Renters' Rights: Royal Assent pushed back to autumn

The Renters' Rights Bill will return to the House of Commons on 8th September it was announced this week - meaning Royal Assent will not happen ahead of the summer recess.

This leaves a tight window before the party conference recess just a week later, meaning the date could potentially be pushed back to mid-October.

Report stage in the House of Lords concluded this week, with the potential for further Lords amendments at Third Reading on Monday.

Public affairs officer Joshua Helm-Cowley runs through the changes so far.

Government amendments 

Report stage has seen numerous amendments both Government and non-Government, passed, with some key wins for the NRLA.

Government made two positive amendments to the Bill during Report stage, on rent in advance and on the potential backdating of rent increases. 

These changes mean that landlords whose tenancies pre-date the Renters’ Rights Bill will still be allowed to ask for rent in advance for as long as the tenancy continues.

This follows NRLA lobbying on the issue, in which we successfully argued rent in advance works well for certain tenants, as well as landlords, for example those who may not otherwise pass affordability checks,

With the RRB introducing a new appeals process for tenants to challenge proposed rent increases to the First-Tier Tribunal, we also made clear our concerns around the delays this process could have on rent increases taking effect.

Such delays, we argued, would significantly impact landlords’ ability to pay increasing bills and mortgage rates, as well as properly plan their businesses. 

Thankfully, our work has had an impact as Government brought forward changes meaning the Secretary of State will have the ability to change the date at which rent increases take place. This means that rent increases could be backdated to when the initial notice expires, instead of the date of the tribunal decision as was originally planned. 

There has been a further change that will allow local authorities, in certain circumstances, to enter and inspect a property without needing to tell the landlord until after the event.

These powers already exist in many selective licensing schemes, with the Bill expanding them to local authorities across England. 

As all three of these changes are Government amendments, it is highly likely they will remain part of the Bill and consequently become law later this year.  

Non-Government amendments 

There have been a number of non-government amendments, including key wins for the NRLA on pets, the student possession ground and rules over reletting homes that had been taken off the market to be sold.

These include amendments:

• Allowing landlords to request three weeks deposit in return for allowing their tenant to keep a pet
• Expanding the student ground to include one- and two-bedroom properties
• Reducing the ‘restricted period’ banning landlords who had repossessed homes to re-sell from reletting their properties down from a year to six months

While we are please peers have been convinced by our arguments on all three, it is important to stress that, as these are non-Government amendments and the Government has a majority, they are likely be removed by MPs when the Bill returns to the House of Commons in September.

Reviewing the impact 

As part of our work pre-Report stage, we encouraged Peers to back amendments calling for a review into the impact of the Bill, given its vast scope and potential to impact issues from supply to the courts and more. 

While no amendments were passed placing a formal review, Baroness Taylor confirmed on behalf of the Government that assessments would be published at two years and five years post-implementation. 

What happens now?

Parliament will rise for summer the day after the Third Reading of the Bill on Monday.

The so-called “ping-pong” stage – where the Bill bounces between the Commons and the Lords to finalise amendments –  has been provisionally scheduled for  the 8th September.  

Between now and then we will be lobbying the Government to keep some of the changes made by Peers as well as pushing for key late improvements to the Bill. 

In the meantime you can stay on top of all things Renters’ Rights by signing up for our Royal Assent webinar on the 17th September and visiting the Renters’ Rights Hub on our website. 

More information 

• To learn more about our work on campaigning for a Government review of the Bill, click 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.