Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Carrington Excerpts

Tuesday 15th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

No, I was listening to the debate and trying to get my thoughts in order. I will be very brief because, as I said on the previous group, it is clear that we will oppose anything that lowers the fines.

I am a little bit concerned about some of the attitudes towards local government that are coming out, particularly from the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, from her own experiences. Local authorities have experience and expertise; they employ lawyers and solicitors, and they make sure they apply fair and proportionate responses to enforcement across a range of things and do it with consistency and uniformity. There is almost an infantilisation of local authorities, as if they want to grab lots of money from lovely, well-meaning landlords with one cottage in a little village. I say to the noble Baroness that I do not see that happening.

I see that approach to enforcement across a range of things. Even if we are changing parking rules, for example, we put a little notice on windscreens, saying, “Next week, you will get fined if you park here”. Local authorities have guidance and standards that they like to adhere to. I guess there is the odd rogue local authority, like there is the odd rogue landlord, but I do not like the way we want to have things absolutely pinned down so that local authorities can have no discretion about what they do.

The Bill is bold and radical and has new things in it that have to succeed—the database, for example, has to succeed. If the fine is not enough to deter landlords, it will be ineffective, and one of the tools that makes this transformative will have been taken away from local authorities. We have to trust local authorities. I doubt that many £40,000 fines will happen, and I guess that is why we are also calling for reviews—such things will be part of looking at that.

We certainly need to give local authorities higher financial penalties. I am quietly confident that they will not take them out on the uninformed landlord. There is also something faintly patronising about the idea of uninformed landlords. There is so much information out there and so many landlord lobbying groups that it would be surprising if they were not aware that there had been some changes. If they are astute enough to be a landlord, and a good landlord, they will be astute enough to notice that this big Renters’ Rights Bill might just have some impact on them. We will not vote for any amendment that reduces the ability of councils to impose higher fines.

[Lord Carrington (CB)]

My Lords, I support the amendment, but I want to concentrate on a slightly different aspect, which came up in the intervention by the noble Lord, Lord Hacking, and remarks made by the noble Baroness, Lady Scott. The noble Lord referred to the fact that rogue landlords will ignore whatever we put in the Bill, and that may well be the case, although I hope he is not accurate on that. The noble Baroness mentioned that there are people in Wales who will never have heard of the Bill but are expected to conform to the provisions in it. My question for the Minister covers both aspects. Can she at some point, whether now or later, tell us about the implementation of the Bill, so that everybody understands how it works and avoids going to court and all the other matters?

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Moved by

[Lord Carrington]

122: Clause 145, page 169, line 5, at end insert—
“(9) Different days may be appointed for different purposes in relation to Chapter 1 of Part 1 so that—(a) one day (not sooner than three months after this Act is passed) is appointed for the purposes of new tenancies, and(b) one day (not sooner than six months after this Act is passed) is appointed for the purposes of existing tenancies.”Member's explanatory statement
This amendment seeks to ensure that at least three months’ notice is given prior to new tenancies becoming section 4A assured tenancies and that at least a further three months’ notice is given before existing tenancies become section 4A assured tenancies.

[Lord Carrington (CB)]

My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 122 and welcome the support of the noble Lord, Lord Hacking. The amendment aims to introduce a transition period of three months for new assured tenancies and six months for existing tenancies before the Bill’s provisions take effect.

Much of the debate surrounding this legislation focuses quite rightly on the need to tackle rogue or criminal landlords, while ensuring that the new responsibilities applied to PRS landlords are fair, equitable and sustainable. However, there is another important consideration which has received considerably less attention but which is equally critical if we are to maintain a vibrant PRS.

The implementation of the Bill’s measures must avoid any disruption in the flow of mortgage finance that underpins most of our country’s privately rented homes. Careful consideration must be given to the implementation of the legislation to ensure a smooth transition to the new tenancy system. A great many landlords have no knowledge of the Bill and what it entails. Landlords, lenders and others in the PRS will need time and support to adjust to the significant changes that the new tenancy system requires.

