The 10 Key Provisions in the Conservatives’ Renters Reform Bill

This blog post sets out the 10 key provisions that were in the final version of the Renters Reform Bill that was going through the House of Lords when Rishi Sunak called the 2024 general election.

The Renters Reform Bill was being scrutinised by the House of Lords when it was abandoned.

In this blog post, I go through each of the 10 key changes that the Conservative government proposed in this Bill from the perspective of landlords.

Note: The Renters Reform Bill was abandoned in the run-up to the 2024 General Election. I am leaving the rest of this post on the blog, as it was in May 2024, for historical purposes, particularly as parts of the new Renters’ Rights Bill are very similar to the Renters Reform Bill.

For content on the Renters’ Rights Bill, click on the button below:

>> Related Post: The 12 key provisions in the Renters’ Rights Bill

Overview of what the Renters Reform Bill means for landlords

The Renters Reform Bill had a rocky journey through the House of Commons and is, I suspect, something that will end up pleasing no-one. Renters have been saying it’s not going far enough. And some landlords have accused Michael Gove of “betraying buy-to-let Britain to win the avocado vote”, according to the headline in the Daily Telegraph in May 2023.

As a landlord who also eats avocado, I step back from all the political fuss to concentrate on what I think this new Bill is likely to mean in practice.

The Bill isn’t an easy read, full of things like: “in subsection (1)(a) for “(4B)” substitute “(4AA)”. This is because it is layered on top of other legislation. These include the Housing Act 1988, the Housing Act 2004 and the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The Bill therefore needs reading alongside these Acts, making it a bit tricky to read. The important sections on implementation of the rules on tenancies are particularly opaque.

It’s important to stress that this is still just a draft Bill, even now it has cleared the House of Commons, as it’s unlikely to emerge unscathed from the House of Lords. There will also be new regulations, for instance, for the Decent Homes Standard, and guidance, eg for the implied right for tenants to have pets.

I therefore concentrate on the big picture, explaining what the words on the face of the Bill are likely to mean in practice for renters and landlords alike.

>> Related Post: What’s the latest on the Renters Reform Bill

1. Abolition of Section 21

The Renters Reform Bill proposes abolishing Section 21. The abolition of Section 21 was the change most welcomed by renters, and probably the proposal most hated by landlords. Although it was a manifesto commitment, after a rebellion by Conservative MPs, key sections of the Bill, including the abolition of Section 21 for existing tenancies, have been delayed until the Lord Chancellor publishes an assessment of the operation of the country court eviction process and enforcement.

Delay to the abolition of Section 21 for existing tenancies

The amendments passed by the House of Commons on 24 April make the abolition of Section 21 for existing tenancies subject to the Lord Chancellor’s “assessment of the operation of the possession process”. A new Section 126 states the Lord Chancellor will need to issue a report the effect that “the county court is able to make orders for the possession of dwellings in England that are let” under assured tenancies AND “such orders are enforced” before Section 21 will be abolished.

The “extended application date” for existing tenancies cannot occur until the Lord Chancellor has published this assessment. However, it would be possible for a new government to change this by another act of parliament.

However, it’s not just the implementation of abolishing Section 21 that is now contingent on all the Lord Chancellor’s assessment for existing tenancies. It affects the related provisions in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Bill that change the way tenancies will operate. This includes the abolition of fixed terms, the replacement of assured shorthold tenancies with assured tenancies, the new implied right of tenants to have pets, the new Section 8 grounds and changes to the way landlords can increase rent.

It will therefore be for the Lord Chancellor, a political appointee, to publish the assessment at such time, and in such manner, as they think appropriate.

As this new provision will be part of the Renters Reform Act, it would require primary legislation for a future government to unpick, making it harder for (say) a Labour government to abolish Section 21 within the first 100 days of office.

Once the abolition (eventually) comes into force for both existing and new tenancies, landlords will only be able to terminate a tenancy using the new Section 8. Tenants will be able to terminate their tenancy by giving two months’ notice to take effect any time after the first six months of the tenancies.

