Latest news with #rentalreforms
Telegraph
11 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Landlords could be forced to forgo rent for a year under Labour reforms
Landlords could be forced to forgo rent for up to a year under Labour's rental reforms, experts have warned. A provision in Angela Rayner's Renters' Rights Bill, which is just one parliamentary vote away from becoming law, will stop landlords who put their homes on the market from relisting properties as rentals for up to a year if they fail to sell. With as many as a third of house sales falling through, it could leave thousands of potential rental properties locked out of the market. So-called 'Section 21' notices – also known as no-fault evictions – will be banned, and all tenancies will be on a rolling basis with no fixed end date. The Bill will stipulate that landlords can only repossess properties in four circumstances: if they're looking to sell, if they're looking to move in, or if there is redevelopment or if the property is seized by a mortgage lender. Other grounds include if tenants fail to pay the rent on time, although landlords will have to wait longer to evict for this reason. Chris Norris, chief policy officer for the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said: 'Whilst we understand the Government wants to prevent abuse of the new tenancy systems, the country cannot afford to have homes standing empty for months on end. 'Around a third of property sales fall through before completion, mostly as a result of problems faced by the buyer. 'Given the scale of the housing crisis, it cannot be right that homes will be left empty for many months even when landlords are not to blame when a house sale fails to progress.' Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, said that the new rules will mean that 'landlords must provide at least four months' notice to a tenant should they need or wish to sell their property. In addition, there will also be an initial 12 months 'protected interval' at the start of any tenancy where a landlord is prevented from evicting a tenant for the purpose of selling. Further to this, should a landlord choose to sell the property in question, they will be restricted from re-letting that property for a period of 12 months after evicting the tenant, should the property not sell'. Mr Emerson added: 'This may in some circumstance cause a degree of property vacancy, in an already pressurised situation where supply is greatly required.' Many of the reforms included in the Bill were first mooted by Michael Gove, the former Conservative housing secretary. But the original legislation said landlords would have to wait three months to relist a property that had been put on the market, rather than a year. Landlords have repeatedly warned that the more stringent rules will push them out of the market, eat into margins and make letting out properties unprofitable. In March, the number of UK properties available for rent hit an all-time low of just 284,000 – 23pc lower than during the pandemic, when the market dried up. Tax credits on mortgage interest for landlords were gradually slashed between 2017 and 2020, down from 40pc for higher-rate taxpayers to a flat rate of 20pc. Interest rates leapt, with buy-to-let mortgages at the sharper end of the increases – squeezing landlord profits even as rents rose. In Rachel Reeves's maiden Budget, an extra 5pc stamp duty surcharge was introduced on additional property purchases. Housing charities said that the delay of a year was necessary in order to stop the backdoor return of 'no-fault' evictions. Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: 'It's right the Government will outlaw arbitrary Section 21 evictions through the Renters' Rights Bill. This change can't come soon enough. 'If landlords are concerned about a property sitting vacant, they are free to sell with sitting tenants.' A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: 'Our landmark Renters' Rights Bill will bring long overdue fairness to the market by making sure it is unprofitable for landlords to evict a tenant and deprive them of their home, just so they can rent to new tenants at a higher price.'
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Government accused of making ‘an absolute hames' of rental reforms
The Government has been accused of making 'an absolute hames' of their rental reforms announced last week. Opposition politicians raised the rent controls issue at Leaders' Questions on Tuesday for the fourth time in a row. Advertisement Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats said the Government proposals would drive up rents and accused the coalition of sowing confusion. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland needed to boost its private rental and housing supply (Cillian Sherlock/PA) Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the average length of a tenancy was three-and-a-half years, and so the tenancy changes would be felt quickly. She said those who move between rental properties frequently for work or education will be 'hammered' by higher and higher rents. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland needed to boost its private rental and housing supply. Advertisement He said the reforms would provide 'stronger protections than ever before' and said Sinn Féin would have to vote for them. 'What will happen is that the contrast between the Sinn Féin hyperbole and what will happen when we put these legislative pieces through the House, will be a yawning gap.' He said that no existing tenant will have their rent increased under the measures, and said that the market reset under six-year tenancies introduced from March 1st next year would attract investment. Mr Martin said Sinn Féin aimed to reduce the size of the private rental sector. Advertisement He accused Ms McDonald of opposing up to 1,700 housing units in Clonliffe College and of not treating it like a housing emergency in her constituency. Ms McDonald replied: 'It might interest the Taoiseach to know that, far from having an ideological objection to rental accommodation, I was raised in rental accommodation. Imagine that.' She said it was not true that her party wanted to reduce the private rental supply and said her opposition was to renters being 'fleeced and gouged in the way that is currently happening'. Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that the Government's 'chaotic drip feed' of housing policies had caused uncertainty and confusion. Advertisement Mr Martin said supply needed to increase, and under his Government, 5,938 houses had been completed in the first quarter of the year. He said this was the highest rate since 2011, bar the spike after the Covid-19 pandemic. 'After 2026, linking new units to the consumer price index (CPI) as well as a right to reset after six years is the crucial piece that will allow inward investment in to get supply up,' he said. 'If we do not get supply up, then the rate at which prices will moderate will be slower.' Advertisement Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said the Government had 'made an absolute hames' of rental reforms announced last week. 'Even the Taoiseach's Cabinet colleagues could not make sense of them,' she said. 'That is because driving record rents even higher, according to the Government, is somehow going to bring rents down. Make that make sense. 'No wonder the Taoiseach's Cabinet colleagues are utterly bewildered.' Mr Martin responded: 'I reject the use of language like 'chaotic' and all that. 'Very few apartments have been built. We have a problem there and we need to attract private sector investment in to get the supply up.'