I would like to explain why this, or a very similar amendment, was not tabled in Committee. Lenders rightly wanted further engagement with government to discuss how the legislation can be implemented successfully, to share insights on the impact on the lenders and to consider how the sector can be supported to ensure the best outcome for tenants. In order to achieve a smooth transition to the tenancy system, following Second Reading in February the mortgage lenders, led by UK Finance, wrote to the Minister at MHCLG in early March requesting a meeting. The Minister’s officials at MHCLG responded in mid-April, offering that meeting. Ongoing discussions then started regarding the concerns of the lenders. I thought it best to wait till the outcome of those discussions was known before muddying the waters with an amendment. Unfortunately, these discussions, which also involved HM Treasury, have not so far satisfied the mortgage lenders. In fact, no follow-up has been received from the Treasury. Current meetings continue to take place with the Bank of England.

As noble Lords have been made aware, the PRS currently houses one in five households, including workers, students and those unable to buy homes or access social housing. Some 60% of landlords rely on buy-to-let mortgages. To maintain the supply of PRS homes needed to meet sustained demand, a continuing flow of buy-to-let mortgage finance is therefore essential. As such, the Government should welcome this amendment to introduce a transition period for the introduction of reforms before the Bill’s provisions take effect, so that the buy-to-let mortgage lenders have sufficient time to implement the necessary system changes.

I believe the Government have committed to implementing the new tenancy system in one stage, avoiding unnecessary cliff edges and working with all parts of the sector to ensure a smooth transition. To achieve this, sufficient time will be needed for the sector to prepare. The changes will include drafting new tenancy agreements, developing training materials to support property professionals, helping agents understand the new procedures, and enabling insurance and mortgage providers to adjust their policies, among other issues.

It would make enormous sense to provide a transition period to support the industry to implement the required changes. These lenders will need at least three to six months, depending on whether the tenancies underpinned by their mortgages are new or existing, to implement the changes required by the legislation. To give some examples, lenders will need to review new mortgage application terms and conditions, mortgage offers and lending policies. Additionally, lenders with forward flow or warehouse agreements for funding may need approval from their funders and forward flow partners.

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[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for his amendment and for his engagement generally on the Bill. Subsequent to our meeting earlier this week, I had a detailed response prepared for the noble Lord on Clause 145. Unfortunately, it arrived in my inbox just as I was coming into the Chamber this afternoon. It probably has not reached him yet, but that is on its way to him.

On Amendment 122, the Government are committed to introducing the new tenancy system for the private rented sector in one stage to bring to an end Section 21 no-fault evictions as soon as possible. These evictions cause utter misery for the tenants on the other end of them and a huge amount of cost to local government in picking up the pieces when people get evicted at very short notice. A single implementation date for both new and existing tenancies will enable all tenants to benefit from the reforms as soon as possible and prevent a confusing two-tier system during transition.

We are continuing to work very closely with stakeholders. The noble Lord, Lord Carrington, referred to meetings between my honourable friend the Minister for Housing and financial institutions. He has also met with many landlords’ associations and other stakeholders to ensure that the sector is prepared for the reforms in the Bill. I want to be very clear that we are committed to providing sufficient notice to ensure that all parts of the private rented sector have time to prepare. Implementation will not be immediate, as we have secondary legislation to pass. We are making good progress on drafting that and the necessary guidance that goes alongside it. All this will help us to implement in a timely manner.

In addition, the Bill makes specific provision to ensure a smooth transition to the new system and avoid unnecessary cliff edges. For example, the Bill will ensure that notices served by landlords before the commencement date remain valid after that date. Based on our ongoing work to ensure a smooth transition to the new system, we consider that there will be no benefit to requiring arbitrary minimum time periods after Royal Assent before the tenancy reform measures in the Bill can come into force.

With these reassurances that we are committed to a smooth and responsible approach to implementing the Bill, I respectfully ask the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Carrington (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister very much for her engagement with me, although the letter has not arrived yet. I am in a position of enormous power now, in the sense that this is the very last amendment and I am keeping noble Lords from their drinks and everything else. I am very pleased that the Minister has now reassured me that the cliff edge will not happen just like that as far as financial institutions are concerned, and that there will be time for preparation.

I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Hacking, for his support and his emphasis on the fact that this was not a political amendment but a practical one. I wish him great success in the work he does with his tenants. Happily, I have someone to help me.

Having thanked everybody for their kind engagement and sometime support, I have pleasure in withdrawing the amendment.

[Lord Hacking (Lab)]

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down—