Yesterday evening, the King signed the Renters’ Rights Act into law after months of back-and-forth in Parliament.
The new legislation is set to transform the private renting landscape in England, bringing in measures to put tenants and landlords on a ‘level playing field’.
Not all of them will kick in straight away, and campaigners have said further protections will be needed to help with rising rental costs.
But the new law has been hailed as a ‘generational upgrade’ for those living in English private rentals, with major changes ranging from safety standards to permission for pets.
Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook told Metro the bill would ‘transform the experience of private renting’.
He said: ‘It will empower renters by providing them with greater security, rights, and protections, so that they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities and avoid the risk of homelessness.
‘It will ensure that we can drive up the quality of private rented housing, giving renters access to good-quality and safe homes as a matter of course.
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‘And it will allow us to crack down on the minority of unscrupulous landlords who exploit, mistreat, or discriminate against renters.’
Here’s what you need to know.
What does the Renters’ Rights Act do?
Reform of the private rental sector has been in the works for many years, with the Tories promising their own version before last year’s election forced them to scrap it.
The headline policy has always been the end of Section 21, which allows landlords to evict their tenants for any reason as long as they give enough notice.
But there’s a lot more than just that in Labour’s legislation – here are five headline measures that will be coming into effect:
- Binning Section 21: Not only will no-fault evictions end, but tenants will be able to stay in their home until they decide to leave as ‘fixed-term assured tenancies’ are removed
- Ending unlimited advance rent payments: At the moment, landlords can ask for an unlimited amount of rent in advance, but the new law will cap this at one month’s rent
- Helping tenants challenge rent hikes: Landlords will be able to increase rent once a year to the market rate, and tenants will get the ability to appeal excessive hikes
- Ending blanket pet bans: Tenants will be free to request a pet, and while landlords will still be able to turn down that request, they must have a good reason to do so
- Ending rent bidding wars: In some parts of the country, it’s common for tenants to try and secure a flat by offering more than the advertised rent. The Renters’ Rights Act will prohibit landlords and agents from accepting a higher rate than advertised
As well as all that, the law will also introduce a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman to bring tenants’ complaints about their landlord to a resolution and bring in new safety standards.
What is Awaab’s Law?
Awaab Ishak was a two-year-old boy who lived with his family in a Rochdale housing association flat which had a problem with black mould.
In December 2020, Awaab died after prolonged exposure to the deadly fungus.
His family made it their mission to ensure nobody else in the UK has to go through what they did – and yesterday, they secured a major victory.
All social landlords in England must now fix emergency health and safety hazards within 24 hours of reporting, while significant damp and mould must be investigated within 10 working days of notification and made safe within five.
Those measures form an element of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 named Awaab’s Law, and they came into force on Monday.
The government has said it will eventually extend Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector, meaning all renters in England will have that protection.
Will the Renter’s Rights Act lead to rent increases?
The Renters’ Rights Act will not stop landlords increasing rent, but aims to make sure any price hikes stay fair.
Landlords will be able to bump up rent once a year, but they must give two months’ notice and – crucially – they can only increase it to the market rate (the price it would be if it was newly advertised to let).
Tenants will be able to appeal excessive, above-market hikes in rent – a measure to prevent landlords getting around the scrapping of no-fault evictions by just cranking up rent to a level where their tenant is forced to move out.
What’s less clear is the impact such major legislation will have on the English private rental sector more broadly, and whether that will affect levels of rent.
However, many of the measures in the law have been in effect for a long time in other parts of the UK, such as Scotland where the average rent is considerably lower than many parts of England.
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