The Government has confirmed that before the General Election they will introduce the Renters Reform Bill. This new bill will prevent a landlord from serving a current Section 21 notice on a tenant. This will bring England more in line with Wales (although we are unsure of the details of the Renters Reform Bill and how it will work. We will keep you posted though).
When it does come into force it will mean that if you rent out a property in England you will be unable to serve a notice for 2 months on the basis that you simply want the property back.
Although we do not know the details of the bill, we assume they will be similar to Wales.
Many charities welcome the news, but some feel that landlords will now rush to evict tenants (before the changes come into force), or they will simply sell their rental properties. This will have a detrimental effect on the housing market as there are already insufficient rental properties available. Many rental properties in Wales have a waiting list for views by potential tenants. This is also pushing up the rent for tenants who may be struggling in the current economic climate.
Some Landlord agencies believe that due to the delays within the court system, the landlords will be disadvantaged by the changes.
In Wales we have found that the changes were quite complex leaving Landlords wondering how they can evict any tenants. We are noticing more and more delays happening because landlords have served an invalid notice, or failed to adhere to the regulatory requirements necessary. Some Landlords served a notice for 6 months, only to find that the notice was invalid and had to wait a further 6 months to reserve. Many Solicitors firms are no longer accepting cases from Wales due to the complexity of getting everything correct.
Catherine Watkins from Newbold believes that there will be challenges for Landlords, there has been a number of untested cases in the Welsh Courts and many Landlords have been put off from remaining in the rental market, but with expert guidance and handholding, landlords are finding their way through the maze of statutory changes.
Changes in Wales for notice periods
We do all we can to ensure that the advice we give in our blogs are correct at the time of posting, however, the law changes frequently and we are unable to cover all individual circumstances. We ask that you take legal advice before relying on any information within our blogs.