Rentright is in favour of the new law to protect private tenants but there are still outstanding questions as to how effective the Bill will prove to be.
Imagine coming home to your rented accommodation to find that your key no longer fits the lock. You read this with detached scepticism but unfortunately this is the cold reality for thousands of people renting across the UK every year.
As of the 8th April 2010, an act to protect tenant’s whose rented properties are under warrant for repossession became law. The Act will offer valuable protection to private tenants who face eviction with little or no warning, and through no fault of their own, their landlord has defaulted on mortgage payments and the lender has taken possession of the property.
It is believed that the legislation will help thousands of private tenants who previously had no protection if their landlord was repossessed. Citizens Advice chief executive David Harker said: "This is great news for private tenants, too many of whom have become the forgotten victims of repossession. Citizens Advice Bureau advise over 1,000 tenants a year who face sudden homelessness because of this gap in the law”.
What rentright wants to know is how much ‘value’ there is in this new bill for tenants and if there is actually any change to the amount of protection they are getting?
The key features of the bill gives the courts power to postpone a possession order for a period not exceeding two months and ensures the tenant is given notice of a possession order before its execution.
The biggest flaw seems to lie in the required consent of the lender. Where a landlord has failed to obtain consent from the lender to rent the property out the tenant has no rights, and the mortgagee is not required to honor the tenancy agreement.
This is also true for direct correspondence with the tenant from the Mortgage owner. If letters are being sent to the landlord regards the repossession, then there is nothing to say that the tenant living in the property is receiving this vital information. If the tenant does not know that the landlord is not paying his mortgage and the Mortgage lender has no idea that the property is rented out then the bill is rendered useless and the tenant homeless.
Overall the Bill is an improvement but it is only the first link in a chain of events that need to develop in order to make renting a property a safer option for tenants.
Rentright is glad that the government has finally turned its attention to the rental market and is attempting to iron out the cowboys; however, the sweeping up process can only be the start. We see this bill as a fantastic beginning to a safer more protected rental environment but certainly there is much room for development.