Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Laura Delow to The Renters’ Rights Public Bill Committee (RRB03)

Evidence to be considered by the House of Commons Public Bill Committee on scrutinising the Renters' Rights Bill.  

· Rent Arrears Loophole;  for a tenant to delay eviction if in rent arrears, all the tenant will need to do is pay just enough to stay below 13 weeks rent arrears i.e. after 12weeks of rent arrears the tenant can make a very small payment to reset the countdown that will prevent the landlord from initiating eviction based on rent arrears, thus allowing for 12weeks persistent rent arrears. This is a current problem albeit today it is 2months arrears which the Government has been made aware of previously yet is not being addressed in the Bill. 

· Rent Increases Loophole;  all a tenant needs to do to delay even the most reasonable of rent increases is to file a challenge with the Tribunal which could take months, thus delaying the increase & allowing the tenant to pay the lower rent until a decision is made, and even if Tribunal agrees to the increase, it is not backdated. It is therefore expected that tenants will challenge any rent increase even if reasonable as it could delay the increase by 6months (or longer as the Tribunal will be unable to cope) 

· Notice to Vacate Loophole;  the tenant can serve 2months notice to vacate on day 1 of a tenancy i.e. anyone looking for a place to stay for a couple of months need not bother with Airbnb or Booking.com but instead head over to Rightmove or Zoopla & rent a place for the longer term on a lower rent than they'd otherwise pay for an Airbnb, then hand their notice in on day1. Landlords will be exposed to abuse of their properties and genuine longer term renters will lose out on availability of property. 

· Existing s21 Notices Loophole ; to avoid the long court delays, if a Landlord has served a s21 for genuine good reason, and the tenant is refusing to vacate, Landlords will only have 3months in the transitionary period to commence court proceedings which is highly unrealistic due to the serious court delays. The transitionary period needs to be indefinite as the National Audit Office states that "over one quarter of cases wait for a year or more to be heard", thus prolonging the financial distress to a Landlord ) 

· Leases with Local Authorities aka Rent to Rent; The tenant i.e. the Local Authority (LA) takes on the responsibility & cost for non-structural internal repairs & non regulatory maintenance & in turn pays well below market rent, but LA's are extremely unreliable and Landlords often have to try & intervene to resolve matters, but this is only possible if the Landlord is made aware of the problem by the LA or has the sub-tenants contact detail (Landlords are currently not provided with any tenant detail or allowed to deal with them direct without the LA's permission). Example, tenant's young child broke bath panel leaving a very sharp jagged edge that could cause bodily harm, yet 8months later the LA had still not replaced this. The injustice is the Landlord is ultimately held liable & could face a heavy fine. Landlords must therefore have more control over their properties leased to a LA i.e. the LA should immediately notify a Landlord in a timely manner of all repairs & dates the works are completed, and if the LA delays said repairs, they must not impede a Landlord from carrying out the repair & the LA must be made to reimburse the Landlord for the repair cost within X days. LA's need to be held accountable for delaying/impeding a repair & should face a consequence. There also needs to be an overseeing official reporting body that Landlords can turn to who will act with speed if the LA is non-responsive.  

I have many other concerns about the Bill content albeit I am in favour of the Bill in general in the hope it will stop unscrupulous behaviour of certain landlords, but the above are my key concerns. 

As a Landlord for the last 25years with long standing happy tenants ranging from 3 to 17years, for the first time I am seriously considering my role should the Renter's Rights Bill go through without due consideration for us many good landlords. 

Thanking you for your time & attention.

Laura Delow  

October 2024