Many private landlords believes that the Renters Rights Bill's proposed possession grounds could be beneficial, according to a recent survey.

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Landlords have voiced concerns about the removal of Section 21 evictions, which is a ‘must do’ in both the new Renters Rights Bill and the Tory’s previous Renters Reform Bill. However, they also note that the introduction of new possession grounds might offset this.

The survey, conducted by a buy-to-let lender, asked whether landlords found the Bill’s extended Section 8 possession grounds advantageous. These include compulsory grounds such as landlord or family occupation, and the sale of a residential property., the ending of a superior lease, possession by a superior landlord, and possession following an order for enforcement action.

The buy-to-let lender’s survey, asked landlords if they felt the Bill’s expanded Section 8 possession grounds would help them.

Nearly 40% of landlords surveyed found the possession grounds to be helpful, while 28% were not impressed.

A landlord told the lender: “Tenants should be dealt with fairly. Landlords should respond in good time to genuine issues but they should however be allowed to deal with problem tenants swiftly and firmly.”

However another landlord believes the Section 8 process would remain as convoluted as it currently is, and said: “I don’t believe in the abolition of section 21 as it will put a lot of financial pressure on landlords when a tenant does not pay rent and has to go down the lengthy process of section 8 to get a property back.”

The survey showed that nearly all of the landlords knew about the new Bill, with only nine per cent saying they were not aware of it.

A spokesperson for the lender, commented: “New possession grounds could offer a helping hand to landlords in the face of abolition of section 21s.

“Good landlords far outweigh the bad and, despite a somewhat bumpy market at the moment, demand continues to outstrip supply.