Government To End ‘No-Fault’ Evictions In Private Rental Shake-Up

In a significant move by the government, Ms May revealed plans to put in place legislation that would end Section 21 evictions, also known as no-fault evictions. The government has hailed the move as “the biggest change to the private rental sector for a generation”, and said landlords would no longer be able to evict tenants at short notice without good reason. Under current Section 21 eviction laws, landlords are able to give tenants as little as eight weeks notice to leave a property after a fixed-term contract has come to an end. The new legislation would effectively create open-ended tenancies, with landlords being required to provide a “concrete-evidenced reason for bringing the tenancy to an end”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-to-end-no-fault-evictions-in-private-rental-shake-up-61017?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Peabody To Scrap Fixed-Term Tenancies

Peabody, which owns around 56,000 homes across London and the South East, has announced it will stop issuing fixed-term tenancies to new general needs tenants. The move comes after 92,000-home landlord L&Q revealed plans to ditch fixed-term arrangements for tenants in September last year. L&Q has already begun the process of converting its 8,500 existing fixed-term tenants onto open-ended tenancies. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/peabody-to-scrap-fixed-term-tenancies-60332?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Fixed-Term Tenancies ‘Should Be Scrapped’, Says Thinktank

Fixed-term tenancies for private renters should be scrapped and replaced by mandatory open-ended agreements in order to end so-called “no-fault” evictions, a thinktank has said. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said the law should also be changed to stop landlords evicting tenants within the first three years of a tenancy because they want to sell their home. It made the calls in a report urging a major overhaul of the private rented sector. A poll found that 72% of people believe the government should be doing more to regulate the private rented sector, while 53% feel the current system is unfair on tenants. Download a copy of the report from the IPPR website.

https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/sign-on-the-dotted-line

Fixed-Term Tenancies ‘Should Be Scrapped’, Says Thinktank

Fixed-term tenancies for private renters should be scrapped and replaced by mandatory open-ended agreements in order to end so-called “no-fault” evictions, a thinktank has said. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said the law should also be changed to stop landlords evicting tenants within the first three years of a tenancy because they want to sell their home. It made the calls in a report published today urging a major overhaul of the private rented sector. A poll conducted by Sky Data on behalf of the IPPR found that 72% of people believe the government should be doing more to regulate the private rented sector, while 53% feel the current system is unfair on tenants. Read more on the IPPR  website.

https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/sign-on-the-dotted-line

More Housing Associations Consider Ditching Fixed-Term Tenancies

London’s largest housing association announced last week that it would offer lifetime tenancies to all its residents, scrapping fixed-term tenancies across its stock. Housing associations were given the option to offer fixed-term tenancies under the Localism Act in 2012, replacing the previous position where all tenancies in the social housing sector had been for life. Most housing associations offer both life and fixed-term tenancies – typically of five years. Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of Peabody, told Inside Housing that his association was “looking at the issue”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/more-housing-associations-consider-ditching-fixed-term-tenancies-58315?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Key Proposals In The Social Housing Green Paper

·         New 'league tables' of housing providers based on key performance indicators, surrounding services such as repairs and neighbourhood management. This could be linked to housing grant.

·         Consideration to scrapping of the current 'serious detriment' test, to allow 'Ofsted-style' tougher consumer regulation

·         New home ownership options such as allowing tenants to buy as little as 1% of their property each year through shared ownership. This would only apply to new shared ownership purchases.

·         Ditching of plans to force social landlords to offer fixed term tenancies rather than lifetime tenancies in social housing

·         Ditching of plans to force councils to sell off their most valuable social housing when it becomes vacant

·         The potential introduction a new stock transfer programme from councils to 'community-led' housing associations

·         The return of guaranteed debt funding to help the development of affordable homes, and longer term 'strategic partnerships' for developing housing associations

Download the Green Paper from the GovUK website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733605/A_new_deal_for_social_housing_web_accessible.pdf

What The Green Paper Means For Social Housing

The Social Housing Green Paper may well mark a seminal moment in the English housing sector. However, this may perhaps be more for what it ushered out than what it ushered in. A number of notable policies introduced during the Cameron-Osborne years have been unceremoniously dumped or reversed:

– The High-value Assets Levy that was to be paid by councils to cover the cost of replacing homes sold by housing associations under the voluntary Right to Buy – gone

– The Housing and Planning Act 2016 contained powers to require councils to implement fixed-terms to new tenancies – this policy has been scrapped

– Consumer regulation was pared back in 2010 with the Tenant Services Authority infamously being made into ‘toast’ by then housing minister Grant Shapps. The Green Paper explores a number of options to beef up consumer regulation so it is on a par with economic regulation

– Performance league tables are being considered to allow meaningful comparison between social landlords. This was last possible when the Audit Commission and its KLOEs (key lines of enquiry) was in its pre-coalition government pomp, before being abolished.

