Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by UNISON (RRB66)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

· UNISON supports the Renters' Rights Bill, which aims to address the significant challenges faced by private renters.

· Many of our members, particularly those who privately rent struggle with high rents, poor housing conditions, and the constant threat of eviction.

· The high costs of housing and insecurity faced by public sector workers have significant implications for the recruitment, retention, and ultimately, the delivery and quality of essential public services, including health, which communities in England depend on.

· The Bill's provisions, including a ban on no-fault evictions and measures to limit rent increases, and improve rental standards offer the potential to significantly improve the lives of renters and provide them with greater security and stability.

· While the Bill represents a positive step forward, it does not fully address the underlying issues of housing supply, affordability, insecurity and accessibility. Without stronger protections, some landlords may exploit the legislation, leading to economic evictions and further marginalisation of private renters.

· UNISON calls for the following additional measures to ensure the Bill effectively protects tenants:

o Longer protection period: Extend the protection period to two years.

o Deter backdoor evictions: Require landlords to register their intention to sell or move back in on the Digital Property Database to deter backdoor evictions.

o Rent stabilisation: Cap in-tenancy rent increases to the lowest of wage growth or inflation to help stabilise rents.

o End discriminatory practices: Prohibit discriminatory practices like Right to Rent checks and excessive upfront rent requirements; and restrict requests for guarantors.

o Effective Enforcement: Provide local authorities with adequate funding, staffing, capacity, training, skills and resources to enforce housing regulations to hold bad landlords to account.

1. INTRODUCTION

UNISON, the UK's largest trade union representing over 1.3 million members, predominantly working in public services, private contractors, and charities, is committed to improving the lives of our members who are public servants. We are deeply concerned that increasing numbers of our members, many of whom are women and low-paid workers, face significant challenges in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), including high rents, insecure tenancies, and substandard housing conditions. UNISON is submitting evidence to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee of the Renters’ Rights Bill, as these challenges have a profound impact on the lives and well-being of our members; the local authority workforce; and the delivery and quality of public services.

UNISON warmly welcomes the Renters’ Rights Bill, which aims to address the rental crisis by providing greater security and protections for renters while also safeguarding landlords' rights. We are committed to working with parliamentarians to ensure that the Bill provides sufficient protections for renters and that local authorities have the necessary resources, funding, staffing and capacity to effectively regulate the PRS and ensure landlord compliance with the legislation. We believe that this legislation has the potential to transform the lives of millions of renters across the UK.

2. POLICY CONTEXT

The Renters' Rights Bill is a crucial step towards reforming the Private Rented Sector (PRS). This landmark legislation fulfils the government's commitment to provide tenants with greater security of tenure while safeguarding landlords' rights. We are particularly pleased to see provisions that will ban Section 21 no-fault evictions, a major cause of homelessness. This will prevent private landlords from evicting tenants without a valid reason, offering much-needed stability to families and addressing the power imbalance between landlords and tenants.

Additionally, we welcome measures that will prohibit landlords and letting agents from accepting bids above advertised rental prices, limit rent increases to once a year, and grant tenants the right to request to keep a pet. These measures, combined with the introduction of robust redress processes, will help to improve standards, transparency, and accountability in the PRS. This will empower tenants to raise concerns about their landlord and disrepair issues.

While the Renters' Rights Bill is a positive step in the right direction, it will not fully address the root causes of rising rents, and the financial burdens faced by private renters or the recruitment and retention challenges that this has on the delivery of public services. Our research with Generation Rent highlights the significant challenges faced by private renting members, including:

· Extortionate rents: Many renters are struggling to afford increasing rental costs.

· The constant threat of eviction: The fear of eviction, often due to no-fault grounds or unreasonable rent increases, can cause significant stress and instability for renters.

· Substandard housing conditions: Many private rental properties are plagued by poor maintenance, mould, and other health hazards, which can have a devastating impact on tenants' well-being.

· Discrimination or mistreatment by private landlords: Some renters face discrimination or mistreatment based on their nationality, race, ethnicity, or earnings, which can create a toxic environment for tenants.

2.1 Housing unaffordability and insecurity

UNISON is concerned that the Bill does not adequately address the escalating issue of housing unaffordability, which disproportionately impacts our members. Our research reveals that in 2023, nearly one-third of private renter members were spending over 60% of their income on rent. This, coupled with the significant increase in rents and living costs, has pushed many private renters to the brink of financial hardship.

