Ahead of the Second Reading of the Renters’ Rights Bill on Wednesday 9 October 2024, Propertymark, the UK’s leading professional membership body for property agents, is urging MPs not to overlook the key role landlords and letting agents play, and to strengthen the Bill so it retains choice and flexibility and keeps costs down for tenants and landlords alike.
The Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced to the UK Parliament on 11 September 2024 and will ban Section 21 evictions, introduce a new tenancy regime, as well as new requirements for property standards and potential rent increases.
Propertymark has outlined the vital role that letting agents play in the private rented sector, supporting landlords to understand and comply with their responsibilities and help tenants find a suitable property to rent. It’s important that MPs recognise how this ensures tenants have choice and support.
The Body says that the second reading of the legislative process in the UK Parliament is a key opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill.
According to the UK Government, “renters have been let down for too long” and the reforms will “give greater security for 11 million renters”.
However, according to the English Housing Survey, 71% of private renters say they found it easy to pay their rent and 95% were not in rental arrears. Within the social rented sector, the figures showed that 73% said they found it easy to pay their rent and 85% were not in rental arrears.
Furthermore, most private renters (63%, 424,000 households) who had moved in the last 12 months cited they had decided to end their tenancy because they wished to move.
Propertymark says that it is supportive of measures to improve standards and protections for tenants, but the professional body is concerned that removing Section 21 without adequately resourcing the court system will take away many of the protections that have allowed the private rented sector to grow since the late 1980s and dissuade landlords from reinvesting or deterring new entrants into the market. It remains imperative there are enough properties for people to live in, especially with an ever-expanding population.
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: “Currently, amongst letting agents there is a concern about the use of anti-landlord rhetoric and how this is leading landlords to take their properties off the market or leave the sector altogether. Our Housing Insight Report shows that there are on average eight registrations for each available property, with new instructions also reducing.”
“Letting agents strongly refute the suggestion that landlord greed is responsible for so-called ‘bidding wars’. The lack of supply of homes to rent often leads tenants, who are desperate for somewhere to live, to offer increased rent.”
“The Bill in its current form is highly likely to exacerbate this situation with more landlords withdrawing their homes from the private rented sector, frequently moving them to short-term lets. The impact this could have on tenants it is trying to protect can’t be underestimated.”