BreakingNews.ie
10-06-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
New rental rules: 45% of tenancies are with 'small landlords'
Approximately 45 per cent of renters are in a tenancy arrangement with what the Government deems to be a 'small landlord'. Rental reforms announced by Minister James Browne on Tuesday draw a distinction between 'large' and 'small' landlords. Advertisement Large landlords, defined as having four or more tenancies, will be banned from carrying out no-fault evictions for tenancies beginning from March 1st, 2026. A small landlord can end tenancies via a 'no fault eviction' in limited circumstances, such as economic hardship or to move a family member in, but if they do that, they cannot reset the rent. All landlords can end a tenancy where there is a breach of tenant obligations or where the dwelling is no longer suited to the tenants. The cut-off point between a small and large decision is understood to have been a political decision around distinguishing 'accidental' landlords with one or two properties from those engaged in 'business activity'. Advertisement The Department also said that all landlords will have the right to reset rent where the rent is below market at the end of each six-year tenancy, unless a 'no-fault eviction' occurs. The new measures are designed to see a reduction in no-fault evictions. Figures released by the Department of Housing show that 25.09 per cent of rental arrangements are with a landlord who has one tenancy alone. Some 12.19 per cent of arrangements are with two-tenancy landlords, while 7.78 per cent are with three-tenancy landlords. Advertisement The data, which is from a point of time in the first quarter of the year, shows just over 45 per cent of tenancies are with so-called 'small landlords'. The figures are approximate as there are instances where a property is registered to more than one landlord. For example, there are 69,036 one-tenancy landlords associated with 60,368 tenancies in that category. There are 16,176 two-tenancy landlords for 29,330 homes, and 6,775 three-tenancy landlords associated with 18,719 properties. Advertisement In the range of 'large landlords', there are 3,544 in the category of having four tenancies – but this accounts for 13,161 tenancies, meaning some have been double counted. There are 2,235 five-tenancy landlords associated with 10,370 arrangements or 4.31 per cent of the total. There are 4,199 landlords with between 6 and 10 tenancies – accounting for 29,017 rental agreements (12.06 per cent). There are 1,597 landlords with between 11 and 20 tenancies, associated with 8.54 per cent of the total or 20,548 of the overall number of tenancies. Advertisement There are 662 landlords with between 21 and 50 tenancies, associated with 18,334 rental arrangements (7.62 per cent). There are 125 with between 51 and 100 tenancies, covering 8,132 homes or 3.38 per cent of the total. Finally, 121 landlords have more than 101 tenancies – making up 13.56 per cent of the total (32,626 homes).
Bloomberg
10-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Irish Government to Reform Rent Cap in Bid to Boost Home Supply
Ireland 's senior government ministers are set to approve new rental control reforms as part of efforts to tackle the country's acute housing shortage by luring more apartment investors to the market. Government leaders agreed on Monday evening that newly built apartments will be exempt from a 2% annual cap in rents in place in urban areas, known as rent pressure zones, according to a person familiar.
Telegraph
06-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour urged to publish rent reforms impact report as eviction delays soar
Ministers are being urged to publish a report into the impact of rental reforms on the courts as landlords face eight-month delays to repossess their property. Government departments are required to complete a justice impact assessment for any new bills that are likely to impact the UK courts system. Labour's Renters' Reform Bill is set to become law this summer and will include the removal of Section 21 'no-fault evictions'. There are fears the change will force landlords to rely on the courts to regain possession of their properties, adding to existing backlogs. Private landlords faced an eight-month wait from making a claim to the courts to their properties being repossessed in the first four months of 2025, according to the latest government data. Chris Norris, chief policy officer for the National Residential Landlords Association, said: 'The justice system is simply not ready for the impact of the Bill. 'In the interests of transparency, the Government should publish the Justice Impact test. The Government also needs to come clean about how it defines the courts being ready for the reforms. Warm words are no substitute for clear objectives for the justice system.' Justice impact assessments are an internal process and not usually published by government departments, but previous ministers have committed to publishing court reviews ahead of implementing rental reforms. The former Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee in a 2023 report said: 'It is not clear whether the Government fully appreciates the extent to which an unreformed courts system could undermine its tenancy reforms.' Furthermore, in a consultation in 2022, the then-government acknowledged that Section 21 was preferred by landlords to other means of eviction – such as Section 8 – as it was perceived as 'quicker and more certain'. Richard Atkinson, president of the Law Society, said of the Renters' Rights Bill: 'The bill will not be effective without further investment in the justice system.' Mr Atkinson also urged the Government to 'provide greater funding and more clarity to the enforcement provisions so that justice is accessible to renters and landlords alike'. In addition to concerns about the justice system, a report has warned impacts of the bill will add almost £900 a year to the average tenancy. The legislation will limit landlords to just one rent increase per year capped at the 'market rate' – the price that would be achieved if the property was newly advertised to let. Landbay said property owners were planning to increase rent by an average of 6pc, which would add £74 to the average monthly rent, or £888 a year. Dr Neil Cobbold, director at property software company Reapit UKI, said: 'The Government's decision not to share the Renters' Rights Bill justice impact test raises serious questions about transparency and accountability. The estimate of changes in the number of court and tribunal cases is a vital tool for understanding how the legislation will affect the property sector – including case volumes – and whether the justice infrastructure is in place to support the change.' The Bill is currently going through the House of Lords before being sent back to the Commons and is expected to receive Royal Assent by summer 2025 and be implemented before the end of the year.