It’s difficult to know when Section 21 will be abolished for existing tenancies. However, it will be long after the next General Election, which is due to take place before 28 January 2025.

What are “existing tenancies” for the purposes of the Renters Reform Bill?

Existing tenancies are those tenancies that are entered into before the commencement date of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Renters Reform Bill. Note that it’s not the start date, but the date the tenancy is entered into.

However, as leading housing solicitor David Smith of JMW points out, existing tenancies also include “any tenancy which moves from fixed term to periodic will cease to be an AST and will fall within the RRB. As most ASTs are for six or twelve months that means that the vast majority of existing tenancies would switch over during the following year”.

That said, it currently seems that existing periodic tenancies will carry on under the old rules in the same way as unexpired fixed term agreements.

What about the abolition of Section 21 for new tenancies?

New tenancies are those which are entered into, renewed or where a fixed term expires after the commencement date of the Renters Reform Bill. They will be periodic assured tenancies and not assured shorthold tenancies. Consequently, landlords won’t be able to use Section 21 to terminate these periodic assured tenancies.

The Lord Chancellor’s assessment does not impact new tenancies, just existing tenancies.

This all means that all tenancies entered into or renewed after a given date, let’s guess at May 2025, will be periodic assured tenancies. Section 21 will not apply to these new tenancies, they won’t be for a fixed term, they won’t have rent review clauses, and the tenants will have the implied right to have pets.

We don’t yet know what the commencement date will be as the implementation regulations have not been published, but it’s likely to be at least six months after Royal Assent.

>> Related Post: When and how will Labour abolish Seciton 21 no fault evictions?

2. Conversion of Assured Shorthold Tenancies into Assured Tenancies

Clause 2 of the Bill abolishes Assured Shorthold Tenancies by deleting the provisions of the Housing Act 1988 (Chapter 2 of Part 1) which regulate Assured Shorthold Tenancies. The Bill also makes extensive amendments to the Housing Act 1988 to implement the new regime.

This means that, once implemented, landlords won’t be able to grant new Assured Shorthold Tenancies once this clause has been implemented. All new tenancies for tenants who occupy the property as their only or principal home will be Assured Tenancies after the implementation date.

We are still waiting to hear about the transition details. As these changes are in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Bill, like the abolition of Section 21, they won’t come into effect for existing tenancies until publication of the Lord Chancellor’s assessment on the operation of the possession process in the county courts.

Ending of the “AST trap” for leases with ground rent over £250

Where ground rent for long leases exceeds £1,000 in London and £250 outside of London, the lease is currently be considered as an Assured Shorthold Tenancy if the property is the leaseholder’s only or principal dwelling. This means that the landlord could serve a Section 8 Notice using the Mandatory Ground 8 regarding rent arrears if the annual ground rent is more than three months in arrears. This is called the “AST trap”, as a long lease that was never intended to be a short-term tenancy agreement could be treated as an AST.

However, Clause 21 of the Renters Reform Bill brings an end to the AST trap, as it states that tenancies of more than seven years cannot be Assured Tenancies.

Clause 21 is not in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Bill, which means its implementation is not linked to the Lord Chancellor’s assessment. Instead, the abolition of the AST Trap will come into effect two months after Royal Assent.

3. Abolition of fixed term tenancies including student lets

The Bill abolishes fixed term tenancies for all private residential tenancies, and there will be a single system of rolling periodic tenancies, which will be Assured Tenancies. As the abolition of fixed term tenancies is in Chapter 1 of Part 1 of the Bill, it won’t come into effect until the Lord Chancellor publishes the assessment.

There is no exception to exclude private student tenancies, other than those in purpose built student accommodation. The government dismissed the findings of the Levelling Up Select Committee from February 2023 that not excluding student tenancies “could push up rents or reduce the availability of student rental properties, at a time when the market in many university towns and cities is already very tight.” It also ignores their recommendation to retain fixed-term contracts in the student private rented sector.

The Government Guidance justifies abolishing all fixed term tenancies by saying it will “provide greater security for tenants while retaining the important flexibility that privately rented accommodation offers. It will enable tenants to leave poor quality properties without remaining liable for the rent, or to move more easily when their circumstances change, for example, to take up a new job opportunity.”

