Welcome to another Landlord Law Newsround, let’s see what has been trending in the housing news this week.

Renters Reform Bill back to the Commons this April

It is heavily anticipated that the amended Renters Reform Bill will be read in the House of Commons by mid-April, however many activists are still not happy with the amendments that have been made.

Ben Twomey, chief exec of Generation Rent is says

Instead of appeasing a few landlords, the government should focus on preventing homelessness. The best ways to do this would be to give renters four months notice rather than two when we are evicted, while making sure we can’t be kicked out within the first two years of a tenancy if we stick to the rules.

Similarly, Polly Neate, chief exec of Shelter says that the government has ‘betrayed renters by watering down’ the Renters’ Reform Bill, and Matt Downie chief exec of Crisis says that the delay in publishing it along with uncertainty over ending section 21 evictions causes much worry for renters.

But it is not just renters who are concerned, many responsible landlords are equally concerned in the delays too. Ben Beadle, chief exec of NRLA says

The lack of progress and uncertainty about the future is destabilising and damaging for those living and working in the private-rented sector. It is time to bring this to an end.

Let us all hope that when the Renters Reform Bill is finally delivered it brings a fairer sector for both landlords and tenants. However there are still many who are concerned that without a robust and working court system the Bill will be a disaster.

Court reform before abolishment of section 21

On the other side of the fence, Ian Fletcher, director of policy at the British Property Federation warns that any ground for possession after the section 21 is abolished will only work with a robust and fully functioning court system in place. He says

Reform is needed because ‘normal’ is a very poor service, and with landlords relying solely on court-approved repossessions, normal is all they have. The likelihood is that normal would get worse too, as the workload of the courts increases with the new system.

He sees the future of the court system being digitised to improve case processing times and would enable the courts to deal with greater volumes quicker with a more customer-focus service.

Court eviction fees increase

And staying with the courts, landlords who take their tenants to court will find that court fees are to be increased quite significantly by as much as 10%. This means that an urgent high court possession issuing fee will rise from £569 to £626 and a general application fee will go from £71 to £78.

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service claims they have not increased their charges since 2021 and last year half its running costs had to be paid via the taxpayer. Many objections to these hikes have been heard with many citing that the courts were ‘poor value for money’ currently even without a rise in court fees. The Government has said that the increase in fees will go towards improving the quality of service.

HMCTS also added that fees will rise every two years from now, which it says will mean regular smaller fee increases rather than larger occasional increases.

Property licensing schemes thrown in the spotlight

A rental property compliance service, Yuno is investigating the effectiveness of licensing schemes their fairness, and if the huge sums charged are justified.  They say that just 25% of councils in England are enforcing additional HMO and selective licensing schemes against 36% of councils in Wales. Paul Conway, chief executive of Yuno says

These schemes are far from evenly distributed across regions, prompting the question as to why some regions have a significantly higher proportion of councils enforcing them.

Our data analysis shows a lack of such schemes in regions with a relatively higher proportion of non-decent homes, and a higher proportion of such schemes in regions with some of the lowest proportions of non-decent homes.

Some councils are charging more for selective and additional licenses than for mandatory ones. He adds

This lack of uniformity poses questions as to cost-effectiveness and justifications for wide-ranging fees.

This research comes at the same time that questions are being raised on the Renters Reform Bills’ new National Landlord Portal and would this make licensing schemes redundant.

Snippets

Landlord loses £28k tax dispute with HMRC
The guardian view on tenants’ rights: the Tories have betrayed renters
28% increase in rents since 2020 – Goodlord
Worried renters suffer hair loss and weight gain – wealth firm’s claim
Hot Stuff – more landlords prioritise energy efficiency when buying
UK failure to build social homes ‘shocking’, says author of 2004 report
Another council set to implement a landlord licensing scheme

Newsround will be back next week.

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