The vast majority of tenants are unaware of the looming Renters’ Rights Bill and are also shockingly ignorant about key existing features of the rental market.
So says Housing Hand’s Understanding Renters Report, which reveals that 69% of the 1,700 tenants it surveyed said they’ve never heard of the Government’s proposed changes to how homes are rented and managed, with 75% saying they had no idea how it would directly impact them.
Older tenants in properties directly managed by their landlord were the most aware of the reforms, which are likely to go live this Autumn, while student and overseas renters were the least likely to know anything about the changes.
Among the more worldly-wise tenants, certain features of the reforms have cut through more than others including the end of fixed-term tenancies and greater rights to have a pet live with them.
But during focus group discussions, tenants told Housing Hand they were worried that the extra costs that the Renters’ Rights Bill will impose on landlords would be passed on as increases to already expensive rents, and reduce the number of properties in high-demand postcodes.
But Housing Hand’s report also reveals tenants’ shocking knowledge gaps about the renting process overall. This includes that half have no idea how deposit protection schemes work, 65% have not heard of alternative or ‘deposit free’ schemes, nearly 40% had no idea how to set up a utility bill and a third have no idea how the ‘end of tenancy’ checkout system works.
Housing Hand, which is a leading supplier of guarantor services particularly to the student sector, says those at university show the most worrying lack of knowledge about renting including that a fifth didn’t know they would be asked for a deposit at all.
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