This is according to organisations representing individual landlords, build-to-rent providers and letting agents who are urging immediate action as the House of Lords scrutinises the Renters’ Rights Bill once again from the beginning of July.

The British Property Federation, the National Residential Landlords Association and The Lettings Industry Council are warning that failure to provide clear answers to basic questions is causing concern among good landlords who ministers say should be unafraid of the Bill.

In a letter to the Minister in the Lords, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, the industry bodies pointed to a number of outstanding concerns which, they said,  the Government had failed to address during the bill’s passage through Parliament.

The letter stated that despite pledging last year to ensure the courts were “ready” for the impact of the reforms, the Government had not explained what this means in practice. In particular, it had not set out what this means for how long the courts will take to consider and process legitimate possession claims. This is a significant source of concern for landlords given the already considerable delays in the system.

The organisations warn that plans which will make it easier for tenants to challenge above market rent increases at a tribunal are unworkable. This is because there is currently no reliable single source of data to determine what market rents are in any given area – making it impossible to assess whether a rent increase is above it or not.

In addition, the letter insists the government has not outlined how proposals to make it more difficult for landlords to repossess a property where rent arears are due to delayed benefit payments will work. Private landlords are not allowed to be notified when a tenant is claiming benefits in the first place. This means they will not know if rent arrears are due to benefit payment delays unless and until a possession case goes to court.

Finally, the letter raises further concerns that the government has failed to provide clarity on when it expects changes to rental tenancies to take effect once the bill receives Royal Assent. This, it says,  is imperative if there is to be a smooth transition to the new systems and processes.

National Residential Landlords Association chief executive Ben Beadle, British Property Federations chief executive Melanie Leech and Lettings Industry Council chair Theresa Wallace said:

“We remain extremely disappointed by the lack of substantive responses to the concerns we have consistently raised with ministers.

“We want the bill to work in practice and enjoy the confidence of good landlords. However, unless clear answers to the issues we have raised are forthcoming from the government, those very landlords have every reason to be concerned.”