Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Accepted in Part
The success of the Government’s reforms depends to a great extent on tenants knowing their...
Recommendation
The success of the Government’s reforms depends to a great extent on tenants knowing their rights, and on landlords knowing that they know them. For this 64 Reforming the Private Rented Sector reason, the Government should update the How to Rent Guide to include details of tenants’ and landlords’ rights and responsibilities, including, in particular, how tenants can seek redress, and produce foreign language versions of this guide. It should then assess the level of compliance among landlords with the requirement to provide tenants with a copy at the start of a tenancy and, if necessary, consider ways of increasing awareness of it. A tenant whose landlord fails to provide them with a copy of the guide should be able to complain to the ombudsman, and, where the ombudsman upholds such a complaint, it should have the ability to award compensation. More widely, the Government should review the adequacy of advice and support services to tenants, particularly the most vulnerable, and report back to us on how it plans to make sure tenants have the knowledge and confidence to hold their landlord to account. (Paragraph 153) Reforming the Private Rented Sector 65
Government Response Summary
The government plans to update the 'How to Rent' guide and modernize the way it communicates tenants' rights and responsibilities. They will work with various groups to maximize access to advice and report back to the Select Committee, though the specific request for the ombudsman to award compensation for failing to provide a copy of the guide was not addressed.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
We know that the success of our reforms relies on all parties understanding their rights and obligations as tenants and landlords. Our booklets, ‘How to Rent’ and ‘How to Let,’ provide a concise guide to renting, and letting agents and landlords are only able to issue section 21 notices if they have provided their tenant with a copy of the ‘How to Rent’ guide. Despite this obligation, figures from The Tenancy Deposit Scheme 2022, show that only 34.6% of tenants think they have seen or been given the document. In the nine years since we first published the ‘How to...’ guides, the way people access information has been transformed. 84% people have a smart phone for private use4 and our research shows that younger people in particular are used to searching for tailored answers to specific questions and may be less likely to read or use longer written guidance. However, we also know that the private rented sector is home to increasing numbers of older people, and to other groups who may have different guidance needs and preferences. These are once-in-a-generation reforms which will affect both landlords and tenants. We want to make sure that everyone who lives and works in the sector is prepared for these changes and understands what they mean for them. We have carried out extensive research and consultation with stakeholders and will continue to work with the sector to make sure we get this right. We want to make sure that all tenants and landlords can access guidance that they can trust, in a way and at a time that will be most useful for them. We will make sure that landlords have easy access to the information they need to help them understand their responsibilities. We are working with partners to improve our understanding tenants’ needs, including those who are digitally excluded, have specific language needs, or who are vulnerable. We will consider a range of channels to ensure that tenants both have the knowledge and confidence to hold their landlords to account, and understand their own responsibilities in a successful tenancy, including the kinds of behaviours and breaches that could lead to their eviction. The Privately Rented Property Portal will provide a range of benefits for landlords, tenants, and local councils. For landlords, it will be a gateway providing a single source of information about their legal responsibilities and helping them publicly showcase their compliance. We know that good, responsible landlords want to do the right thing and we want to make this process as easy and streamlined as possible for them. We propose that the Portal will also act as a gateway to all our digital guidance which is hosted on GOV.UK, making it accessible for landlords, tenants and local councils who are all end users of the portal. The introduction of a new tenancy system provides an excellent opportunity to look in the round at how tenants access advice. We welcome the Select Committee’s focus on vulnerable tenants and are keen to learn lessons from colleagues in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on the impact that their reforms had on demand for, and provision of, advice services as we plan for implementation. We will work with colleagues from across government, including the Ministry of Justice and DWP, the advice sector, and tenant and landlord groups to understand how we can maximise access to advice where it is needed. We will report back to the Select Committee on our findings. The Ombudsman will also play a role in to raising awareness of the service it provides and communicating it to both tenants and landlords. For tenants, the service will provide advice on how to complain when things go wrong, and organisations such as Citizens Advice and Shelter are able to provide more tailored advice where that is needed. Tenants who are at risk of losing their home, and meet certain qualification criteria, may also receive free early legal advice on housing before appearing in court and will be able to continue to get advice and representation on the day of their hearing, following changes to the extended Housing Loss Possession Advice Service funding through the Ministry of Justice which came into force on 1 August.