Renters Rights Bills, some government responses on queries

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

  1. 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