Read more on the See Media website.

http://see-media.co.uk/what-the-green-paper-means-for-social-housing/

Social Rented Housing: Tenants' Rights – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of statutory rights of occupiers of social housing to succeed to a tenancy on the death of the previous sole or joint tenant.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Housing and Planning Act 2016 includes changes to the rules on succession that deliver a consistent approach across all local authority tenancies and ensure that common law partners are put on an equal footing with married couples and civil partners. When in force, all spouses and partners will have a statutory right to succeed to a lifetime tenancy. Local authorities will be able to grant additional succession rights, and where they do so the tenant will receive a five year fixed term tenancy.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-02-08/127649

Only One In 10 Rent To Buy Tenants Purchases Home

Responding to an Inside Housing survey, nine large housing associations revealed they have completed a total of 1,594 Rent to Buy homes over the past decade but have sold just 180 to the original tenants.  Rent to Buy offers a fixed-term tenancy of usually five years at a discounted rate, with the tenant supposed to buy the home or a share in it at the end of this period. But the survey results reveal just 11.3% of tenants were able to do so, with the remainder either continuing to rent or moving out at the end of this period. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Catherine McKinnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discretionary powers he proposes to allow local authorities to (a) provide older residents with lifetime local authority tenancies and (b) tailor fixed-term tenancies to suit local housing needs.

Gavin Barwell: We have introduced fixed term tenancies for all new council tenancies to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock and focus this valuable resource on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. The changes will apply to new tenants, but will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home or those required to move by their landlord. Where existing lifetime tenants choose to move, councils will be able to grant the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home in circumstances to be set out in regulations. We have not finalised the draft regulations but expect these will include, for example, where tenants, including older people, downsize into a smaller home. Fixed term tenancies must be between two and ten years in length, or may be longer in the case of families with children, to cover the time a child is in school education. We will issue statutory guidance to set out the circumstances in which councils may grant longer term tenancies and expect this to include lettings to older people. Accompanying guidance will also make clear that, where a tenant's circumstances are broadly unchanged at the end of the fixed term, we expect landlords will normally grant a further tenancy in the same property.

Government Working With Councils On Fixed-Term Tenancies

The government has set up a working group of 20 councils to look at how to implement fixed-term tenancies, a key plank of the Housing and Planning Act. While other high-profile aspects of the Housing and Planning Act have either been dropped or delayed by the government, fixed-term tenancies legislation is still expected to be introduced from April next year. Under the act councils will be required to review tenancies every five years, rather than granting a lifetime tenancy, with extensions for tenants with a disability or with children. Peers opposed the move to fixed-term tenancies because they said it could be damaging to family life. Read more on Inside Housing.

Research: Impact Of Fixed-Term Tenancies

Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick and Dr Beth Wells from Heriot-Watt University have issued a report on the impact of fixed-term tenancies. Findings from their first wave of research on social housing includes views from landlords and tenants, as well as other stakeholders. The research found that fixed-term tenancies can cause considerable anxiety for some tenants, particularly those with a disability or health problems and for families with children. It suggests that some social landlords who were initially most enthusiastic about fixed-term tenancies have become disillusioned about them because it seems unlikely they will generate any significant number of additional lettings. There are also concerns about administrative cost and complexity and the potential to destabilise communities. Download the report from the Welfare Conditionality website.

Government Extends Fixed-Term Tenancies For Disabled

Councils will be able to grant longer tenancies of up to 10 years to people with disabilities, a peer speaking on behalf of the government has announced.The Housing and Planning Bill will phase out lifetime council tenancies and replace them with tenancies of up to five years.Under the proposals, councils would have to grant tenancies to new tenants of between two and five years. However, Baroness Natalie Evans, government whip, told the House of Lords that the government would bring forward amendments to extend the maximum tenancy period to 10 years in “certain circumstances”. Baroness Evans said that the government would ensure this includes people with disabilities. More detail is expected in further readings of the bill. Read more on Inside Housing.

