The Committee Stage of the Renters’ Rights Bill in the House of Lords takes place on 22 April immediately after the Easter recess.
The House will be adjourned at the end of business on Thursday 3 April and return on Tuesday 22 April.
This will see peers scrutinise the detail of the Bill, and debate and agree any proposed amendments.
The debate is expected to take a number of days, and while both 22 and 24 April have been confirmed, further dates are expected to be announced closer to the time.
The NRLA is backing two amendments on rent arrears which it believes will give landlords the confidence to know they will still be able to regain possession – in a timely manner – should their tenants stop paying rent.
Lord Carter of Haslemere proposes the existing (two month) threshold remains when the Renters’ Rights Bill comes into force, as well as a caveat that would exempt arrears built up as a result of issues with Universal Credit payments.
The NRLA has also recommended other changes that it believes will ensure that the Bill is fair and workable in practice. These include:
+ The introduction of a system to assess rent increases before disputes are sent to the tribunal: This would be developed in conjunction with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which could advise on market rents.
+ Changes to mitigate the risk of arrears: These include a move which would allow an initial rent payment to be paid as a condition of a landlord agreeing to a tenancy, and the reintroduction the two-month threshold for rent arrears when it comes to triggering possession proceedings using the mandatory ground.
+ Changes to the student possession ground: We are calling for an extension of the ground allowing it to be applied to one- and two-bedroom student homes, and to allow students to pay rent by term (rather than monthly).
In all 50 pages of amendments have been tabled since the Renters’ Rights Bill was last discussed in the Lords on 4 February.
Each of these must be debated, with an open-ended time limit and all Lords given the opportunity to speak during this stage in proceedings.
Following Committee Stage, there will be another two stages in the Lords before the Bill returns to the Commons for agreement ahead of Royal Assent. This is expected to be this summer.
How would the ‘by term’ payments affect notice periods? I’m not sure if that is really needed, as they will still have to pay for the ‘holiday’ at the end of each term, and surely paying the rent every month on a set day is setting them up for the future when they have to pay rent/mortgage/bills every months?
What is meant by ‘the first rent as a condition of the landlord accepting the tenancy? We already state that the rent for the first month has to have been received and cleared before we hand over the keys to start the tenancy…
Personally I would say that the rent increases should have a percentage cap that it cannot go above, unless inflation is above that percentage. A 10% cap for example means that on a £500 a month place, it cannot be increased by more that £50, unless inflation is higher than 10%, and still with the only once in 12 months increase timeframe.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
Agree 100% with those comments.
Never had a student ask to pay rent by term. Not all parents are loaded!
“‘the first rent as a condition of the landlord accepting the tenancy” is being quoted and implies that they must sign the tenancy before paying. I cannot see that happening and some websites are saying rent in advance only applies to rent after the initial payment. Clarity on this would be helpful.
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register
And also, I assume that college and university terms are the same as primary and secondary, so they are 6 weeks long, roughly. That’s a lot of hassle to work that out each term…
You must be logged in to like or dislike this comments.
Click to login
Don't have an account? Click here to register