ROPA is back on the Agenda
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has confirmed that that the proposed reforms of regulating the private rented sector are still on the agenda. .
The Minister was responding to a question tabled in the House of Commons during the committee stage of the Renters Rights Bill and was asked if the recommendations of the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) Working Group would be implemented.
The minister confirmed :- “The government is committed to ensuring that those living in the rented and leasehold sectors are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous property agents. The Government will set out its position on the regulation of letting, management and estate agents in due course.”
All About the Renters Reform Bill
All About the Renters Reform Bill
After a long debate in the Houses of Commons today, with a strong opening statement from Deputy Prime-Minister, Angela Rayner, the blueprint for the Renters Rights Bill is well and truly set.
1st October 2021 - Section 21 & Section 8 Notice periods to revert back to Pre-Pandemic Rules
The government has confirmed that notice periods for both Section 8 and Section 21 Notices in England will return to the pre-pandemic rules on October 1st, 2021.
Over the last 18 months since the government introduced emergency measures as part of the Coronavirus Act 2020 to protect renters, notice periods for both notices have changed 5 times causing a great deal of confusion for landlords and letting agents.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced: “While these measures were appropriate at the height of the pandemic, these restrictions could only ever be temporary. Returning notice periods to their pre-COVID lengths from 1 October will allow landlords to repossess their property where necessary. However, we intend to retain the power to implement these measures again in the case that the public health situation worsens and these measures are required again.”
Big Changes for Landlords and Tenants from 1 June
The Parliamentary CLG Select Committee recently asked that the MHCLG set out its plans for unwinding the various measures put in place to protect tenants during the pandemic. Yesterday they did just that.
The stay on bailiff and HCEO evictions ends completely on 1 June and so landlords will now be able to enforce the various court orders they have obtained. Landlords could in principle apply for warrants now for action after 1 June but I am not sure that the Bailiff’s offices will allow this. There are suggestions of a massive burst of evictions as a result of this but I doubt that will occur. The reality is that the county court bailiffs simply do not have the capacity to do much more than they were doing pre-Covid and so I do not expect them to be doing that many more evictions than they were before the pandemic. The MHLCG press release suggests that there will be priority given to ASB and fraud cases but doubtless there will also be an element of first come, first served. The removal of the stay will also mean that all protections given to tenancies that fall outside one of the statutory regimes (non-Housing Act tenancies) and residential licences will lose all their protection from 1 June.
Also from 1 June there will be the start of a taper in relation to section 8 and 21 notice periods, which have been extended for the pandemic and the regulations to do this have already been laid. The first stage of the taper will last until the end of September.