NRLA quizzes housing minister
Rental reform, landlord registration and cladding were on the agenda this week as NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle quizzed Eddie Hughes, the Minister for the Private Rented Sector on plans for the market.
Ben met with the minister this week to ask for assurances that landlords’ rights will be taken into account when making decisions that could have wide-reaching implications for the sector in the months and years to come.
They discussed the Government’s long awaited white paper on rental reform – set to be published this spring – as well as recent proposals for a register of landlords and the ongoing battle over who should pay for the removal of dangerous cladding on rental properties.
During the talks the minister confirmed the–the NRLA and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to respond to proposals and refine them further before legislation is brought to Parliament.
Rental reform
Ben reiterated the association’s commitment to work with Government to bring about positive change, but flagged a number of key issues that the association would like clarification on.
He asked for:
- Assurances that there will continue to be a mandatory ground for possession for rent arrears under new Section 8 grounds. Ben said it is vital this remains, and to this end has asked if the stakeholder group can be given a draft of the likely Section 8 grounds ahead of the publication of the white paper. The NRLA would oppose any move to make such a ground discretionary.
- Sensible proposals as regards the evidence needed to prove anti-social behaviour. He said that without a no-fault possession procedure it is vital that landlords are able to repossess if tenants are behaving badly - and that the burden of proof is not set so high legislation is impossible to use. Similarly tenants have to be protected from any spurious claims by rogue landlords.
- Details on work going on in other Government departments to complement rental reform – for example any proposals on court reform
National Register of Landlords
Ben questioned the Government’s plans to introduce a national register of landlords saying the red tape and costs that would come with it would outweigh any potential benefit.
He argued a well-functioning redress scheme – which Ministers have already proposed and the NRLA supports - would give Government and local authorities access to all the information they would need without the requirement for a seperate register. Councils can also use information freely available via the land registry.
He asked for assurances that work will be done to explore how existing databases can be used more efficiently, before any moves are made to create a national register.
Tackling Dangerous Cladding
Serious concerns were raised by Ben about a recent decision to only fund the removal of dangerous cladding on rental properties where landlords had become so by ‘default’.
While Secretary of State Michael Gove said this was to prevent large scale landlords who could afford the work from benefiting from the Government’s pledge to make developers pay for remediation, the NRLA said it is punishing landlords who purchased properties in good faith from developers who illegally installed dangerous cladding.
Ben quoted the Government’s own data which shows 94% of private landlords rent property as an individual with 44% becoming a landlord to contribute to their pension. In all 70% of landlords are basic rate taxpayers, contradicting the assumption all private landlords are wealthy.
He said: “There are some big issues affecting private landlords at present and we welcomed the opportunity to discuss these directly with the minister and ask for assurances over vital issues including repossession, cladding and registration.
“We were also pleased to learn the association will be given the opportunity to respond to the white paper on rental reform before proposals are finalised, to ensure any changes are fair to landlords while also protecting tenants.
“I look forward to meeting with the minister again as plans progress.”