Housing unaffordability is inextricably linked to housing insecurity. The threat of eviction and the lack of affordable alternatives often prevent private renters from asserting their rights or addressing concerns about mistreatment or disrepair. We fear that the new and expanded grounds for landlord possession may be exploited by landlords to unfairly evict tenants or impose unreasonable rent increases, leading to economic evictions. Furthermore, the high costs of housing and insecurity faced by public sector workers have significant implications for the recruitment, retention, and ultimately, the delivery and quality of essential public services, including health, education, local government, and social care that communities in England depend on. For example, high housing costs are contributing to staff shortages in the NHS, leading to longer waiting times and reduced quality of care. Similarly, these issues are impacting teacher recruitment and retention in education, potentially leading to larger class sizes and reduced educational outcomes. It is the reason why there is a high turnover of staff who struggle to afford housing in areas where they work and often leave to find better paid employment elsewhere.

These challenges have a significant impact on the well-being of private renters, as well as the wider economy and public services. UNISON’s 2023 survey found that 32% of overall respondents working across public services are looking to move elsewhere to live and work because of the high costs of housing. Among those who privately rent, 47% said this was the case. High housing costs are also contributing to staff shortages and increased stress-related absences in essential services like the NHS, schools, and police forces. This could ultimately impact the government's ability to reform and modernise public services.

Without stronger measures to curb rent rises, landlords will continue to capitalise on the disparity between wages and rents, pushing rents beyond the reach of many renters. This is particularly challenging for low-income workers and families, who may be forced to make difficult choices between paying rent and other essential expenses. This is why UNISON is urgently calling on the government to introduce stronger measures to protect tenants, including a system of rent caps to prevent excessive rent increases; and more investment in low-cost council and social rent housing to provide truly affordable options for low-income households. Investing in building more social rent homes will also help to reduce the burden on housing benefit and homelessness budgets, which are financially crippling councils across the country.

3. COMMITTEE STAGE: UNISON RECOMMENDATIONS:

UNISON would like to see bolder measures to address insecurity and unaffordability in private renting. We recommend the following key changes to strengthen the Bill and protect tenants:

3.1 Schedule 1: Changes to Grounds for possession – Occupation by landlord (Ground 1) and sale of dwelling house (Ground 1B)

The Bill provides a protected period of 12 months during which these possession grounds cannot be used.

UNISON recommends:

· A longer protection period: Extend this period during which tenants cannot be evicted without a valid reason from 12 months to 2 years.

The current 12-month protection period for evictions is insufficient to protect tenants from the threat of homelessness. Research by UNISON and others, including Shelter and Generation Rent, has shown that insecurity is a major problem, and tenants often struggle to find suitable accommodation to move to when faced with a no-fault eviction. Extending the eviction protection period to two years would provide tenants with much-needed stability and time to secure alternative housing. This would not only benefit tenants but also landlords, as a longer stay offers greater certainty of income. In addition, a two-year protected period would deter landlords from seeking loopholes to evict tenants unfairly.

3.2 Clauses 73-94 – Digital Property Database

UNISON recommends:

· A requirement for landlords to register their intention to sell or move back in on the Digital Property Database.

Research by Generation Rent has shown that landlords can exploit the grounds for possession to evict tenants unfairly. Registration on a properly resourced and funded database will help council enforcement teams to track rental properties and ensure that landlords are complying with the law. This will help to increase transparency and accountability, making it more difficult for landlords to use these grounds to evict tenants unfairly or to impose unreasonable rent increases, leading to backdoor economic evictions.

3.3 Clauses 7-8 – Rent Increases

UNISON recommends:

· Changes in the Bill to limit in-tenancy rent increases to the lowest of wage growth or inflation (CPI), so that rents do not rise by more than inflation.

This measure will help to combat rent spirals and ensure housing remains affordable for low- and middle-income earners. ONS figures show that average rents increased by 8.4% in the 12 months to September 2024, making the average rent in England now £1,336, with London recording the highest rent inflation at 9.8%. With rents continuing to outstrip wages, there is an urgent need for a system of rent caps to prevent further disparities to help stabilise rents and promote a more affordable rental market.

