The new Renters’ Reform Bill was published by the Government at the beginning of September.

It now looks set for second reading and progress through Parliament after the party conference season. It is predicted by the Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook that it will pass by spring next year and become law soon afterwards

Let’s remember that anything I write here could change next week as we saw with the old Bill. This is the first volley of suggestions and the lobbyists will now be doing their part!

In the 200 pages are the details of the road that the Government intends to go down with the Private Rental Sector (PRS). It contains many of the same things as its predecessor the Renters’ (Reform) Bill, which was introduced by the last government with the introduction of 80 additional clauses which in most respects takes the bill back to what it looked like in 2019.

Last week we looked in a bit more detail about the abolition of Section 21. This week we will look at what is being proposed with tenancies. Namely:

• Removal of fixed-term tenancies, creating rolling tenancies from the outset
• A 12-month protected tenancy period for tenants
• As the law stands now an agreement between the landlord and tenant can be set for any time up to 35 months – at 36 months the tenancy becomes a Deed (something we are not going to cover here.)

The fixed-term means that the tenant or landlord cannot break the contract without mutual agreement. However there have always been instances where the tenant needs to break the contract early. This could be down to several factors i.e. separation, job loss, or job change. Last year this affected 0.8% of the tenancies we look after.

The new law seems to be implying that a tenant could move into a property and then move out the next day. However, this is unlikely as rent is paid in advance. It seems the law is there to protect tenants from living in poor housing, but I can see that landlords might start asking for more rent in advance which will then work against people trying to find a home.

As this was eventually dropped in the Renters Reform Bill, I think it is a case of wait and see.

At the moment the minimum amount a tenant has the right to a property is six months. This means if you want to issue notice to a tenant you cannot do it before four months due to Section 21 requirements. Also a tenant is required to give no less than one months’ notice if they are on a periodic tenancy (rolling) but will now have to give one months’ notice to end the tenancy.

The suggestion is that the tenant will be protected for 12 months at the beginning of a tenancy, during which landlords cannot evict them to move in or sell the property. Landlords will need to provide four months’ notice when using these grounds, giving tenants more time to find a new home, and reducing the risk of homelessness.

It is now suggested that once the law changes it will affect new and ongoing tenancies. When these changes were first proposed in the Renters’ Reform Bill back in 2019 they were renegotiated. So as mentioned above there is a lot that could change.

It feels like the number of landlords who decided to leave the market after the introduction of Section 24 have now done so. Those that have remained in the market have seen on average a 25% increase in the rents they receive (our figures for the last five years).

If however you have any concerns now that you would like to talk through just click here to book an appointment.