New legislation has been proposed in the King’s Speech which aims to reform the possession process for landlord and tenants. The legislation being proposed is similar to the previous legislation that was intended to come into force under the Renters Reform Bill.
In his speech, written by the new Labour Government, the King stated that “Legislation will be introduced to give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no-fault evictions and reforming grounds for possession.”
This legislation by the new Labour Government claims that they will level the playing field between landlords and tenants. Key parts of these proposals include banning Section 21 no-fault evictions, as well as introducing new and extended grounds for possession. Section 21 Notices are a form of accelerated eviction which allow landlords to evict tenants without a reason. They give the tenant two months’ notice.
The bill also extends ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the private rented sector which will set clear expectations about time frames that landlords must respond to serious hazards to make homes safe and outline “legal expectations about the timeframe” that landlords will have to follow. Awaab’s law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died after exposure to mould.
Other parts of the bill include introducing the right to request to keep a pet and making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against potential tenants who have children or receive benefits from the Government.
This all comes following the abandonment of the previous Renters Reform Bill by the Conservative Government. The legislation was originally promised by Theresa May, and subsequently by both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak throughout the time the Conservative party was in power. Despite this, it failed to become law before parliament was prorogued for the general election, and therefore was scrapped.
Labour had initially indicated that they would have supported the passing of this bill, with Angela Rayner stating that labour would scrap Section 21s on Labour’s first day in office. However, since then she has said that this timeline was a “simplistic way of looking at it” and so the timeline for when this will be implemented remains undetermined. Based on the previous legislation, the Renters Reform Bill, taking over five years to be passed through parliament for consideration before eventually being scrapped, it is unlikely to be a quick fix.
As of now, landlords continue to be able to serve Section 21 notices on their tenants. However, if you are a landlord and are considering taking back possession of your property, time may now be of the essence.
At Stephensons we have a dedicated team handling landlord and tenant issues. Contact our specialist team on 0161 696 6170.
By Holly Monk, graduate paralegal
Comments