Landlord Law Newsround #398

Here is our last Newsround for July and it comes with no shortage of housing news.

Renters Rights Bill implementation predictions

Solicitor David Smith has predicted that:

• The bill will get Royal Assent during September
• Assured shorthold tenancies and the section 21 no fault eviction procedure will be abolished from 6 April (apart from existing notices during their notice period)
• The new section 8 grounds will come into force at the same time, to make it all work,
• Maybe the new rules on pets, tenancy agreements and discrimination
• The Decent Homes standard and Awaabs law will probably come in later though
• The new database may come into force if it is ready to go, but that is by no means certain

That all sounds sensible to me.  The government will want the bill to be passed by the time of their annual Conference at the end of September/the start of October so they can declare that they have complied with their manifesto commitment.

New legislation used on rogue landlord

A landlady who ‘hounded’ one of her tenants with unlawful eviction and demanded rent that was not owed has agreed to stop letting and managing private residential properties until July 2028 or risk being sent to prison, fined or having her assets seized.

Wolverhampton County Court used recent changes to the law in the Digital Marketing, Competition and Consumer Act 2024 and gave Ms Saddique an option to agree to an ‘undertaking’ which is a voluntary legal commitment made to the court.

The landlady had also misled the public by not using official business stationary and it was ruled that she had done, and was likely to do something that was unfair or harmful to the public.

Councillor Steve Evans said that the council would use the new powers where applicable to crack down on unfair practices by landlords.

Rental deposit scheme unfair to tenants

46% of tenants are unaware that they can challenge any deductions taken from their deposit if they feel it is unfair, only 4% of tenants have used the formal dispute process. A quarter of tenants have used the dispute resolution service to challenge any unfair deductions according to new research based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 private tenants.

Dan Wilson Craw of Generation Rent said

The uncertain timescales and unclear rules of the deposit system, as well as obstructiveness and threats from some landlords, mean that accepting unfair deductions to get some cash back quickly can feel like the better option.

A quarter of tenants found that they did not use the dispute resolution service to challenge any unfair deductions due to threats from their landlord, according to new research based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 private tenants. Data from TDS said that 77% of renters got some of their disputed deposit back and 32% got all of it back.

Ministers are reviewing the system and say that the Renters’ Right Bill will give more powers to councils to investigate landlords’ financial information where abuse is suspected.

Snippets

Renters loose £169m in deposit interest every year – Claim Generation Rent
Being ‘amateur’ no defence against rent repayment order, judge tells landlord
Rich landlords? Most earn just £17,600 a year reveal official figures
Encourage, not DISCOURAGE landlords from investing, urges leader

See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law

Newsround will be back again next week