Renters Rights Bill
Despite the Government’s aim that the Renters’ Rights Bill will improve tenant protections, only 26.9% of renters report that they are familiar with it. Almost a third of tenants (32.6%) think that the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the aspect most extensively covered in the media, is the most important provision. This is followed by empowering tenants to challenge rent increases (19.4%), an end to rental bidding (11.2%) and discrimination against tenants with children or those on benefits (10.6%).
Although 76.7% of landlords and 85.4% of agents are aware of the Renters’ Rights Bill, given the determination of the Government to pass the legislation as quickly as possible, it is concerning that 23.8% of landlords and 14.7% of agents are either not very or not at all aware of the provisions in the Bill. This highlights the need for both landlords and agents to familiarise themselves with the Bill so that they can prepare effectively. LandlordZONE is running a free, CPD accredited Renters’ Rights Bill course that covers the changes that are coming to the sector. Join LandlordZONE’s forum to access the series for free here.
Landlords are overwhemlingly mostly concerned about the abolition of Section 21 (60.1% compared to 80.5% in 2023, followed by rules prohibiting discrimination against tenants with children or those on benefits (11%) and the right to request a pet (9.5%). Overall, the provision that both landlords and agents are least worried about is the end to rental bidding.
The abolition of Section 21 is also a key concern for 68.5% of agents, followed by empowering tenants to challenge rent increases (7.7%) and a tenant’s right to request a pet (6.3%).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the scale and speed of change proposed by the Renters’ Rights Bill, the majority of landlords (76.2%) and 73.5% of agents feel less supported by the current Government in addressing sector challenges than they did by the previous government.
This compares to 2023, when 61.9% of landlords and 50.2% of agents felt ‘not supported at all’ by the Government, and 2022 when considerably fewer (43%) of landlords felt unsupported, signalling landlords’ increasing frustration with government, probably due to regulatory demands. One previous respondent commented, “It seems set up to protect tenants and large scale landlords so inadvertently penalises small scale, genuine landlords.”
Despite the Government’s tenant focused approach, only 17% of tenants feel more supported by the Labour Government than they did by the previous government, and 17.7% actually feel less supported.
The issue of pets in rental properties has long been a bone of contention between landlords and tenants. The Renters’ Rights Bill seeks to address this by giving tenants the right to request permission from the landlord to keep a pet and allowing landlords to require insurance covering pet damage.
However, pet restrictions appear to be a minor concern, as only 14.9% of tenants would like a pet but are currently unable to have one, 45% don’t want to have a pet and 26.1% are already permitted to have pets by the landlord.
Only 16.2% of landlords said that they would not permit their tenant to have a pet ‘under any circumstances’ and just 9.5% of landlords and 6.3% of agents identified the tenant’s right to request a pet as their top concern in the Renters’ Rights Bill, while 19.2% of landlords and 18.7% of agents said it is the provision that they are least concerned about. These latest survey results highlight a shift in landords’ sentiment towards pets in properties compared to the 2023 survey, which revealed that 49.6% of landlords were strongly or very strongly against pets in rental properties.
Putting an end to discrimination against tenants on benefits and families is a key provision in the Renters’ Rights Bill, so it is reassuring to see that just over half of landlords currently rent to families. However, only 15.4% rent their properties to tenants on Universal Credit compared to 26% in 2023, while the vast majority of landlords reported that they rent to professionals (68.88%, a slight drop on 73.3% in 2023) and just 9.7% said that they don’t mind what type of tenants they rent to. A significant minority of agents (43.8%) reported a shift in the types of tenants seeking rental properties.
When it comes to finding reliable tenants, most landlords find it easy, with 63.9% reporting that they have no issue. However, over a third said they have difficulties finding reliable tenants. This could be due to competition in the rental market in areas of high demand for housing, where landlords may feel pressured to accept tenants to fill vacancies quickly. When the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law and Section 21 is banned, it will be more important than ever to carry out robust referencing checks on tenants.
Although there is no legal requirement to take a deposit, the benefits of taking a deposit are widely accepted. It gives the tenant an incentive to look after the property and is a financial safety net for the landlord. It is therefore reassuring that just 1.3% of tenants use no deposit at all, although this figure was slightly higher for landlords and agents, with 8.2% reporting that they don’t take a tenancy deposit. Most tenants (89.5%) pay a deposit of four or five weeks’ rent, and most landlords and agents surveyed also take a deposit of four or five weeks’ rent (90.8%).
Despite the potential appeal of deposit alternatives, which reduce upfront costs for tenants, 96.4% of tenants use a traditional deposit, with only 2.4% opting for a deposit alternative. This is surprising given that 30% of tenants said that raising the money for a deposit is one of the biggest challenges renters face today, perhaps pointing to a lack of awareness about these options, concerns about potential hidden costs, and the perception that they might be less secure than traditional deposits, as well as the fact that not all landlords readily offer them. Only 15.6% of landlords and agents reported that they have ever used a deposit replacement option.
Traditional deposits (e.g., 4-5 weeks' rent) – secure but higher upfront cost
Deposit alternatives – lower upfront cost but potentially less secure
