A Request for Landlords
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is preparing to launch the second pilot of the new Private Rented Sector (PRS) database and is seeking support to recruit landlords to test the system during its private beta phase.
The PRS Database team would be grateful if landlords would take part as their participation will help test how the database performs in practice and provide valuable feedback on what works well and where improvements may be needed.
THE POST-ELECTION PRS
First Published - 29th May 2024
JMW Solicitors
With the general election being called the Renters (Reform) Bill has been lost. It cannot be revived and any new government will need to start again from scratch. Inevitably this has people wondering what the PRS will look like under any new government. These are my thoughts, I stress that they are opinions only and not based on any commitments or statements by politicians or advisors in either party.
Renters Reform - What will this mean for the PRS?
A lot of discussion has taken place since June 2022 when the government announced that the PRS would be Levelled Up, but what does that actually mean in practice and how will the Renters Reform Bill impact landlords, tenants and the PRS?
Firstly, one of the key points to consider is to ignore the trade press and national press who lead with headlines and never factor in the detail.
Abolishing Section 21
A lot of emphasis has been placed on ‘no fault Evictions’ when in fact what should actually be referred to is the service of notice to obtain vacant possession’. There is no way of evicting a tenant just by serving a section 21 and to clarify, the eviction process takes a lot longer than a mere two months.
The Section is the first step to a landlord gaining possession but with ‘no reason’ given, therefore the abolition of this notice will mean that the landlord will be required to state ‘grounds’ (reasons) should they wish to regain possession. This would require Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (1996) to be amended.
The Old Cliche - Knowledge is Power rings True
How many times have we heard that knowledge is power? Countless no doubt and now more than ever this rings true in the Private Rented Sector (PRS). Twenty years ago the PRS was not deemed as important as estate agency commercially and also by the consumer. The PRS had a stigma attached to it that only those who could not get on the property ladder would have to rent - the UK was a nation of would be homeowners.
Yet, the recession in 2009/2010 changed this perception, driven predominantly by Supply V Demand, repossession and the lack of housing stock. Not only has the demand for rental property increased, the Letting Sector became an industry in its own right and Letting agencies and lettings departments played a key role in the property sector.