Tory senior shares concerns over Renters (Reform) Bill with estate agent
Former Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, promises to take landlords’ concerns to the top after meeting with Midlands-based land and property agent Sheldon Bosley Knight.
Stratford-on-Avon MP Nadhim Zahawi says he shares landlords’ concerns about the proposed abolition of periodic tenancies in the Renters (Reform) Bill after meeting with land and property agent Sheldon Bosley Knight.
In a meeting with the Midlands-based firm’s Associate Director Nik Kyriacou and Marketing Writer Kate Gould, Zahawi said he recognised the issue, which was included in the Renters (Reform) Bill, would have a negative impact on landlords.
LEGITIMATE CONCERNS
The former Chancellor said the driver of the Bill was to ‘deal with rogue landlords’ but agreed ‘at the same time we must listen to legitimate concerns’.
He told Sheldon Bosley Knight‘s Kyriacou: “We all want a fair private rental sector. This [the abolition of periodic tenancies] will make it more difficult in terms of finance and security of tenure.
“I believe in contract law and one of the best things about investing in the UK is we have the best legal framework in the world. Contracts matter and so fixed terms make sense to me.
“It would be disturbing if they [tenants] left a tenancy under those [new] conditions. A landlord would be stuck.”
FIXED TERM TENANCIES
Zahawi also recognised the issue of abolishing fixed term tenancies would be a problem for students and student landlords.
Kyriacou outlined other issues facing landlords and tenants including increased taxation for investors; more demand than there are properties available as well as increased rents and the cost associated with upgrading properties to conform with the EPC requirements.
He says: “The meeting with Mr Zahawi was extremely positive. He has so far been the only MP in our patch who responded to not just our letter to [Housing Secretary] Michael Gove regarding the Bill but also our requests to meet and discuss the proposals which we believe will have a detrimental impact on both landlords and tenants and could result in landlords leaving the sector.
“He has promised to look in detail at the proposals within the Bill and take our concerns to Mr Gove.”
if fixed term tenancies are abolished, as agents we will have to be much more robust in vetting an offer to rent. Tenants will soon cotton on that they will need to say they will be renting for at least a year when they know their intention is to rent for 6 months and move on. A landlord caught out by this will be questioning the agent as to what they did and what they have on file to prove they were thorough but caught out by the intentional dishonesty of the tenant.
A landlord invests time and money into setting up a tenancy, i cant think of any other product or service where the provider of a service is bound by the law to loose financially in this way. Whenever there is a financial investment by one party the other has a matching commitment- except it appears when you are a landlord. The landlord’s only protection to this will be to up the rent to cover loses and then who looses?
There are many more ( real ) Conservative ministers that share Mr Zahawi’s concerns and they should speak up.
abolishing fixed term tenancies would be a problem for landlords, not just student landlord.
the focus so far has only been on the abolition of Section 21 – when the real problem is the fix terms being abolished.
landlords could have students leaving in 8 or 9 months, then have tor ent their property out again – thus that property will not be available for the start of the academic term.
i fear – however well i ntentioned – Mr Zahawi will be completely powerless, as mr Gove simply cant see the problem.
Landlords are already leaving the sector – in ever larger numbers.