A tenants’ rights campaigner has urged Labour to reject the ‘no re-let rule’ amendment inserted recently into the Renters’ Rights Bill or face landlords using the sales eviction ground as a 'de facto' Section 21.
Tom Darling (main image), director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition says the legislation aims to prevent landlords from evicting tenants under the pretence of selling a property, only to re-let it – exactly what homelessness minister Rushanara Ali seemed to have been doing, with a hefty markup to boot.
The Bill recently came under attack in the House of Lords, where peers reduced the no re-let period following eviction under the new sales ground, cutting it from 12 months to six.
Writing for Inside Housing, Darling says the clause exists specifically to prevent cases like Ali’s where a landlord might evict tenants to sell, only to put the property back on the rental market.
“It’s crucial, as without it, landlords are likely to use this sales eviction ground as a de facto Section 21, and many of the problems that make life a misery for tenants in the current system will remain,” he adds.
“Our problem with this amendment is that many landlords own their properties outright or have minimal debt – just 42% of landlords declared residential finance costs to HMRC. So, a six-month ban on re-letting will do little to deter those landlords from abusing the sales eviction ground to kick tenants out at will or threaten them with it.”
Darling believes that if a six-month ‘no re-let’ period encourages more landlords to abuse the ground than would otherwise, it could end up becoming a common feature of the new renting system rather than a rare case – resulting in more properties sitting vacant and unoccupied between tenancies.
“It’s vital that the government strips out this change, and other damaging amendments, when the Bill returns to the House of Commons,” he adds.
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