3rd
Jan 2022
PRS experts are claiming that it could take the government as much as three years to finally ditch Section 21 eviction powers.
One notable expert Paul Shamplina who appears on the Channel 5 show Evicted! Nightmare Tenants, claims that this is the year when the government should make its intentions clear regarding S21 powers and most notably the lack of.
The government’s plans will come to light when it eventually publishes its White Paper which will then undergo substantial consultations and dependant on the outcome, could major changes to legislation.
Shamplina says: “I predict that this will happen in approximately three years. For landlords, removing the option of using a Section 21 to evict a tenant who is in violation of their tenancy, risks the process taking longer and will certainly make it harder to regain possession.
“I hope the Government takes this on board and expands the grounds for possession currently laid out in Section 8.”
He continues: “There are also proposals [in the forthcoming White Paper] to improve how landlords can be held to account, through landlord redress and establishing a landlord register.
“Tenants who are renting direct from landlords don’t currently have any come-back when things go wrong. But for me there is an argument that if you have landlord redress, why do you need landlord registration as well? If a mandatory landlord redress scheme was set up, this would provide sufficient recourse for tenants.”
Currently the government is looking at ways to help tenants address issues they encounter when their tenancy finishes to cope with and having to find additional funds for a deposit on their next rented home, whilst still having to wait for their existing deposit being paid back.
Shamplina comments: “There are proposals to address this gap through a ‘lifetime deposit’ system where a tenant’s deposit would transfer from one landlord to another as they move. The question is, how to bridge the gap if the deposit has been retained to cover damage or rent arrears and the tenant fails to make up the difference?”
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