Labour’s relaunched Renters’ Reform Bill under it’s new guise as the “Renters’ Rights Bill 2024” has had its second reading in Parliament.  This is part of the process of the bill passing into law.  There will be the third reading and committee stages plus it needs to pass through the House of Lords.  At any of these stages, amendments could be introduced and it could still be a while before the bill becomes law.

The Renters’ Rights Bill 2024 is now available to read via this link Renters’ Rights Bill 2024. 

As the name suggests the Bill, all 226 pages of it, is focused on appeasing tenants rather than landlords.  The Renter’s Rights Bill 2024 is written in legal speak, however, there is a shorter guide to the Bill, click here. There are a number of summaries/interpretations available via many media sites, however, I suggest you search for areas of interest and read the relevant section yourselves.

As a PDF document with search facility, some topical subjects can be easily found.  For example, key topics of interest are likely to include: Discrimination, Market Value, Rent Increase, Eviction, Affordability, Students, Pets.

You will notice that “affordability” can still be used to check the suitability of candidate tenants.  Also, there is no expected “hardship test” applied to tenants being evicted. It also appears that refusing pets will be very difficult. You will be pleased to know the Pet Damage Insurance is now available and the landlord can decide whether the tenant or landlord purchases the cover. In the latter, the landlord can claim the cost of such cover from the tenant.