"The announcement confirming the abolition of Section 21 in today’s Queens speech is another attack against the landlords who actually house the nation."
Without such confidence the RLA says the supply crisis in the market will only worsen, making it harder for prospective tenants to find a place to live.
The RLA has long called for the new framework to provide clear and comprehensive grounds upon which landlords can repossess properties in cases such as anti-social behaviour and tenant rent arrears with guarantees about the timeframes involved for each and measures to prevent abuses by problem tenants.
David Smith, policy director for the RLA, said: “We accept the need to protect tenants from abuse but it is crucial that plans to reform the way repossessions can take place are got right if the Government is to avoid a rental housing crisis. Unless the new system is fair to good landlords as well as tenants, those same landlords who we need to support simply will not have the confidence to provide the rented homes that are needed to meet the demand.”
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, commented: "The abolition of Section 21 and the removal of the no-fault eviction process has been long discussed and is understandable if we are going to respond to the longer-term requirements of tenants and particularly families with children. Many landlords would be happy to embrace it but there must be an equal and opposite opportunity for landlords to remove tenants who are not otherwise complying with their tenancy agreement such as non payment of rent or upsetting other nearby residents. It has to be seen to be fair and we need to see more detail of how it would work in practice. What we don’t want to see is landlords leaving the sector, which will only increase upwards pressure on rents and make deposit saving for aspiring first-time buyers even more difficult."
David Cox, chief executive at ARLA Propertymark, added: “In the absence of any meaningful plan to boost the level of social housing in this country, the announcement confirming the abolition of Section 21 in today’s Queens speech is another attack against the landlords who actually house the nation. If Section 21 is scrapped, Section 8 must be reformed and a new specialist housing tribunal created. Without this, supply will almost certainly fall which will have the consequential effect of raising rents and will further discourage new landlords from investing in the sector. ARLA Propertymark will be engaging with the Government to ensure they fully understand the consequences of any changes, and we will be scrutinising the legislation, to ensure landlords have the ability to regain their properties if needed.”
