1st May 2025 - Renters’ Rights Bill - Fourth Marshalled List for Committee – House of Lords
It’s been an interesting 3 days of the Committee Stage in the House of Lords with the being checked in detail right down to words being added or removed to ensure that the details of relevant sections are they should be.
During committee stage, amendments have been proposed, some of which have been withdrawn, some agreed and some to be ‘moved in committee of the whole house’
What Does to be ‘moved in committee of the whole house’ Mean?
When a new law, in this case, the Renters’ Rights Bill, is going through Parliament, it must pass through several stages. One of these stages is called the Committee of the Whole House.
Something else to think about for 2025
At the moment the focus is well & truly on the Renters’ Rights Bill and for good reason given the impact that such a significant piece of legislation will have on the Private Rented Sector. However, there are other crucial pieces of information / updates that property professionals need to be aware of.
Land Registry Fees
The Land Registry is a cornerstone of land registration in England & Wales, relied upon by many different Stakeholders as a source of information. From Monday 9 December, 2023, fees for HM Land Registry information services increased for the first time in more than 10 years.
The fee will increase by £4, for example:
inspection of an individual register or plan (digital copy) increased from £3 to £7
official copy of an individual register or plan (digital copy) increased from £3 to £7
registration, cancellation or rectification of an entry per name (Agricultural Credits Service or application) increased from £1 to £5
Financial Sanctions guidance for Letting Agents
As from the14th May 2025, letting agents will be subject to reporting obligations in order to facilitate Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation OFSI’s aim of encouraging better sanctions compliance.
Why Letting Agents?
Letting Agents have been added to the list of “relevant firms” under financial sanctions regulations.
Under financial sanctions regulations, a letting agent is described as “a firm or sole practitioner (“P”) that carries out, or whose employees carry out, letting agency work-
“Letting agency work” is defined as follows:
“letting agency work” means work—
(a). consisting of things done in response to instructions received from
(i) a person (a “prospective landlord”) seeking to find another person to whom to let land for a term of a month or more, or
(ii)a person (a “prospective tenant”) seeking to find land to rent for a term of a month or more, and
(b) done—
(i) in relation to a prospective landlord, from the point that the prospective landlord instructs P [i.e the letting agent], or
(ii) otherwise in the course of concluding an agreement for the letting of land for a term of a month or more.
Report on the PRS published by Public Accounts Committee
The recent report published by the Public Accounts Committee reports that despite record rent increases 13% of rented homes “pose serious threat to the health and safety of renters” - costing the NHS an estimated £340 million a year
In a report today the Public Accounts Committee says it is “too difficult for renters to realise their legal right to a safe and secure home” and that local authorities - constrained by a lack of support from the Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and its approach to licensing landlords - do not have the capacity and capability to provide "appropriate and consistent protection for private renters”. According to the report, the private rented sector in England has doubled in size in the last 20 years and now houses 11 million people.