Rental Reform Bill Discarded Due to General Election

Between the Prime Minister’s announcement of a General Election and before Parliament is dissolved so MPs can start campaigning, there is a short period of frenzied activity in the House of Commons. Known in Westminster parlance as ‘the Wash-Up’, this is the hasty enactment of non-controversial legislation that has broad all-party support. Tellingly, the government’s flagship Rental Reform Bill did not make the cut and the proposed legislation has been discarded

What’s been lost?

Part of the Rental Reform Bill was intended to reform aspects of law relating to so called ‘Section 21’ no fault evictions. The idea was to establish a new legal framework for landlords to reclaim properties from tenants with specific reasons for repossession being cited.

The White Paper draft of the Bill also included new rights for tenants not to be discriminated against for owning pets or receiving benefits. A Decent Homes Standard was to be applied to privately rented homes for the first time (something similar has existed for Council Housing and Housing Association properties for some time) granting private renters the same rights as their peers in the social housing sector.

What happens now?

Whoever forms the next government will give legislative priority to the promises made in their manifesto. It’s a bit of a case of ‘watch this space’ as the manifestos will be published over the next couple of weeks. But housing policy will be a big conversation on the doorsteps as politicians campaign to be re-elected and all the parties will likely have ideas about reform.

At Pearl Lettings, we keep a keen eye on legislative changes that affect the housing sector. We want to anticipate changes and be ahead of the curve, ensuring that our standards and practices are well above any statutory minimums that may be imposed. In our experience, most landlords want to maintain and improve their assets which means a good level of rent can be charged and the tenants benefit from a good standard of accommodation.

Landlords who choose to use our property management services are relieved of the burden of keeping up-to-date with changes to the law as we ensure that they are fully compliant with all the latest legislation.

If you are a landlord interested in working with us to provide a high quality rented property that a tenant would love to call "home", contact Pearl Lettings on 01603 980770 or email hello@pearllettings.co.uk and a member of our team will get back to you.