could be a better system for all involved.
As always we will continue to act in our clients best interests and will share an update once the details are released in Spring time.