Responding to the Renters Reform Bill being brought to the House of Commons, Jon Tabbush, Senior Researcher at Centre for London said:
“This bill is good news for over a million households who are renting privately in London – but it has to be the start of improving conditions. Nearly one in every five privately rented homes in the capital doesn’t meet basic housing standards and more than half of London’s renters have experienced their landlord failing to make basic repairs. The city’s private rented sector is failing Londoners.
In particular, ending no-fault evictions is a long overdue step which should improve tenants’ housing security and reduce the risk of people becoming homeless at short notice. The Property Portal (a national landlord register) is also critical to empowering tenants to make informed choices about who to rent from, and enabling councils to effectively enforce housing standards.
The details of this Bill will be crucial for making sure that the reforms deliver on making renting fairer. For example, the power for landlords to evict tenants at short notice due to anti-social behaviour must be strictly defined and enforced carefully – they must not become a loophole to get around new restrictions.Issues with poor-quality accommodation in London’s housing market aren’t going away anytime soon as more people enter the private rented sector.
Our research is clear – to make things better, rogue landlords need to be identified and dealt with by central government and local authorities working together more closely.
The Renters Reform Bill should be the start, not the end, of this effort.”
ENDSNotes to editors
- Centre for London’s new report ‘Licence to Let: How property licensing could better protect private renters’ will be published on Wednesday 24 May, detailing how selective property licensing and the Property Portal can be used to better regulate London’s private rented sector. For more information, please contact jeeshan.choudhury@centreforlondon.org.