3.4 Clauses 32-38 – Outlawing Discriminatory Practices

UNISON recommends:

· Changes in the Bill to end discriminatory policies including abolishing Right to Rent checks, limiting advance rent payments to a maximum of one month, and restricting requests for guarantors to only those who cannot prove their income.

UNISON is pleased that the Renters’ Rights Bill contains provisions to outlaw blanket bans on renting homes to benefit claimants and those with children. The issue of benefit discrimination is one UNISON and housing campaigners have long campaigned against. However, the provisions do not go far enough to eliminate discriminatory practices - which have long marginalised individuals, including our members and limited their housing options - such as Right to Right policies, which requires landlords to act as "immigration officers" by checking the residency status of people; landlord requests for advance rent payments, often six months’ rent upfront, which creates huge affordability problems; and requests for higher-earning guarantors, which often lead to discrimination against foreign residents and other marginalised groups based on nationality, race, ethnicity, and earnings. These policies create significant barriers for individuals accessing secure and safe housing.

3.5 Local Authority Enforcement

To ensure effective enforcement, UNISON recommends that the government must:

· Provide urgent funding: Allocate substantial funding to local authorities to hire, train, re-skill and retain qualified staff for enforcement activities.

· Invest in training and development: Support training initiatives to equip staff with the skills and knowledge required to implement the new regulations.

· Prioritise enforcement capacity: Conduct a targeted review of council housing functions, focusing on identifying and addressing capacity gaps in enforcement roles.

· Increase staffing levels: Increase staffing levels across a range of roles, including trading standards and environmental health officers, tenancy relations, and other crucial roles to ensure effective regulation and enforcement in the PRS.

· Improve pay and conditions: Ensure that pay, terms, and conditions for housing workers reflect their specific roles and responsibilities.

Despite the welcome introduction of strengthened enforcement powers for local authorities, UNISON remains deeply concerned about their capacity to effectively implement these measures, given the current state of local authority finances, resources, and capacity. Years of austerity and underfunding have significantly eroded housing and planning departments, leaving them understaffed, under-resourced, and struggling to cope with increasing workloads. Our local authority housing members have told us of the challenges of restructuring and cutting costs and services, the recruitment and retention issues they face, and the difficulties they encounter in enforcing existing regulations, particularly in their private sector housing and homelessness teams. This lack of capacity could lead to delays in investigating complaints, taking enforcement action against rogue landlords, and providing essential support to tenants. Without significant additional investment and support, local authorities will struggle to effectively utilise these enhanced powers to ensure effective compliance with new enforcement rules in the PRS.

Key challenges include:

· Staffing Shortages and Retention: Local authorities are facing significant challenges in attracting and retaining qualified professionals, including building control officers, inspectors, planning professionals, environmental health officers, trading standards officers, and tenancy relations officers. Many skilled staff are leaving local government for better pay and conditions in the private sector, particularly the PRS. Valuable knowledge and expertise are being lost when people leave or retire.

· Pay and Retention: Low pay and limited career progression are leading to high turnover, particularly among skilled and experienced staff.

· Succession Planning: A lack of investment in training and development means that valuable knowledge and expertise are being lost.

· Funding Constraints: Inadequate funding limits local authorities' ability to recruit, train, and retain staff, as well as to undertake essential enforcement activities.

· Financial Pressures: Local authorities are facing significant financial pressures, including rising costs and reduced government funding. Some councils are facing severe financial hardship or bankruptcy due to unsustainable homelessness budgets, exacerbated by the rise in homelessness caused by the rental crisis.

Further information:

If you require any further information or would like to discuss any of the points raised in this briefing, please do not hesitate to contact UNISON:

Contact Officers:

Sylvia Jones, Assistant Policy Officer and James Bull, Assistant National Officer
UNISON, Policy and Public Affairs Department, 130 Euston Road, London NW1 2AY

Email: policy@unison.co.uk

Resources/Reports:

Generation Rent (2023) Majority of private renters faced rent increase in past year

Stephen Cowan (2024) Independent Review of the UK’s Private Rented Sector

UNISON (2024) UNISON Briefing – Renters’ Rights Bill – House of Commons – Second Reading Stage – 9 October 2024

UNISON & Generation Rent (2024) ‘The private rental crisis: voices from the frontline’

UNISON (2023) ‘Through the Roof’ – Housing and the Cost-of-living crisis for public service workers