Residents And Landlords Need Flexibility On Tenancies

If plans to scrap lifetime tenancies for new social housing tenants go ahead, landlords must be given the flexibility to support different tenants in different areas. It is vital that decisions about how fixed term tenancies are used can be made locally.  A strength of the current voluntary system is that it has allowed individual landlords to consider local circumstances and to use fixed terms to work towards a variety of different objectives in different areas. If the government is going to make the use of fixed terms mandatory, it is essential that it does so in a way that retains as much local flexibility as possible. This should also include some local flexibility to identify exceptions as, undoubtedly, there will be occasions where it is simply much more appropriate to continue using lifetime tenancies. For example, this might help to make downsizing into sheltered housing a more attractive option for some. Read more on the CIH website.

100,000 Children Will Be Homeless This Christmas

100,000 children will be homeless this Christmas but councils have a duty to find children that have nowhere to live somewhere to sleep. Councils do their best but don’t have enough affordable housing and are only building half the homes needed each year, while the number of genuinely affordable homes falls. Combined with growing house prices, the shortage of affordable homes pushes more families into the private rented sector. The single leading cause of homelessness is the end of private tenancies. There’s nothing in law that stops landlords asking families to leave come the end of their short-term fixed tenancy. What makes it all harder is growing rent costs – combined with cuts to social security. They’ve removed the safety net that many low-income families need to cover costs. Read more on the Shelter blog.

Government Plans To Scrap Lifetime Tenancies

The government is planning to scrap lifetime tenancies for new social housing tenants in favour of fixed-term contracts. Under government plans, social landlords would no longer be able to automatically issue tenancies on a lifetime basis and would instead be forced to offer fixed-term lets for prospective tenants. Since 2012, councils and housing associations have been able to offer five-year fixed-term tenancies to new tenants. However, according to official figures, just 13% of new general needs social housing lets were made on a fixed-term basis in 2014/15, compared with 9% in 2013/14. Read more on the Independent website.

"Major Error" In Rented Housing Regulations

The Deregulation Act, passed prior to the general election, provides ministers with the power to introduce a new standard form for landlords to complete and provide to a tenant when seeking to regain possession of a property on a no fault basis, known as a Section 21 notice. The standard form, as currently drafted, notes that where a fixed term tenancy ends and then turns into a rolling or periodic tenancy the Section 21 notice would only be valid for four months from the date that it is served on the tenant. This contradicts the Deregulation Act, which makes clear that the required period to regain possession of a property where a tenancy is a rolling or periodic tenancy, should instead be four months from the date the Section 21 notice expires. Read more on Housing Excellence.

Government Seeks To Limit Use of Lifetime Tenancies

The Budget shows that the government will again review security of tenure. The Budget document said: ‘The government will review the use of lifetime tenancies in social housing to limit their use and ensure that households are offered tenancies that match their needs, and ensure the best use is made of the social housing stock.’ The previous coalition government’s Localism Act allowed social landlords to use fixed-term tenancies. The act required councils to develop a tenancy strategy under which associations must have regard to the council’s stance on tenure. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing: Private Rented Sector – Parliamentary Written Answer

Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op): There are 48,000 homes in the private rented sector in Liverpool. All those tenants had been heartened by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he said that he wants  “longer fixed-term, family-friendly tenancies that meet their needs.” May we have an urgent statement about when the Government will honour that aspiration and support the proposals announced today by my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition to scrap letting fees, end excessive rent rises and introduce long-term tenancies?

Mr Lansley: If the hon. Lady is saying that she supports what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government is doing to promote flexibility, quality and supply in the housing market, I am pleased. I suspect, however, that what she is saying is that we do not want to go beyond that to a rent-control policy of the kind advocated by her leader. In that respect, she probably takes the same view as the shadow Housing Minister, the hon. Member for Wolverhampton North East (Emma Reynolds), who said on “Channel 4 News” in January that  “rent controls are not going to work in practice”. What the hon. Lady said was right then and it is right today.

Shelter's Fixed-Term Contracts Will 'Fatally Undermine' PRS

Proposals by housing charity Shelter to introduce fixed-term contracts into the private rented sector and bans on real rent changes within them are poorly thought out, according to a report commissioned by the Residential Landlords Association. The report warns that the plans would “fatally undermine the huge increase in the PRS of the past two decades” and that “accommodation shortages would grow” with vulnerable low income groups likely to be amongst the greatest losers as a result. Landlords would face higher risks and lower returns; while the beneficiaries amongst tenants would be few and the losers many.  Download a copy of the report from the RLA website.