Final Stage and WE ARE READY!
As you may have picked up the Renters Rights Bill is due back to the House of Commons on Monday 8th September for debate (consideration of amendments stage) on the amendments put forward by the House of Lords.
Some of these amendments will be passed without further amendment as they were put forward with Government agreement by the Labour peer Baroness Taylor (Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the House of Lords) while others that have been put forward by other party’s peers or independent peers will be debated and possibly go back to the Lords for further scrutiny in what is called the “ping pong” stage.
This stage will happen quickly with final agreement happening by the time the House of Commons breaks up on the 16th September for the party conference season and then achieving planned Royal Assent by the end of September.
What will happen once the Renters Rights Bill gets Royal Assent?
When this happens, and the commentary is that it will, the government have already said that agents and landlords will have at least 2 months to prepare for the changes (which also allows time for any secondary legislation to go through such as amendments to the Tenants Fees Act etc), with the anticipated commencement date being the 1st January 2026 with the following changes reported to be coming in initially on that commencement date:]
- Abolition of Section 21 notice
- Conversion of all fixed term tenancies to a periodic basis with tenancies now becoming Assured Tenancies and AST’s
- Tenancy termination notices periods changing
- Revised Section 8 notice grounds and notice periods
- Revised rent review process
- Barring of up-front multi-month rent payments
- Changes to the initial months’ rent payment before signing the tenancy agreement
- Ending of “bidding wars”
- Changes to the allowance of pets, children, and benefits recipients etc
- Introduction of the first-tier tribunal process
And of course, the implementation of the increased fines for non-compliance.
What is happening further along the line?
These items will happen later down the line:
- Decent homes standard
- Awaab’s Law
- New Landlord database
- New property database
Please be assured that we are ready to implement all of these changes as and when they come into force and as always, we will guide you through these changes and make sure that you remain legally compliant with all your statutory duties under this incoming legislation.
What if I need help?
We are here to help you with these changes by offering our FREE In-Person Tenancy and Property Compliance Audit. CLICK HERE to find out how we can help you.