Last year, housing Secretary Michael Gove announced that the Renters’ Reform Bill would be implemented in 2023. This bill will put an end to Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions to “provide greater security for tenants while retaining the important flexibility that privately rented accommodation offers”. The bill will also help to resolve disputes between property owners and tenants and only allow rents to increase once per year. Property owners must give 2 months’ notice of any rent change.
However, there is still some uncertainty about whether the government would implement the Renters’ Reform Bill this year as the prime minister Rishi Sunak did not list housing as one of his priorities for 2023. The prime minister’s top five priorities this year include tackling inflation, growing the economy, ensuring that national debt falls, cut NHS waiting lists and to deal with illegal migration – therefore, housing was not considered one of his priorities.
The Renters’ Reform Bill has been delayed before when Theresa May was in government in 2019. Since it has already been delayed, there is a likelihood that the government would not go ahead with the bill this year either. This is leading to greater uncertainty for letting agents and property owners.
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