Exploring the Implementation Timeline of the Renters’ Rights Act

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The Renters’ Rights Act Is Here: What’s Included and The Implementation Timeline

After years of waiting, the Renters’ Rights Bill has finally achieved Royal Assent. Here, we cover the Act’s contents and the proposed timeline for implementation.

The long-awaited and contentious Renters’ Rights Bill (now the Renters’ Rights Act) has achieved Royal Assent.

As it stands, we’re still yet to find out when these new measures will be implemented. The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) is pressing the Government to release full documentation and confirm timelines. It’s also pushing for a minimum of six months’ notice before implementation to give landlords time to prepare.

Beverly Kennard, Head of Lettings Operations at Knight Frank, has commented “While we await clarity on implementation – expected to take effect within the next six months – it's worth remembering that the Bill is designed to tackle rogue practices, not penalise responsible landlords”.

Below, we’ve outlined:

The measures announced in the Renters’ Rights Act
What landlords need to know about each measure
Where you can find the latest updates on the Renters’ Rights Act

What measures are in the Renters’ Rights Act?

The Abolishment of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions

Section 21 evictions will be abolished for new and existing tenancies on the same day, known as “commencement date”. The government justifies this by saying, “this single date will prevent a confusing 2-tier system and give all tenants security immediately”.

Landlords with outstanding Section 21 notices on the commencement date will have up to 3 months to bring the proceedings for repossession.

More on the abolishment of Section 21 evictions.

How will the PRS and the courts cope without Section 21 evictions?

Extension of Section 8 grounds for possession

With Section 21 gone, landlords must rely on Section 8 evictions and go via the courts. This is an expensive, time-restrictive alternative, and the impact on the court system will be significant.

The Act introduces some new grounds for possession. However, the guidelines insist that landlords will have paid the rental deposit into an authorised tenancy deposit scheme or returned the deposit to the tenant to obtain an order for possession.

The new grounds include:

Landlords can give 4 months’ notice if they plan to sell the property, but this must be after the first 12 months of a tenancy
A change to an existing ground of serious rent arrears, so now tenants will need to have at least 3 months of rent arrears before the property can be repossessed

Allowing tenants to request pets

Tenants will now have the right to ask landlords for consent to have a pet, and, arguably, one of the most contentious parts of the new Act is that landlords will not be able to decline unless they have a good reason.

Here are the details:

The change only applies to tenants, not applicants, so landlords can still advertise properties as ‘no pets’
Landlords will have to respond in writing within 28 days
The tenant will be able to appeal a refusal to the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman (more details on this below)
Landlords will not be able to require tenants to take out pet damage insurance

Tackling the pet issue

Why are landlords more concerned about pets in properties than the abolishment of Section 21 evictions?

What incentives would push more landlords to allow tenants to keep pets?

A Decent Homes Standard

The Decent Homes Standard has been extended to the PRS to introduce a new system for assessing housing conditions and enforcing new standards. This will be a legal duty that landlords will have to comply with and ensure their properties are free of serious hazards.

Local authorities can issue fines, hold new investigatory powers, and will be expected to report on enforcement activities of up to £7,000.

Useful links for the Decent Homes Standard

What’s in the Decent Homes Standard?

How can landlords finance the changes to properties to meet the new Decent Homes Standard?

Periodic tenancies

Standard assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) will be replaced by new periodic, or 'rolling' tenancies.

This means:

There will be no minimum tenancy term for new or existing tenancies
Tenants will be able to serve just 2 months’ notice from day one of the tenancy
Student tenancies will be most impacted, as fixed tenancies can work around university term times. The Act includes a specific Ground 4A eviction type to allow landlords to regain possession at the end of the academic year, but only for HMO properties with 3 or more tenants, with landlords having to give at least 4 months’ notice

More on Periodic Tenancies

What will Periodic Tenancies mean for my portfolio and tenants?

Strengthened tenant rights

Labour has consistently advocated for strengthening tenants’ rights and giving renters more power in the Renters’ Rights Act. This is clear throughout the Act through new measures that boost tenants’ position.

Some examples include:

Ending bidding wars on properties, with landlords and agents unable to encourage high rents and accept an offer that is higher than the proposed rent
Limiting rent increases to just once a year, with at least 2 months’ notice from landlords
Tenants will be able to challenge the rent in the first 6 months of a tenancy

Awaab’s Law

Named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who tragically died after prolonged mould exposure in social housing, Awaab’s Law requires all private and social landlords to address hazards in specific time periods. The requirements will likely differ slightly for the social and private sectors, but this is yet to be fully confirmed.

The latest updates on Awaab’s Law

Will landlords meet the deadline for Awaab’s Law?

What changes will Awaab’s Law bring to the PRS?

The online database

The ‘Rented Property Portal’ is the new online database to which all landlords must register themselves and their properties. Labour has referred to this database as a “one-stop shop” for landlords to access all guidance and information about their responsibilities. However, it has been made clear that the database will work alongside selective licensing, rather than replacing it, allowing local councils to keep some control.

In terms of the costs and fines, all we know so far is:

Landlords will need to pay a fee to join, but the government has committed to “ensure that the fee is proportionate and good value”
If landlords fail to register, local councils will be able to impose a charge of £7,000, increasing to £40,000 if the matter escalates

More information on the Rented Property Portal

What are landlords’ new responsibilities with the Landlord Database?

A new Property Ombudsman

All private landlords, including those who use letting agents, will be legally obligated to join the new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service (or the Landlord Redress Scheme).
When this measure was announced, the government promised the Ombudsman would be unbiased and not always act in favour of the tenant.

All we know so far is:

Landlords will need to join the Ombudsman before they market a property for letting
Prospective, current, and former tenants will all be able to complain to the Ombudsman free of charge
Landlords may face a fine of up to £7,000 from their local authorities for failing to join the Ombudsman

Understanding the Ombudsman Service

How will the Ombudsman help tackle disputes between landlords and tenants?

Making it illegal to discriminate against tenants on benefits or with children

The Act makes it illegal for landlords to have blanket bans on renting to tenants on benefits or with children.

However, landlords will still be able to turn these tenants down due to affordability concerns.

The new era of property investment

With the Renter’s Rights Act now law, we are seeing in real time the most substantial changes to the buy to let market since its inception. With the little grace period we’ve been granted for the implementation timelines, navigating the new changes and responsibilities will be a learning curve for landlords and the wider market.

We expect to learn more about the proper guidelines for these measures over the next few weeks. We'll publish the latest updates to our Renters’ Rights Act Hub when these come to light. You can subscribe to our Investor Update here to be the first to read the updates as and when they happen.

Now more than ever, it’s important to work closely with an expert broker who can help guide you through this new era of property investment. We’ll support you with your property finance plans in this new landscape and explore all your options to give you confidence moving forward.