Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Sarah Galloway (RRB10)

Thank you for taking the time to read this I genuinely appreciate it.

Please can you consider ending local selective licensing? With the new measures you propose it would seem a duplication of work to have local authorities collect all the same information the national register will collate. This duplication will negatively impact on finances and staffing in hard pressed local authorities and cause much duplication of work for all parties.

Please can you ensure there is grounds for possession on the death of a landlord, the landlord won’t be the seller but their executors will be. Often wills have a two year deadline to sell assets. If executors do not explicitly have a right to sell this could be difficult and have unintended repercussions.

As a student landlord, I am concerned without assurances of a fixed term and the risk of one person in a student house leaving during the term leaving a long void that rents will rise to cover the risk. This is not what we want to do. If terms was 12 months fixed it would support the overall market to keep costs down.

Rent Review Board, I have concerns that without placing some limiting criteria around this every tenant facing even a small rent rise will put it through the RRB it would quickly become overwhelmed and would not be able to support its intended purpose.

Finally, please help change the negative perception of landlords, it is a small minority that provides poor housing, many of us provide property to tenants that is higher quality than the homes we live in. We pride ourselves of good quality homes for tenants.

October 2024