You may well have read about the Renters (Reform) Bill, but if you haven’t caught up yet, we would like to set out what you might expect to see following this draft bill being introduced to Parliament last week.
Here are some of the proposals that the Government are planning:
- Removal of the Section 21 Notice
This can sometimes referred to as the ‘retaliatory eviction notice’.
The proposal is for this to be scrapped, however landlords will still be able to retain the ability to gain possession of their properties where there are serious or repeated rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, or the landlord wishes to sell or move back into the property. - Introduction of periodic rather than fixed term tenancies with the ability for landlords to still increase rents, in line with market values, annually via the service of a Section 13 Notice.
- The possibility of landlords being required to join an impartial redress system.
- Landlords will be required to consider requests from tenants that they be allowed to keep a pet at the property, unless there are justified grounds that they can’t. However, tenants could be requested to take out additional insurance to cover any damage caused.
This is the beginning of the journey which could take a year to come to fruition and we have no doubt there will be further tweaks and amendments made.