my landlord association recently wrote to our wise leaders with the standard concerns most landlords are having just now and have responded as follows, you can likely guess the questions from the responses. They elude to some other legislation in the pipeline I hadn’t seen before. It really is death by a 1000 cuts for the private landlord, every time someone gives me notice from now on its going on the market
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government***
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
21 February 2025
Thank you for your correspondence dated 31 January 2025 regarding the Renters’ Rights Bill.
The Renters’ Rights Bill delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to transform the
experience of private renting, including by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. The Bill will
improve the current system for both the 11 million private renters and 2.3 million landlords in
England. It will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes
for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
Regarding your concerns on the impact on supply of private rented homes. This government
values the contribution made by responsible landlords who provide quality homes to their
tenants. Our proposals make sure that landlords have the confidence and support they need
to continue to invest and operate in the sector. A study from the UK Collaborative Centre for
Housing Evidence looked at whether regulation of the PRS over the past 25 years, in the UK
and internationally, had affected PRS supply. The report concludes that there is no evidence
that non-price regulation has had an impact on supply. According to the 2023-24 English
Housing Survey, the size of the PRS has remained broadly stable since 2013-14. Landlords
have been aware of successive governments’ plans to reform the private rented sector since
- We are committed to robustly monitoring and evaluating the private rented sector reform
programme, and we will continue to monitor trends across the PRS, including supply of
properties, to understand how the market is responding to our reforms.
Tax is a matter for the Chancellor and HM Treasury. Tax policy is kept under review and
changes are announced at fiscal events. Careful consideration is given to the impacts of any
tax policy changes on the property market. Institutional Landlords can still benefit from the
lower non-residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax when purchasing six or more properties in
a single transaction, or mixed (commercial and residential) property. There were no changes
made to residential property rates at Autumn Budget and Spending Round 2024
We appreciate your concerns on the supporting infrastructures. The Bill will legislate for a new
Private Rented Sector Database to support local authority enforcement action. The service will
help landlords understand their legal obligations and give tenants the information they need to
make informed choices before entering into a tenancy agreement. It will support the
Government’s aim to improve standards within the sector and provide local authorities with the
tools to drive out criminal landlords from the private rented sector. We will look to ensure that
any future system maximises the benefits for all users – and avoids placing undue burdens on
specific user groups. Any database fee will be reasonable and proportionate. The cost to
landlords will be an important consideration in setting the fee.
We are also introducing a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman Service which will
be mandatory for nearly all private landlords to join, including those with an assured orregulated tenancy. Local councils will enforce compliance with the Ombudsman membership
requirements. The Ombudsman will resolve tenant complaints about their landlords’ actions or
behaviours, including complaints about standards and repairs. The service will offer fair,
impartial, and binding resolutions for tenants, providing an alternative to costly and time-
consuming court processes. It will provide a streamlined service to address issues efficiently,
benefiting both tenants and landlords. We will work closely with the Ombudsman and relevant
stakeholders to put the right processes and support in place so that vulnerable tenants, their
families, and carers have access to advice and redress.
Finally, we are working closely with the Ministry of Justice to make sure that the justice system
is fully prepared for the implementation of the Renters’ Rights Bill. In the longer term, we expect
our reforms to reduce the volume of court possession claims as only those cases where there
is a clear, well-evidenced ground for possession will be able to proceed. This will help to offset
any increased pressure on the courts resulting from our reforms. We are also committed to
digitising the County Court possession process, creating a modern, efficient service for court
users.
The government agrees that Homelessness levels are far too high. This can have a devastating
impact on those affected. We want to take a long-term approach and, working with Mayors and
councils across the country, we will develop a new cross-government strategy to tackling the
root causes of homelessness. The Deputy Prime Minister is also chairing an Inter-Ministerial
Group on Homelessness to bring together ministerial colleagues across government to help
get us back on track to ending homelessness. We are already taking the first steps to get back
on track to ending homelessness. As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness
services is increasing next year by £233 million compared to this year (2024/25). This
increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary
accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total spend to nearly £1 billion
in 25/26.
The most sustainable long-term method to improve housing affordability and help more people
into home ownership is to increase housing supply, which is why we are committing to building
1.5 million homes this Parliament. A new housing package will include £500 million in new
funding for the Affordable Homes Programme, increasing it to £3.1 billion, the biggest annual
budget for affordable housing in over a decade. This brings total investment in housing supply
to over £5 billion and supports the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes.
In order to deliver this commitment, the government has had to take difficult decisions to
address the challenging fiscal context. We currently spend around £30bn annually on housing
support. The April 2024 one-year Local Housing Allowance (LHA) increase costs an additional
£1.2bn in 2024/25, and approximately £7bn over 5 years. £1 billion, including Barnett impact,
will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March
2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing
Payments in England and Wales. This will help struggling households facing the greatest
financial hardship.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us.
Yours sincerely,
Shuma
Correspondence Unit