Renters' Rights Bill

Written evidence submitted by Safe Suffolk Renters to The Renters’ Rights Public Bill Committee (RRB88).

Safe Suffolk Renters (SSR) is funded by the MHCLG Pathfinders Programme. SSR is a collaboration of the five local councils in Suffolk to bridge the ‘gap between tenants, landlords and property managers’ and ‘provide Suffolk with safe, happy, and healthy private rented homes. SSR aim to empower tenants and engage communities by educating them on housing standards, help landlords to improve housing conditions and raise awareness of the consequences of non-compliance

Below is our feedback, comments and questions on the new Renters Rights Bill. SSR is in support of the Bill. The feedback below is to help "fine tune" the final legislation.

1. The Housing Act 2004, S.237 (1) and (2) makes specific reference to allowing Private Sector Housing (PSH) teams access to Housing & Council Tax Data. Can a similar clause be included in the RRB that mandates DWP & HMRC must share data (landlord name, address, properties they own, tenant in receipt of HB, copy of tenancy agreement etc) for investigations? Or provide Councils with licensed access to the DWP data as, for example, private Insulation companies have access to verify receipt of benefits for grant eligibility checks.

2. Further, to Point 1 above, mandate that PSH teams have access to Non-Domestic Rates information to support investigations.

3. Landlord Portal - Good landlords will sign up. Criminal / rogue landlords will not, and the Local Authority (LA) is expected to enforce. To assist our enforcement and identify landlords who have not registered can it be mandated that the DWP,  HMRC and Letting Agents that hold data on known landlords share this with LA's.

4. The Govt expectation - enforcement income will pay for new staff. We know from the MHCLG Pathfinders, it takes 18 months to recruit and train staff before income is generated therefore, new burdens funding needs to assist with this period of time to recruit & train.

5. Investigation powers – we have problems with GDPR & data sharing between councils, Police, Health and other statutory organisations. Legislation that mandates data sharing between these organisations helps Data Protection Teams facilitate the lawful sharing of data.

6. Property Ombudsman Service (POS) – How will the general public differentiate between contacting the Council and POS when raising an issue? E.g. Housing standards complaint should be directed to the LA and not the POS.

7. The status of a "landlord" – letting homes is a business activity but is not seen as such by many. The use of the term landlord needs to be clarified as a business activity with a binding expectation of professionalism and penalties for unprofessional actions in breach of legislative requirements or to a CPN. Just because you only have 1 property for let doesn’t excuse non-compliance with the law

8. In debates so far about the RRB, lots of reference to landlords being good and some that are poor. Important to remember a lot of landlords utilise a property manager. These property managers do not always act in the best interests of the tenant and landlord – we believe they should receive more scrutiny under the RRB.

9. Letting/Managing Agents are often responsible for large rent increases and driving up the market rates. At tenancy Renewals, they sometimes push for higher rents to increase their % commission rates and profit. Tenant accepts these larger rent increases driven by the Letting Agent so they do not lose their home.

10. Illegal Evictions – are likely to increase if S.21 is removed? Can there be an allowance in the New Burdens Funding to prepare for this increase in illegal evictions?

11. HHSRS Review and DHS – when will these be implemented? Would be helpful that these are aligned to the new RRB.

12. Within the Bill, make a requirement for landlords to hold adequate property insurance that includes for any temporary rehousing costs for the tenant. This will reduce the demand for Council Temporary Accommodation when LA’s have to house tenants displaced from a fire, flood or extensive remedial works.

13. Use the Bill and subsequent Regulations to address the MEES loophole that allows properties with a tenancy that has not change d 1 st April 2018 to be exempt from having an EPC. Allow joint enforcement of not having an EPC or an EPC having expired to be enforced by Trading Standards and Councils

October 2024.