Renters Rights Bill long overdue

The Guardian reports that the UK Government'srenters’ rights bill will ban landlords from renting out their properties for more than the advertised price in addition to an immediate ban on no-fault evictions.

The paper says that this latest addition to the bill goes further than Labour promised while in opposition, being designed to keep a lid on the rapid increase in rents that has contributed to the housing crisis, especially in the south of England:

The bill will also stop landlords barring tenants from keeping pets unless they have good reason to do so, and will force them to give four months’ notice before evicting someone because they need to sell the property, house a family member or move back in.

Further measures published on Wednesday include banning landlords from evicting a tenant in the first year of a tenancy and compelling them to give at least two months’ notice before raising the rent.

They add that the move is designed to dampen the rampant rent rises in the private market and stop people being priced out:

In the year to July, average private-sector rents in England increased 8.6%, while in London that figure was 9.7%. Recent figures from Rightmove suggest there are now 17 households bidding for each advertised rental property.

All this is very welcome, however, even though it is still early days, it would be good too to hear what the government's plans are for leasehold properties, which are another source of unfairness in the housing market.