So what happens to the Renters Reform Bill, which has been the subject of years of controversy and which is now part way through its Parliamentary process?
The National Residential Landlords Association says it’s “hugely disappointing” that the Renters Reform Bill will not become law.
This is despite the Bill having been amended to make it work fairly for both tenants and landlords.
The BBC reports: “Labour sources indicated that although they wanted changes, they would have supported the Bill as it currently stood.
According to news, today Labour’s ‘change’ Manifesto states that they will immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards, including extending ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private sector.” We will legislate where the Conservatives have failed, overhauling the regulation of the private rented sector.
How will landlords evict tenants once section 21 is abolished?
With the abolition of Section 21, landlords will primarily rely on Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 to evict tenants. This is already used. Unlike Section 21, Section 8 requires landlords to provide specific grounds for eviction, and the process can be more complex and time-consuming.
Renters (Reform) Bill stalled due to general election
After the announcement that a general election will take place on 4 July, the Renters (Reform) Bill was not among the legislation passed prior the dissolution of parliament.
The sector will now have to wait until after the general election for any further progress on the key commitments in the bill, including the abolition of section 21 notices.
It's possible it could be done by the end of 2024. It is also likely that any Section 21 notices served before any new legislation becomes law will still be valid. There is also usually a transitional arrangement for existing tenancies when new laws are introduced.
Homes are always at the top of our agenda
But we haven’t yet seen that much on housing market policy in the lead up to July’s general election.
While we know that the vast majority of people are carrying on with their home-moving plans rather than waiting, we think it’s really important that housing is a priority focus for whichever party wins the election.
The basic laws of supply and demand mean that tenants have faced higher rents as a result of those landlords who have already quit.
Landlords have been selling up, fuelling the broken private rented sector in the UK.
We don’t know exactly which changes could come in and when, but we hope that the next government puts in place long-term solutions to help people move, rather than short-term schemes.
What happened around past elections?
We’ve also looked at what happened in the housing market in previous general elections, in 2015 and 2019.
Importantly, we can see that the market remained steady, both before and during the election period.
According to Zoopla’s Rental Market Report: June 2024
“The average rent for new lets in the UK is £1,226 after a +6.6% rise in the last year.
Rents for new lets will rise more slowly this year, but only a major supply boost will help with rental affordability.
Key takeaways
* The rate at which rents are rising has slowed down to 6.6% for new lets, down from a high of 16% in October 2021
* London is leading the slowdown, with rents rising at just 3.7% in the last year, as rents start to fall in some cities
* Competition for properties remains high, with 15 households chasing every rental home (more than double the pre-pandemic average of six)
However, choice is starting to increase, with the average number of homes for rent per estate agent up by 18% on this time last yearwe believe the rates at which rents are rising will continue to slow to 5% over 2024
Click on the link bellow to check Zoopla’s full rental market report:
More to come on this subject.
In the meantime, we are here to answer any general questions you might have about the housing market. Tell us what you’d like to know.
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