Labour pledges fast action to make renters better off
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, will lay out plans today, 20 June 2024, that the party claims will make renters better off if they win power in the General Election. Aiming to relieve cost-of-living pressure on private sector tenants, Rayner, and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP, will pledge to crack down on unscrupulous landlords, ban no-fault evictions, and cap the amount of rent requested upfront.
Housing Bill is unworkable in its current form
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Propertymark, gave evidence to the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee in the Scottish Parliament on 18 June 2024 as part of the stage one consideration of the Housing (Scotland) Bill. Propertymark believes the Bill must be significantly amended before the Scottish Government’s policy objective to deliver safe, good quality, affordable homes for all can be achieved.
End Scotland's housing emergency
Propertymark has urged Scotland’s new First Minister, John Swinney following his appointment on 7 May as leader of the Scottish National Party, to end the housing crisis across the country.
Distaste for rent controls in Wales
The Summary of Responses to the Green Paper Call for Evidence on Securing a Path towards Adequate Housing Including Fair Rents and Affordability has been published, which showed an aversion to rent controls being implemented as a long-term measure, a view shared by Propertymark.
Housing (Scotland) Bill published
Introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 March 2024, the Bill sets out plans to make changes to the law, covering rent controls, tenants’ rights to keep pets and decorate their homes, and a mechanism to delay evictions under certain circumstances.
Cost of Living transition plans will continue to supress rents
Patrick Harvie, MSP, Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights, has contacted Propertymark with details of the Scottish Government's plans to introduce temporary changes to rent adjudication as part of the transition away from the Cost of Living Act. These measures will continue to limit rent increases to protect tenants.
Rent control fears drive cost increases
The average rent for a two-bedroom home in Scotland has increased by over 14%, reaching an average of £841 – an extra £105 per month compared to the previous year – as landlords try to cover increasing costs and prepare for the impact of new legislation.
Strong message delivered on rental reform proposals
Propertymark continues to assert there is no advantage to introducing rent controls and urges Scottish Ministers to properly evaluate the evidence both from UK and across the world. Whilst formulating our response to the most recent engagement questionnaire we hosted a roundtable with members and Scottish Government officials where the strength of feeling from agents was clearly communicated.
Decision published in Cost of Living legal challenge
Today, 2 November 2023, the Opinion of the Hon Lord Harrower was released on Propertymark’s joint Judicial Review Petition, alongside the Scottish Association of Landlords and Scottish Land & Estates, that challenged the Scottish Government’s rent control and eviction ban under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.
Second reading debate hangs in the balance
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP reiterated the tone of the UK Government’s response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, published Friday 20 October, with repeated references to balancing the needs of tenants and landlords in the progress of the Renters (Reform) Bill through the UK parliament.
Controls will not result in adequate housing and fair rents for Wales
Without introducing measures that tackle tenant demand and landlord costs, property standards will reduce, landlords will leave the sector and rents will rise. This has been evidenced when rent controls have been implemented across Europe and the United States and is currently the case in Scotland.
Agents urged to respond to Scotland rented sector reform consultation before 27 October 2023
Stakeholders have just a few weeks to add their voices to the discussion on Scottish Government plans to introduce a system of long-term rent controls for the private rented sector, strengthen tenant protections during the eviction process, enshrine the right to personalise a rented home, and make it easier for a tenant to request to keep a pet.
What methods can I use to recover rent arrears?
Recovering rent arrears in England typically involves following specific legal procedures to ensure that you have a lawful and fair process for collecting the overdue rent.
How to serve a Section 13 notice of rent increase
Section 13 of the Housing Act 1988 allows a landlord to raise the rent on a periodic assured or assured shorthold tenancy by giving the tenant a notice of increase in the prescribed form.
Not a fairer deal for everyone in the housing sector
Scotland's First Minister, Humza Yousaf, MSP, renewed the commitment to introducing long-term rent controls and new tenant rights under the Scottish Housing Bill, set to be enacted in 2024, plus, under the current cost-of-living measure, emergency rent caps and a moratorium on evictions will remain in place until 31 March 2024.
Tenants should have a range of payment options
Propertymark members have backed proposals to ensure tenants in Northern Ireland are given a range of ways to make rent and other related payments. The Department for Communities has been consulting on provisions in Section 12 of the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which would allow them to enforce regulation on the methods of payment that should be offered.