The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has slammed the Renters’ Rights Bill, calling for the government to do more to prevent tenants building arrears.
The bill proposes increasing the amount of arrears a tenant can build up from two to three months before a landlord can serve a notice to repossess a property.
In addition, the Bill is also proposing doubling the notice period landlords must give in such cases before waiting an average of seven months for the courts to process such claims.
The NRLA is warning that allowing tenants to build up more arrears will place both them and landlords at greater risk.
Instead, the NRLA is proposing a more collaborative approach with the association’s CEO Ben Beadle saying: “Landlords should be making every effort to help tenants get on top of debts as early on as possible.
“However, landlords should rightly expect that they can swiftly regain possession of the properties they rent when tenants reach two months of arrears as at present. In no other walk of life would the government allow consumer debts to build for months on end with all the damage that can cause to their credit ratings.”
As a result, the NRLA is calling for landlords and letting agents to be required to work with tenants at the first sign of rent arrears.
This would involve adopting the NRLA’s ready-made ‘golden rules’ which were cited as best practice by the government during the pandemic.
The NRLA is also calling for housing benefit rates to be linked to market rents for the duration of parliament, giving both tenants and landlords greater certainty.
Finally, the association wants landlords to have greater confidence of swift repossession when arrears reach two months.
