Propertymark has submitted written evidence to the Public Bill Committee on the Renters (Reform) Bill, citing data demonstrating the level of concern amongst our members about measures likely to make the PRS increasingly hostile to property owners and the unintended consequences for people in need of homes.

Extra policing will be deployed in ten initial target areas before the plan is rolled out across England and Wales in 2024. The public will also have a simpler way to report ASB (anti-social behaviour), and perpetrators could face penalties within 48 hours.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHCC) has objected to suggestions that delays to the ban on ‘no fault’ evictions are the result of recommendations made in the Committee’s Reforming the Private Rented Sector report. Committee Chair, Clive Betts, MP, stated it was difficult to understand the lack of urgency and transparency around court reforms.

Propertymark continues to assert there is no advantage to introducing rent controls and urges Scottish Ministers to properly evaluate the evidence both from UK and across the world. Whilst formulating our response to the most recent engagement questionnaire we hosted a roundtable with members and Scottish Government officials where the strength of feeling from agents was clearly communicated.

Today, 2 November 2023, the Opinion of the Hon Lord Harrower was released on Propertymark’s joint Judicial Review Petition, alongside the Scottish Association of Landlords and Scottish Land & Estates, that challenged the Scottish Government’s rent control and eviction ban under the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022.

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP reiterated the tone of the UK Government’s response to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, published Friday 20 October, with repeated references to balancing the needs of tenants and landlords in the progress of the Renters (Reform) Bill through the UK parliament.

With the Renters (Reform) Bill receiving its Second Reading in the House of Commons today, 23 October 2023, the UK Government has responded to recommendations made by the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHCC), promising to align the removal of Section 21 with court improvements, protect the right of landlords to set rents in line with the market, and ensure the student market is protected with a new ground to guarantee landlords can gain possession each year.

Stakeholders have just a few weeks to add their voices to the discussion on Scottish Government plans to introduce a system of long-term rent controls for the private rented sector, strengthen tenant protections during the eviction process, enshrine the right to personalise a rented home, and make it easier for a tenant to request to keep a pet.

In a letter to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk KC MP, Propertymark CEO, Nathan Emerson has laid out the potential consequences of failure to prepare the legal system for the introduction of Renters’ Reform measures and offered to support the UK Government in ensuring reliable access to justice.

Continued rising costs for landlords that impact increasing rent levels for tenants and the mismatch between supply and demand are exacerbated by the ongoing regulations.

Running from 3-9 July, the theme of the week is Know Your Rights. Recent YouGov research commissioned by Resolve found that almost 1 in 5 people have had to consider moving home because of the impact ASB was having on them; 1 in 10 have actually moved. Despite this, over half who were either a victim or witness of ASB did not report it.

The Scottish Government has announced today that they intend to extend the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act Regulations beyond 30 September 2023 for an additional six months.