THREE major rule changes have been announced today that renters need to know about – and it includes no more no-fault evictions.
The changes were revealed in the government’s Levelling Up White Paper, and includes new rules that affect Brits living in private rented housing.
1
White Papers are policy documents that set out what the Government intends to make into law, and open up the plans to scrutiny from other MPs.
It doesn’t necessarily mean it will be made into law this year as there are multiple stages of debate it will have to go through first.
But it does mean we’re one step closer to rolling out more rights for renters.
From a crackdown on rogue landlords to making sure families are living in better quality homes, the rule changes aim to better protect millions of renters.
It comes as the average monthly rent rate for families has jumped to £1,060, up from £972 a year ago.
Experts predict that this will only go up further as the year goes on.
Most read in Money
But the shake-up could give households more rights when it comes to renting a home.
More detail on the White Paper rule changes is expected to be announced imminently.
Here’s what we know so far:
No-fault evictions scrapped
Families will be given more protection to stay in their home after a rule which lets landlords kick out their tenants – even if they’ve done nothing wrong – has been scrapped.
The Section 21 “no-fault evictions” rule means your landlord doesn’t need a reason to turf you out of their house.
But that law has now been ripped up, “ending the unfair situation where renters can be kicked out of their homes for no reason”, it was announced today.
It should give tenants more confidence that their home is theirs for the long-term, and should allow them to raise complaints if something goes wrong without fear of being kicked out of their house.
The government has been consulting on axing the controversial rule as early as 2019.
We’re waiting on more detail about exactly when the rule will be scrapped following today’s announcements.
Rogue landlord shake-up
Two announcements were made today that should help crackdown on bad landlords.
It was announced that the government will consult on introducing a landlords register – which could help keep track of rogue landlords.
Currently, councils have different processes in place to keep track of who rents what and where in the local area.
Some authorities might not even have a scheme in place, while others may be less successful than others on making sure landlords register before they rent out a home with the council.
It means some councils may be better than others in helping you challenge disputes with your landlord if you go to them asking for help.
Having a national database in place could make it easier for councils to access and keep tabs on bad landlords.
Secondly, the government said fines and bans could be put in place to “stop repeat offenders leaving renters in terrible conditions”.
It has yet to be revealed exactly what these fines and penalties will be, but more detail is expected soon.
However, Shelter director of campaigns Osama Bhutta said time will tell if the policies are successful.
“The devil will be in the detail, so the government now needs to set out how it will deliver on its promises.”
Thousands of home upgrades
It was confirmed again in today’s White Paper that 800,000 renters could force their landlord to make improvements and upgrades to their home.
It was announced earlier this week that private rented homes will now have to abide by the Decent Homes Standard.
This means that homes must be in a reasonable state of repair, have modern facilities and services, and have a reasonable level of insulation and heating in place.
It used to only apply to social housing, but now private rented housing must meet these standards too for the first time ever.
There are 4.4million homes in the private rented sector – but thousands of renters are living in poor conditions.
Around 21% of homes failed to meet the minimum standard of housing conditions expected, according to the latest English Housing Survey.
The new rules mean the number of non-decent homes should have been slashed in half by 2030, the government says.
It is not clear whether there will be penalties in place should landlords fail to improve their properties – or if renters could get compensation as a result if so.
We’ve asked for more information and will update this article as soon as we know more.
You could get up to £8,000 in free cash just by moving house – here’s how.
Here’s five ways to get help with your rent as the average bill soars to £1,060.
Landlords must make sure that your home is fit to live in under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act – here’s what it means.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team?
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
