Get your skates on, letting agents warned as reforms go live
Property lawyer David Smith says there is a brief period before the law takes effect, and urges agents to use the time to prepare.
The new Renters’ Rights Act has passed and there is now a brief period before it starts to take effect and both agents and landlords must use the time they now have to get ready for the provisions of the Act, leading property lawyer David Smith (pictured) has warned.
Some measures will become enforceable before the end of the year, on 27 December, such as new powers for local council officers to enter a letting agency’s office, and a ban on discrimination against tenants with children or those on benefits.
Timetable
Other parts of the act, like the end to Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, are expected to be brought in some time early next year.
Housing secretary Steve Reed has promised to publish a timetable for when all the elements of the Act will be introduced, as soon as possible.
Smith, property litigation partner with law firm Spector Constant & Williams, says: “The Renters’ Rights Bill gaining Royal Assent is an important milestone, but it’s crucial to understand that most of the new law is not yet in effect.
Letting agents and landlords should use the time now to review their policies and ensure staff training is in place.”
“While the Act is now on the statute books, the practical changes for landlords, agents and tenants will only follow once further regulations are made, which cannot happen in less than 28 days,” he says.
“Letting agents and landlords should use the time now to review their policies and ensure staff training is in place before the new rules come into force.”
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When even property lawyers start repeating the “no-fault eviction” rhetoric, there really is no hope. Section 21 was never an eviction; it’s simply the piece of paper that ends an agreed term of occupation. The tenant’s right to remain ends because the contract has run its course — nothing more, nothing less.
The phrase “no-fault eviction” was a lobby-suit marketing clarion, designed to stir sentiment and distort understanding. It conflates the end of a tenancy with the act of eviction — two entirely separate legal events.
And that, to me, is disturbing. It’s a sign of how easily even well-trained professionals can lose sight of the truth — like watching people admire the King’s new clothes when they know deep down he’s naked. Wrongness prospers when good folk ignore the naked truth.
When property lawyers start repeating the “no-fault eviction” rhetoric, there really is no hope. Section 21 was never an eviction; it’s simply the piece of paper that ends an agreed term of occupation. The tenant’s right to remain ends because the contract has run its course — nothing more, nothing less.
The phrase “no-fault eviction” was a lobby-suit marketing clarion, designed to stir sentiment and distort understanding. It conflates the end of a tenancy with the act of eviction — two entirely separate legal events.
And that, to me, is disturbing. It’s a sign of how easily even well-trained professionals can lose sight of the truth — like watching people admire the King’s new clothes when they know deep down he’s naked. Wrongness prospers when good folk ignore the naked truth.
So we must get ready by the 27th December for a new Gestapo style Trading Standards marching into our high street offices. “We have been expecting you, please take your Jackboots off and put your weapons down. We are a peaceful agency we dont have any trouble here, we have burnt all our s21 notices”