The Renters’ Rights Bill 2024: A Disappointment for Tenants?

The government has promised widespread housing reform encompassing a total overhaul of both the regulations placed upon rented housing and the redress process for housing issues with landlords. Thus, this article intends to analyse the effectiveness of the proposed Renters’ Rights Bill. Does it really fix the issues at the heart of the country’s housing crisis, or does it just provide a shiny new bill so the government can be seen to be acting?

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Given that the average Briton spends a third (32%) of their monthly income on rent, one would expect the government to make regulating the housing rental market one of its foremost priorities. Despite this however, the recent Renters’ Rights Bill appears a lacklustre attempt to band-aid over the deep-rooted issues within the rental market. Its real purpose instead seems to be giving Starmer’s new government a glossy policy to show that it cares for the issues of the working man.

Initially, to give credit where credit is due, the Renters’ Rights Bill does mark a step in the right direction. The removal of no-fault evictions especially is something renters have been asking for, and in many cases, desperately needing for years. No-fault evictions- as the name suggests- often force unsuspecting families, frequently unable to find alternative housing, out onto the streets without cause. Furthermore, the Bill has done well to limit rent increases to once a year, and to the market rate. This is a positive step to ensure no one is forced out of their home due to exorbitant increases in rent which seem set to continue to increase in 2025. This follows an already absurd increase of 18% during the 2024-2025 calendar year.

Source: Freepiks

No-fault evictions often force unsuspecting families, frequently unable to find alternative housing, out onto the streets without cause.

In addition to controlling the price of rent and stopping landlords from evicting tenants so that properties can be relisted at a much higher price, the Bill aims to put pressure on rogue landlords to ensure that their properties are in a ‘liveable’ state for tenants by imposing a ‘Decent Homes Standard’. The usage of a private renters’ ombudsman as a mechanism for settling housing disputes, as well as the potential implementation of inspections of properties, initially seem like promising ways to ensure that renters receive accommodation in liveable conditions. However, this runs a heavy risk of merely forming another layer of ineffective bureaucracy stifling renters further. 

A significant implementation is the extension of “Awaab’s law” which forces landlords to fix serious issues in rental properties within a certain timeframe, often one to three months, or else face hefty fines for non-compliance. Importantly, while one could expect this to include serious mould, gas leaks and exposed electricals (thus targeting many of the foremost housing concerns of recent years), what is defined as a “serious issue” currently remains undefined, undermining its efforts enormously. 

Moreover, the practicality of implementing such a measure casts doubt over its effectiveness standard. MPs in opposition to the Bill have, however, questioned why landlords will not just factor the increased requirements into the cost of their housing as a direct result of the new requirements? Jacob Young, the former Tory Levelling up Minister, also argued the bill had to do more to “strike the balance between delivering security for tenants and fairness for landlords”.

Source: Freepiks

The Bill falls short on longevity and on dealing with particularly inadequate affordable housing for young people.

Consequently, whilst the Bill is a step in the right direction, upon removing our rose-tinted glasses, there are two foremost problems with it. Firstly, the bill provides only a temporary solution with no longevity or future policy, and secondly, it is simply not radical enough. Many of the new requirements introduced by the Bill appear to be thought up with the short term in mind rather than as a foundation for future policy. For example, whilst limiting rent increases is imperative, it does not deal with the underlying issues such as the lack of affordable housing for young people.

Following the 2008 financial crash, it is harder than ever for first-time house buyers to secure a mortgage, with deposits as high as 20%, and the cheapest homes available in even intermediately sized towns costing £200,000-£300,000. This resulted in an increase of young, working adults renting accommodation, 35.7% of the population in 2022, increasing the competition for rental properties and allowing landlords to charge above the market rate. Another effect of this is rental bidding wars. Especially in London, parties have offered higher than the listing price in order to secure properties. This is another issue that the Bill aims to stop by making rental bidding wars unlawful and threatening to revoke the licenses of greedy landlords. Realistically, however, enforcing this would prove to be entirely infeasible.

Ultimately, the Renters’ Rights Bill is by its very nature insufficient. The Bill was drafted in response to calls for restrictions to be put on landlords as a stop-gap measure and consequently fails to do anything more than pause rent increases. Despite the right initial steps taken by the Bill, it does nothing to attempt to lower rent prices back to what they were pre-pandemic (having increased 20% since 2020) and the whole Bill appears to be grossly insufficient in stopping the monopoly held by landlords and the country’s shortage of appropriate housing.

Written by: Ben Howell

Editors: Natalie Ong & Charlotte Ip