Agents and landlords ‘will not get dedicated housing courts’
MPs on an influential select committee had supported suggestions that dedicated housing courts are desperately needed.
The Government has rejected a call from MPs to introduce housing courts to deal with a backlog of eviction cases.
But ministers have agreed that tenants must give two months’ notice before vacating a property.
MPs sitting on the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee had urged the Government to clear legal logjams by creating dedicated housing courts.
Overloaded
The MPs were concerned that if Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions were scrapped the existing courts, which are already struggling to cope, would become overloaded.
However, a move to abandon Section 21 notices, which the committee supported, has now been put on hold while improvements are made to the courts system.
The controversial measure had been expected to be contained in the Renters Reform Bill, which received its second reading in Parliament yesterday.
Fixed-term
On the issue of tenancies, the Government proposes to get rid of fixed-term contracts, and justified this in its response to the committee.
“Under the new system, tenancies will have no fixed period or specified length, meaning tenants can feel secure that their home is theirs until they choose to leave, or the landlord has a valid reason for possession,” the response says.
Any point
“Tenants will be able to give notice at any point during the tenancy to avoid replication of fixed terms.”
But the statement adds: “Currently, tenants are normally required to provide only four weeks’ notice … and we have extended this to two months in recognition of the increased flexibility tenants will have.”
Tenants will remain liable for the rent for the two-month notice period, and cash from the deposit can be used to cover the final month’s rent, the Government says.
Pets ‘can bring huge joy to their owners’.”
A committee recommendation to water down the new right for tenants to keep pets is rejected, as the Government says pets “can bring huge joy to their owners”.
The full Government response is available here
And the select committee report can be read here
It was an easy give to make the government look helpful to landlords when in fact the deposit schemes can’t stop the deposit being used for the last months rent as paying rent is a contractual obligation and they wouldn’t adjudicate a tenants counterclaim to withhold rent
It was an easy give to make the government look helpful to landlords when in fact the deposit schemes can’t stop the deposit being used for the last months rent as paying rent is a contractual obligation and they wouldn’t adjudicate a tenants counterclaim to withhold rent
A completely useless and irrelevant‘concession’
It was an easy give to make the government look helpful to landlords when in fact the deposit schemes can’t stop the deposit being used for the last months rent as paying rent is a contractual obligation and they wouldn’t adjudicate a tenants counterclaim to withhold rent
A completely useless and irrelevant‘concession’ from a useless and irrelevant government
Did I read correctly? The deposit can be used for the final month’s rent! What?!!!! The whole point of the deposit is to cover dilapidations that have occurred over the course of the tenancy.
Like others have said, this is going to be the final nail in the coffin for the PRS, although The ‘so called’ Government seem to be finding more nails to keep hammering in! They are an utter joke!
Just when you thought they couldn’t make the PRS any worse with this bill…they now come up with complete utter nonsense, that will finally kill off the PRS. If they add the above, as well there is absolute no hope. Why change things that do work well for both landlord and tenant to something that will never work for either. God help us!
Ideology is about to crash headlong in to reality.
This is an ill thought through, piece of legislation driven by falsehoods promoted by political activists.
It will devastate the private rental sector which is already at crises point.
And its the tenants who will suffer the most.
Tenants will suffer – is the exactly what will happen.
Ideology is about to crash headlong in to reality.
This is an ill thought through, appalling piece of legislation driven by falsehoods promoted by political activists.
It will devastate the private rental sector which is already at crises point.
And its the tenants who will suffer the most.
The governments publicised plan is to make mediation ‘Compulsory’ for claims up to £10k.
Further, the Housing Ombudsman will have almost universal scope to decide property disputes.
In short, Landlords access to the Civil legal [sic] system, will be withdrawn, thereby speeding up the court process for the few civil claims that remain in jurisdiction.
“Cash from the deposit can be used to cover the final month’s rent, the Government says”
So what’s the point of having a deposit? It’s meant to be used primarily as a *damage* deposit!