The Renters Reform Bill is currently going through Parliament, and nothing is written in stone until it is passed into law. However, if you believe what you read in the media you will be thinking, that from now on you will have no choice but to rent to families or people that rely on benefits to pay the rent. 

It is not that case and is very misleading – but it makes for great click bait and bad headlines.

A bit of history 

The English Private Landlord Survey 2021 found that 44% of landlords didn’t wish to rent their properties to tenants on benefits. However, plans to outlaw banning families receiving benefits – the so called “no DSS” bans – and to stop landlords banning tenants with families, has been kicked into the long grass as far as this legislation is concerned. The white paper asserts that, although many landlords offer excellent service to their tenants, evidence has shown that some are placing obstacles in the paths of those receiving benefits or with children seeking rental properties. It really isn’t doing anything to change things.  

However, the legislation around this will be the change to Section 8 notices which is planned to be amended to ensure that landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants if their rent arrears are due to a delay in them receiving their Universal Credit payments. 

How will the Renters Reform Bill affect you? 

For the last three years we have worked with families and those people on HSA. Our main criteria has always been to find the right home for people and, no different from mortgage providers, to make sure they can afford to live in it. So it is not a case of you having no right to say no, we shall be saying no if the affordability is not there.  

For now, nothing will change. In the coming months, the contents of the Bill will be subject to debate in the House of Commons and House of Lords. During these debates, clauses may be added, amended, or removed. 

It is likely to be 18 months before any of these reforms come into effect, and some elements of the Bill will take much longer to implement.

If you have any concerns about how this future law may affect you just sign up to our newsletter to receive regular updates from your expert, honourable and personal letting agent.