Renters Rights Bill amendments: what you need to know

A proposed new amendment to the Renters' Rights Bill will reassure landlords they will still be able to regain possession if they serve notice before the Bill becomes law but don't apply for a possession order until after. 

As it stands, to allow landlords to apply to court using Section 21 and Section 8 notices served before the Bill becomes law, a three month transition period will be in place.

Once this window passes, if the landlord hasn’t begun proceedings the notice will become invalid and the landlord will have to start again using one of the new Section 8 grounds.    

The problem with this is that proceedings could only be started by the court - which would need to receive the claim, file the paperwork and issue the claim before the deadline.   

This would not only mean

A: the action would be out of the landlord's hands

but 

B: busy courts would find it almost impossible to make that happen in the time allowed.

This would mean that - through no fault of their own - landlords could have had their cases thrown out because the courts didn’t process the paperwork in time.   

NRLA win

The NRLA raised this issue a number of times with the Government - so we are pleased Baroness Taylor, who put forward the amendment, has listened to us - and that the latest amendment fix this, with the new Government amendment makes it clear that landlords can use a valid Section 21 or Section 8 notice to apply to court at any time during the transition window.  

While hundreds of amendments have already been proposed, that fact that this adjustment [and others] has been put forward by Baroness Taylor, the Housing Minister in the Lords, means it will almost certainly be included in the final version of the Bill.  

The Renters Rights Bill will be back in the Lords on 22 April for Committee Stage, where peers will be given the chance to propose amendments and provide detailed feedback.

The NRLA has been briefing members of the Lords ahead of this stage, raising our concerns and making the case for pragmatic changes that would improve the Bill. 

Amendments we support 

We are welcoming a number of amendments including ones that would: 

• Allow landlords to use the new student possession ground in all student homes, not just HMOs

• Introduce a minimum six month tenancy period

• Improve the new rent increase process by allowing the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to filter out spurious challenges of fair rent increases

• Safeguard landlords if the tenant does not pay the initial rent after the tenancy is signed 

• Review the impact of the Renters Rights Bill on the private rented sector 

These, we believe, are sensible changes that would give landlords confidence in the Bill.  

However, even if the Lords do vote to include these pragmatic amendments, they will still need the support of the Government in the Commons to make it into the final Bill.  

For a more in-depth explanation of the change - and what it will mean - watch our video explainer below.

More information

• The public affairs team is hosting a webinar on 10 April with an update on the Renters’ Rights Bill and our energy efficiency campaigns. We will have a further webinar focused on the latest on the Renters’ Rights Bill following Committee Stage in May. 
• For more information about the process by which the Bill progresses through the House of Lords click here.   
• For the NRLA’s guides outlining how you can start to prepare for the Bill click here.   
• For more on the NRLA's approach to the Bill and our campaigns work read a blog by our policy director Chris Norris here.    
• Extra dates have been added for our new Renters’ Rights course, after training sessions sold out in record time. For more information and to book click here.      
• We have also added a new eLearning option for the Renters’ Rights course, allowing you to take the training at a time and place to suit you. For more information and to book click here.