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 (see link below) 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.
Graham Hayward, the firms MD (pictured), says: “With the Renters’ Rights Bill returning to the House of Commons for its final stage, it’s time for accommodation providers to prepare for the coming changes.
"There are around 4.6 million households who rent privately in England. If we extrapolate the survey findings to the entire population of private renters, it equates to more than 3.4 million households who don’t know what impact the Renters’ Rights Bill will have on them.
"Ensuring everyone is prepared for the impact of the Renters’ Rights Bill means engaging with the entire rental sector, to ensure a coordinated and seamless response to the proposed new legislation.
"From awareness-raising campaigns to new services designed to support renters, landlords and other accommodation providers, there is still much to do as the Bill enters this final stage.”
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