Tenants’ Rights Act | Law Society

The Tenants’ Rights Act it was introduced to Parliament on 11 September 2024. The bill is scheduled to become law in 2025.

The bill is not significantly different from its predecessor, the The Tenants (Reform) Bill..

The Labor government’s renewed proposal aims to introduce more protections for tenants, including:

• prohibition of “no-fault” evictions under Article 21
• scrapping fixed-term leases and replacing them with periodic leases, which tenants can terminate with two months’ notice
• making it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants on benefits or with children
• ending bidding wars by no longer allowing the solicitation, encouragement or acceptance of bids above the posted price
• a new Decent Housing Standard (DHS) for the private rented sector
• Following Law of Awaab private rented sector, requiring landlords to address hazards such as damp and mold within a specified time
• a new Ombudsman for landlords and tenants in England
• a private rented sector database on which all landlords must register themselves and their properties

Our view

We support proposals to end no-fault evictions rather than the previous government’s plans to delay the ban until further court reform.

However, without investment in legal aid for housing and the courts, the bill will not achieve its goals.

The bill, in its current form, may lead to an increase in contested hearings in the short term, as landlords who would have previously used no-fault provisions will instead have to show good cause for eviction.

We call on the government to emphasize:

• how it plans to handle the increased demand from the courts
• what additional resources it will put in place to deal with the existing backlog

“No fault” Section 21 evictions are a major cause of homelessness, with local authorities struggling to find the resources to crack down on rogue landlords under the Deregulation Act 2015.

However, we recognize that with the abolition of “no-fault” evictions, it is important that landlords have extensive grounds to repossess their properties using Section 8 eviction notices.

A section 8 notice gives the tenant a specified period to remedy the problems raised or to vacate the property before the landlord can bring legal action to regain possession.

We support proposals to widen the grounds for possession under section 8, while supporting the extended protection period at the start of a tenancy to 12 months, during which time landlords cannot evict tenants to move or sell the property.

The restrictions in the bill will also prevent the property from being re-let or re-marketed for 12 months after the possession notice is served on these grounds.

This will provide a much greater level of security in the rental market which we welcome.

The introduction of a new decent housing standard and Awaab’s Law in the private rented sectors will mean landlords will be required to investigate and remedy reported health hazards (such as damp and mould) within specified timescales.

We hope this, along with the new private rented sector database, will help identify and root out serially negligent landlords.

However, we believe that the penalties against rogue owners should be strengthened.

The bill will also make it illegal to accept offers above the advertised rent.

Landlords can only raise the rent once a year, capped at the “market rate”. This is defined as the price that would be achieved if the property were recently advertised for rent.

If a tenant feels this is above the market rate, they can appeal this to the First-tier Tribunal.

Implementation of the provisions of the bill will require more clarity and additional resources to be effective.

Local authorities must have the resources they need to make their enforcement powers more effective.

Funding for recruitment and training is needed to increase the capacity of law enforcement teams and support the sharing of best practice between councils.

Find out more about our court reform work

Next steps

The Tenants’ Rights Bill is going through parliament.

Check the invoice progress

What changes

• October 2024 – second reading and committee stage in the House of Commons
• September 2024 – first reading in the House of Commons
• July 2024 – The Tenants’ Bill of Rights was confirmed in the King’s Speech