Some landlords and opposition politicians are reported to be planning last ditch bids to stop the Renters’ Rights Bill in its tracks. Can they succeed?
Opposition politicians and representatives from some of the UK’s biggest landlords and estate agents met at a roundtable event last month to discuss how they can block the bill. Options on the table include delaying it with multiple rounds of amendments in the House of Lords, and bringing a legal challenge against it on human rights grounds.
Labour’s massive majority in the House of Commons makes it practically impossible for the Conservatives to defeat the bill there. But the House of Lords can bounce it back and forth with the Commons until both houses agree on its exact wording.
At the meeting, Conservative peer Baroness Scott said she thought the bill could be held up with amendments until the autumn. However, any amendments that would overturn the main features of the bill – such as retaining fixed term tenancies or Section 21 evictions – would almost certainly be removed again when the bill returns to the Commons.
The human rights challenge or similar appeals on the grounds of landlords’ property rights could stop the bill completely instead of delaying it, but it’s a long shot. In Scotland, the Scottish Association of Landlords raised a judicial review of the country’s temporary eviction moratorium and rent controls, claiming that they breached landlords’ property rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the challenge failed in court.
Will delaying the bill make a difference?
Some landlords, agents and other property professionals have warned that the bill could drive landlords out of the sector, reduce supply, and make it too difficult for landlords to recover their properties unless court capacity is increased. Riskier tenants, such as self-employed people or recent immigrants, could find it particularly tough to secure properties due to the ban on rent in advance. And some industry insiders even warn that letting agents are leaving the industry due to growing regulation.
Several members of the House of Lords have echoed the industry’s concerns, and have propose amendments to the bill that address them. Some of those on the table include reviewing the impact on the justice system, giving all student landlords a ground for possession (not just landlords of student HMOs, as in the current bill), and allowing tenants to check with the Valuation Office Agency whether any rent increases are in line with the local market before they challenge them in court. But holding up the bill without stopping it completely would also mean a longer period of uncertainty for landlords, agents and tenants alike.
The National Residential Landlords Association has called on the government to set a date for the Renters’ Rights Bill to come into effect, and to include a six month implementation period after the bill is passed. And according to reports, some of the property industry representatives at the roundtable also believed that it would be better to pass the bill quickly and achieve certainty.
Parliament will return from recess on 22 April and the House of Lords will sit for the Renters’ Rights Bill committee stage – their chance to shape the final bill with amendments. Letting agents will be looking to peers to address their concerns.