The likely impact of retaining fixed terms is that student landlords may put increase rents to reflect the fact that most students only want a property from September to May, and not the usual 11 or months.

The original version of the Bill gave tenants the right to terminate a tenancy with two months’ notice at any time. The amendments which became part of the Bill at the Report Stage state that a tenant’s notice to quit isn’t valid until after the first six months of the tenancy, making the initial tenancy effectively a six month fixed term.

4. New Section 8 Grounds for Possession

Alongside abolishing Section 21, the Schedule 1 of the Bill widens the Section 8 Grounds for Possession. The new Grounds for Possession will come into effect when Section 21 is abolished, as they are part of Chapter 1 of part 1, and therefore subject to the Lord Chancellor’s assessment.

Click here for a reminder about Section 8.

Once Section 21 is abolished, landlords will only be able to end a tenancy and evict a tenant if they can prove to the court that they have a valid Ground for Possession under Section 8. Here are the key new and revised Section 8 Grounds in the Renters Reform Bill:

• Revised Mandatory Ground 1: Occupation as the principal home for landlord or family
  • Only once the tenancy has lasted more than 6 months, and the landlord must give at least 2 months’ notice.
  • The landlord must intend it to be their (or their family member’s) only or principal home. The Bill defines the landlord’s family as including their spouse/partner, and their respective parents, grandparents, siblings, children and grandchildren. It also includes “half-blood” versions.
  • It doesn’t include nieces, nephews, uncles and aunts etc.
  • The landlord can’t relet or remarket the property within 3 months of the date specified the notice.
• New Mandatory Ground 1A: Sale of property
  • A landlord can only this Ground once the tenancy has lasted more than 6 months, and the landlord must give at least 2 months’ notice.
  • Landlord must intend to sell the property.
  • The landlord can’t relet or remarket the property within 3 months of the date specified in the notice.
• New Mandatory Ground 5: For occupation as supported accommodation
• New Mandatory Ground 8A: Repeated Rent Arrears
  • At least 2 months’ rent was unpaid for at least a day on 3 or more separate occasions within a three-year period.
  • If the rent isn’t by calendar month, at least 8 weeks’ rent needs to be unpaid. The landlord must give 4 weeks’ notice.
  • The calculation of rent arrears should exclude any sums due to delays from the payment of Universal Credit. The government clearly wants to excuse its own rental arrears!
• Revised Discretionary Ground 14: Anti-social Behaviour
  • The wording will replace a reference to guilty of “behaviour causing or likely to cause nuisance or annoyance” with “capable of causing“.
  • Personally, I’m not sure there’s much of a difference between the two. However, the Guidance says it will make ASB easier to demonstrate for landlords. As it’s a discretionary ground, the judge will make the decision.
  • The amendments introduced at the Committee Stage include factors which the court must take into account when exercising its discretion, including the impact on others in an HMO.
• New Mandatory Ground 4A: Student HMO for occupation by students
  • During the Committee Stage, the Bill was amended to introduce a new Mandatory Ground for Possession for student HMOs to allow a landlord to recover possession of an HMO let to full-time students at the end of the academic year (1 June to 31 September), in order to let it to students again. Jacob Young has advised that this Ground will be extended to all properties occupied by students, ie not just HMOs.
  • The landlord must give at least two months’ notice for this.

There are lots of other new and revised Grounds. For further detail, see my blog post which explains how it will work in practice.

>> Related Post: Making sense of the new Section 8 Grounds for Possession

>> Related Post: How to gain possession using Section 8

5. New provisions for rent

New single procedure to increase rent in the Renters Reform Bill

The Renters Reform Bill proposes introducing a single way of increasing rent with the following new procedure:

• To increase the rent, a landlord will need to complete a revised Section 13 form, which will be published on GOV.UK, and serve it on the tenant with 2 months’ notice.
• If the tenant accepts the proposed rent increase, the rent will change on the rent day after expiry of the notice.
• If the tenant doesn’t agree with the increase and think it’s above the market rate, they can dispute the increase through referring a case to the First-tier Tribunal. They will need to do this before the new rent is due and let their landlord know.
• Landlords will only be able to increase rents once a year.

