Fifth Report - Reforming the Private Rented Sector

Given the importance of the MEES to the Government’s net zero strategy, not to mention the health, cost and other benefits of living in a warm home, we recommend that the MEES be incorporated into criterion D and that the … Read more Given the importance of the MEES to the Government’s net zero strategy, not to mention the health, cost and other benefits of living in a warm home, we recommend that the MEES be incorporated into criterion D and that the Government come up with financing solutions for PRS landlords for whom the cost of the necessary improvement works would exceed the £10,000 cap. We also recommend that the Government determine the number of homes in the PRS exempt from the MEES by virtue of having a total floor space under 50 square metres and then consider the possible merits of legislating to revoke this exemption. Show less

View Details →

The Government should assess whether the data held by the VOA could be used to determine justified rent increases in the PRS. If it concludes that it could, we recommend either that this information be made public so that landlords … Read more The Government should assess whether the data held by the VOA could be used to determine justified rent increases in the PRS. If it concludes that it could, we recommend either that this information be made public so that landlords and tenants can easily see what a justified rent increase would be or, if it cannot be, that the VOA be given initial responsibility for determining whether an increase is justified, with the tribunal serving as an appeals court. If the Government determines that the data is not suitable for this purpose, it should consider ways of collecting it. One way might be for it to require landlords to declare rent levels through the property portal. Whatever the Government chooses to do, it should explore alternative mechanisms to those currently used for establishing justified rent increases with a view to removing some of the burden from landlords and tenants themselves. Show less

View Details →

By getting rid of rent review clauses, the Government could be removing a mechanism for predictable and fair rent rises and replacing it with a system that relies on a resource-intensive and time-consuming appeals process. We recommend Reforming the Private … Read more By getting rid of rent review clauses, the Government could be removing a mechanism for predictable and fair rent rises and replacing it with a system that relies on a resource-intensive and time-consuming appeals process. We recommend Reforming the Private Rented Sector 63 that the Government not abolish rent review clauses but make it a requirement that they stipulate by how much rents will increase. It should also legislate to require all rent review clauses to include break periods during which tenants may appeal to the First-tier Property Tribunal if they think their rent has risen above local market rents. (Paragraph 129) Miscellaneous Show less

View Details →

The proposal to make it easier for landlords to allow pets by making pet insurance a permitted payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 is a sensible and proportionate measure that could make a meaningful difference. On the other hand, … Read more The proposal to make it easier for landlords to allow pets by making pet insurance a permitted payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 is a sensible and proportionate measure that could make a meaningful difference. On the other hand, the proposal to make it illegal for landlords to unreasonably withhold consent from those who request permission to have a pet seems impractical, even if a satisfactory definition of “unreasonably withholding consent” could be produced. We recommend that the Government abandon their promise to legislate to make it illegal to unreasonably withhold consent when a tenant requests permission to have a pet. If it cannot accept this recommendation, it should set out in response to this report what would constitute “unreasonably withholding consent” and explain in what circumstances it would be acceptable to force landlords to accept pets, especially where those landlords have had previous negative experiences of tenants with pets. Show less

View Details →

We are concerned that detached private rented homes with a floor space under 50 square metres are exempt from the MEES, although it is unclear how many homes fall into this category.

View Details →

Tenants and landlords need access to reliable data on local market rents in comparable properties. The closest available data appears to be that held by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which is used to determined local housing allowance rates for broad market rental areas. If sufficiently accurate and granular, this …

View Details →