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Times

Renters' Rights Bill eviction cases set to overwhelm courts

Courts and tribunals will be overwhelmed with cases as a result of government plans to shake up the private rental sector, lawyers for tenants and landlords warn. The Renters' Rights Bill, which is going through the House of Lords, is the first significant legislative reform of private renting since the Housing Act 1988. Ministers have said that it will improve the system for England's 11 million private renters and 2.3 million landlords — giving tenants greater power to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases, while helping those letting property who are 'undercut by the rogues and chancers'. Building on the Conservative's Renters (Reform) Bill, key changes include ending 'no-fault', or section 21, evictions, reforming the grounds for possession and ending fixed-term tenancies in favour of periodic tenancies. The law will end the practice of rental bidding wars by landlords and agents, make it illegal to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children and apply Awaab's law to require landlords to fix hazards within a certain timeframe.