The government will issue guidance “to make sure it is clear for everyone”. The press releases stress that landlords will still be able to increase rents to the market rent. There’s no cap on the amount of the increase. That said, tenants will be able to challenge increases above the market, as they can now.

Whilst I can understand abolishing contractual rent increases, I can’t see the logic of forcing everyone to use an officious notice. It’ll be interesting to hear the reasoning. I’ll probably continue to chat to my tenants before increasing the rent as a courtesy, and then send them the notice afterwards.

As rent is in Part 1 of Chapter 1 of the Bill, the implementation will follow the Lord Chancellor’s assessment on the county courts.

New mechanism to repay rent paid in advance

Clause 8 enables a tenant who pays rent in advance is entitled to be repaid any part of the rent that relates to days falling after the end of the tenancy.

>> Related post: A Guide to Increasing Rent

6. New right for tenants to request consent for a pet

Section 7(1) says that the consent to a request a pet “is not to be unreasonably refused by the landlord”.

This is one of the provisions that’s been causing the most amount of angst in the landlord community, if my WhatsApp groups are a representative sample. This is mostly because of concern over the vagueness of the concept of reasonableness.

On the other hand, it’s also one of the most popular provisions in the Bill for renters, many of whom would love a pet.

In any event, as it is in Part 1 of Chapter 1 of the Bill, its implementation will need to wait until the Lord Chancellor’s assessment on the county courts for existing enancies.

The press release on pets issued on 17 May promises “guidance for landlords and tenants before the new rules come into effect”. It also explains that if a renter believes a landlord has unreasonably refused their request, they’ll be able to escalate their complaint to the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman. Alternatively, they could take the case to court. As the Ombudsman will be free for the renter, it’s more likely this will be the preferred route.

We can expect more detail in the coming months, and the DLUHC response to the Select Committee report gave examples of the factors which they anticipated landlords would take into account when making their decision.

These examples included the size of the pet and property, whether the property or common parts are shared with other tenants (this is likely to mean HMOs or flats), allergies or phobias and, “if relevant, access to outdoor space”. A landlord “could likely refuse” if the animal was too big for a small property or if another tenant in a shared house had an allergy or phobia. In other words, no blanket ban for HMOs.

In the meantime, I explain the practical implications of the proposed changes in the blog post below, and have published a model pet policy, based on the one I wrote for my own renters.

>> Related Post: Renters Reform Bill: Tenants’ new implied right to keep pets

>> Related Post: The Independent Landlord Model Pet Policy

7. New Private Rented Sector Ombudsman

According to the government press release of 17 May, the Renters Reform Bill will make it compulsory for all private landlords in England to join a government approved “landlord redress scheme”. This is for all private landlords, regardless of whether they use a letting agent. Landlords will have to abide by the decision of the Ombudsman.

The press release also claims the Ombudsman will “tackle the root cause of problems, address systemic issues, provide feedback and education to members and consumers, and offer support for vulnerable consumers.” The Ombudsman will have real powers. This includes requiring landlords to make an apology, provide information, take remedial action, and/or pay compensation of up to £25,000.

The government publications use the terms “redress scheme” and “Ombudsman” interchangeably, even though they are different legally.

If landlords don’t join the Ombudsman, local councils will be able to take enforcement action against them. This will range from a civil penalty of up to £5,000, through to a £30,000 fine or criminal prosecution. There is also the potential for a Banning Order for repeat offenders.

Clause 74 of the Bill gives the First-Tier Tribunal the right to award a rent repayment order for “continuing or repeat breaches” of the Ombudsman, adding it to Section 40 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016.

Landlords will pay for the costs of the Ombudsman. It will be free for tenants to use if their landlord hasn’t dealt with a “legitimate complaint”. On the other hand, landlords won’t be able to use it if they have a legitimate complaint about their tenants. It’s a one-way street.

