Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Leonie Cooke (RRB06)

For the attention of  the Public Bill Committee:

We have been student landlords for 14 years.  The annual fixed term contract has always worked well for this market.  Students and landlords can safely enter into tenancies 9 months in advance for the following academic year.   Students want to know that they have secured accommodation for the following year and Landlords have certainty of  turnround dates.

The draft Bill causes a number of problems

1    A problem for 2025 only if the Act comes into force before the end of the 2024/5 tenancies.  Landlords may find they cannot use s8 or s21 to move students out in summer 2025 if those sections have been repealed.  To rectify this would be easy by  providing that the Act commences for student lets in October  2025.

2   Whilst I appreciate that there is a new Ground 4A for student properties which allows landlords to give 4 months’ notice to expire between June and September the students still have the right to terminate on 2 months’ notice prior to the expiration of that 4 months’ notice.

At the current time tenancies are staggered with most ending in June, July or August.  This is sensible to spread the supply  of cleaners, decorators etc over  a 3 month period.  The effect of the Bill, if passed as it is currently drafted, is that eg a landlord may give 4 months’ notice to expire say at the end of July and then the tenants might give 2 months’ notice to terminate say at the beginning of June when term ends leaving the landlord with a 2 month rental void if the property has been re-let from say July.

This will have 2 possible consequences.  

Either Landlords will be tempted to end all tenancies in early June to avoid rental voids and this will cause chaos in the University towns when all landlords are looking for cleaners, decorators etc at the same time rather than staggered over the summer.

OR Landlords will increase  the rent to effectively receive 12 months’ rent in 9 months’ to hedge against void periods.  Some portfolio landlords are already indicating that this is what they will do.   This will not benefit students.

The problem could be easily dealt with by providing that once a Landlord has given notice the tenant cannot give a counternotice to end the tenancy earlier unless the landlord’s notice ends the tenancy more than 12 months after its commencement.

The proposed new system is very clunky and a hangover from the even worse draft of the previous Government.    The easiest solution would be to  provide that HMO properties let to student tenants fall in the same exclusion as University halls of residence  ie the ability to continue with the current system of fixed term tenancies which works so well for all concerned.  This will put all students on the same footing whether they live in halls of residence or private rented HMOs. There seems to be no real benefit to landlords or students in changing a system that works well when the proposed provisions are effectively trying to put everyone in the same position as the current position – ie to have an effective fixed term arrangement for student occupation in line with the academic year.  If the system allows students to terminate early  (ie at the end of the summer term in early June) the likelihood is that the market will work so that they don’t save any rent but just end up paying the same for a shorter term.

October 2024.