Labour are rushing this bill through Parliament but in fairness it was initiated by Gove and cheered on by various pressure groups including Shelter, the outfit which has never given shelter to anyone.
Listed below are the ways this bill will affect Owners, there are many people apart from those letting property intentionally who by circumstance have found themselves in the position of what is known as unintentional landlords, perhaps by a friend or relative being in care, a property the centre of a dispute etc., and they may well not be aware of all the forthcoming legislation.
Below is the govt biased review as it affects the Owner/L Lord.
Property Ombudsman Scheme – The bill proposes a new, mandatory Private Rented Sector Ombudsman to address disputes between landlords and tenants. It is designed to offer a faster and more affordable alternative to court proceedings. The new ombudsman scheme will cover all private landlords and provide fair, impartial, and binding resolution to issues like property standards, repairs, and poor landlord practices.
Private Rented Sector Database and Portal – a new database of all landlords of assured and regulated tenancies who are legally required to register themselves and their properties on the database will be created. Landlords will be subject to strict penalties if they market or let out a property without registering it and providing the required information.
The idea is that the portal will provide a ‘one stop shop’ for landlords allowing them to access relevant government guidance on letting practices helping them to understand and fully comply with their legal obligations.
The database will be accessible by tenants, “increasing transparency and making the information available before they decide to rent a property and throughout their renting journey. This will allow them to take effective action to enforce their rights and be aware when they can escalate issues with their property to their local council or the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman,” says the guidance.
The database will also, “provide local councils with more data about private rented sector properties. One of the biggest and most time-consuming barriers faced by local councils is identifying poor quality and non-compliant private rented sector properties and who owns them. The database will provide a trusted and consistent intelligence source which will remove unnecessary, frustrating administration, meaning council staff will be able to focus on enforcement against criminal landlords.”
Mandatory membership in an ombudsman scheme – for which all private landlords in England with assured or regulated tenancies will be required by law to join, including those who use a managing agent. Tenants will be able to use the service for free to complain about a landlords’ actions or behaviours and landlords will be required to comply with ombudsman decisions.
Local councils will be able to act against landlords who fail to join, or against anyone who markets a PRS property where the landlord is not registered. This will include civil penalties of up to £7,000 for initial breaches and up to £40,000 or criminal prosecution for continuing or repeated breaches. Tenants will be able to seek rent repayment orders against their landlord if the landlord commits an offence by persistently failing to join the ombudsman service.
Strengthened rent repayment orders – and other fines and penalties are to increase. Rent repayment orders will be extended to superior landlords, doubling the maximum penalty and ensuring repeat offenders must repay the maximum amount. It means that landlords who rent out their properties for others to manage (typically rent-to-rent arrangements) will still be responsible for the failings of the management company, either jointly or wholly.
Rent in advance and guarantors – these are two common mitigation strategies for landlords, particularly in the student market. Under the new rules landlords will be limited to asking for one month’s rent in advance, as well as a security deposit not exceeding 5 weeks rent. They will no longer be allowed to demand multiple months’ rent in advance or rent upfront.
Guarantors will have more protection under the bill. A key change is that guarantors who are related to the tenant will no longer be liable for outstanding rent if the tenant dies. This aims to alleviate the burden on family members who might otherwise inherit a tenant’s rental debt.
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