During the Committee Stage of the Bill, the minister Jacob Young announced that the government’s “preferred approach at this time is for the existing Housing Ombudsman’s Service to administer redress for both private and social tenants. As an established public body, already delivering redress for social tenants, the Housing Ombudsman is uniquely positioned to deliver the Private Rented Sector Redress Scheme. Having one provider for all social and private renting tenants would provide streamlined and simple to use redress services for complaints”. He added they were still in the early stages of designing the service.

This echoes what Richard Blakeway, the current Housing Ombudsman (for social housing), said during the oral hearings of the Committee: “We are the only approved scheme that does landlord and tenant dispute resolution[…] we need to really distinguish between agent and landlord redress, where the responsibilities of agents are very different from the landlord’s. The Landlord and Tenant Act sets out clear obligations that rest with the landlord and cannot be delegated to the agent.[…] The Landlord and Tenant Act is universal; it does not distinguish between social and private. The decent homes standard potentially extends that. The health and safety rating system is, again, universal. What we need is to bring that together into a single scheme.”

Jacob Young’s announcement means that the PRS Ombudsman will not be combined with the redress schemes for letting agents.

>> Related Post: What we know about the PRS Ombudsman

8. New Private Rented Sector Database (aka Rented Property Portal)

This is another area where a lot was promised in the government guidance on the PRS Database, but there’s very little in either the first draft of the Bill or in the first set of amendments.

The guidance promised that Renters (Reform) Bill will introduce a new Private Rented Sector Database. The Bill proposes a new digital database where each landlord and each “dwelling” will have an entry, and unique identifiers. The database is referred to as the “Rented Property Portal” in the government press release.

As with the Property Ombudsman, the government doesn’t seem to have decided what to call the “database” as it uses refers to both the PRS Database and the Rented Property Portal.

It will be compulsory to have active entries for both the landlord and the property before marketing a property for let. Landlords will pay for the running of the database.

A number of new offences will be introduced relating to the PRS database, including knowingly or recklessly providing material false or misleading information. It will therefore be vital that landlords and letting agents keep accurate records and documentation for the database.

The DLUHC response to the Levelling Up Select Committee said that they expected the penalty system to be “tiered”, with different penalties for different offences. Like the plans for the Ombudsman, it was clear from the DLUHC response that the design of the Property Portal is far from complete.

Clause 74 states that landlords will be subject to rent repayment orders for providing false or misleading information to the database and for continuing or repeat breaches under Section 40 Housing and Planning Act 2016.

We should expect either further amendments to the Bill to include the Rented Property Portal, or draft regulations.

9. Decent Homes Standard for the PRS

Clause 76 and Schedule 3 amend the Housing Act 2004 to include a new system for assessing housing conditions and enforcing housing standards. The Secretary of State has the power to “specify requirements to be met by qualifying residential premises” in regulations.

The government has been consulting on how to apply the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS, and how to revise the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Once these consultations are complete, it’s expected that new regulations on a Decent Homes Standard for the PRS will be published.

>> Related Post: The Decent Homes Standard

10. Discriminatory practices: No bans on children or benefit claimants

Chapter 3 makes it illegal for landlords and agents to have blanket bans on renting to people who receive benefits or who have children.

The Bill extends the prohibition to lease agreements, mortgages and insurance contracts, by saying that any term in a contract will have no effect.

Final thoughts

Finally, the Bill had a rocky stop-start journey through the House of Commons, and it still has the House of Lords to get through. There are still significant gaps in the detail of key policies,such as the Rented Property Ombudsman, the PRS Database and the implied right for a tenant to have a pet.

The words “offence” and “financial penalties” appear 169 and 52 times respectively in the Renters Renters Bill. It establishes a number of new penalties and offences, including recklessly or deliberately providing materially misleading or false information to the database.

Increasing the range of criminal offences to include what might be an administrative error is something that needs careful scrutiny.

Other Rental Reforms Content

• Renters Reform Bill Hub
• Renters Reform Bill: What Happens When
• What will abolishing Section 21 mean for landlords?
• Renters Reform Bill: Tenants’ new implied right to keep pets
• Making sense of the new Section 8 Grounds for Possession
• A Guide to Rent Increases