Unprepared landlords face “Armageddon” once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, one property expert has warned.
Sean Hooker, head of redress and ombudsman office at Property Redress, believes reforms could feel like “the end of the world” for those who haven’t been keeping up to speed with legislation. However, he adds: “For landlords who have been running strong businesses and complying with the law, it’s just another set of compliance they’ve got to get their heads around.”
Speaking to Landlord Action’s Paul Shamplina on his Talkin’ Property YouTube channel, Hooker said scrutiny was still needed in grey areas such as the student sector, for example, in situations where a working person joined a student house, meaning that legislating for that would be a bigger challenge.
Under new possession grounds, when rent arrears are increased from two months to three months, it might give the parties time to mediate or negotiate but wouldn’t always work where there was a persistent problem, or if a tenant was unable to find another property, said Hooker.
He added: “Landlords shouldn’t have to pay for someone to find a new property, but there has to be earlier intervention by a landlord before it gets to the court.”
He said positive aspects of the Bill included the new property portal which could ultimately include all meaningful data such as compliance and repair schedules and added that the sector should embrace the sentiment behind it.
“Don’t panic, do your homework and make sure you keep meticulous records, so you have an absolute audit trail for everything you do,” Hooker advised landlords. “Be greedy for information and education and find the right people to help and advise.”
The Bill is due to finish up in the House of Lords this week before going back to the Commons and could become law very soon.
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