The UK government is set to publish the Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper later today which will unveil plans to ban Section 21 evictions and see the creation of an ombudsman for private renters. 

The whitepaper will aim to redress the balance between landlords and 4.4m tenants in the private rented sector (PRS).

The measures will form part of the Renters Reform Bill that was announced in the Queen’s Speech and will be introduced into Parliament later in 2022.

The plans reveal that residents will be able to demand information and rate their landlord as part of new satisfaction measures.

The rental reform is part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) wider reform agenda to improve lives and level up the country.

Currently, the conditions of more than half a million properties (12% of households) pose an imminent risk to tenants’ health and safety, which means around 1.6m people are living in dangerously low-quality homes.

To tackle this issue, the government has extended the Decent Homes Standard to the private sector for the first time. 

Earlier this month, the government introduced the Social Housing Regulation Bill, which means failing social housing landlords could face unlimited fines and Ofsted-style inspections.

The reform paper also announced the ban on ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions that currently allow landlords to terminate tenancies without giving any reason. 

Arbitrary rent review clauses will also cease, including unjustified rent increases, which will enable tenants to be repaid rent for non-decent homes.

The government also plans to create a new private renters’ ombudsman to enable disputes between private renters and landlords to be settled without going to court. 

Commenting on the whitepaper, the Local Government Association (LGA) says the removal of ‘no-fault evictions’ is “a key step towards “increased protection for private renters and will allow renters to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction”.

“Commitment to extending a legally binding Decent Homes Standard to improve conditions in the private rented sector is positive. This reform should be implemented quickly, and it is vital that councils are sufficiently resourced, through new burdens funding, to support the implementation of the standard.”

“To go even further towards tackling insecure and unfit housing, we would like to see a review of Local Housing Allowance rates, and councils to have stronger selective licensing powers by removing the requirement for Secretary of State approval for larger schemes,” LGA states. 

PropertyMark chief executive Nathan Emerson says: “After waiting three years to see exactly what this reform will look like, we’ve now got a set of proposals titled ‘The Fairer Private Rented Sector White Paper’. But there are some elements that don’t appear to be so. How is it fair that a tenant can simply end a tenancy at a time of their choosing, but an agent or landlord has to present a valid reason that is defined in law?”

“Now we have the detail of what’s being proposed, we will be closely scrutinising it and working with ministers to help them understand how on a practical level it will impact our letting agents members and their landlords.”

“Our sector provides around 4.4m households in England with a place to live. Property is a good long-term investment but the number of property owners choosing to withdraw from this area is growing*. That’s the result of a decade of tax and regulatory burden that simply does not incentivise investment, especially for single property landlords who make up 43% of the market.”

“The private rental market is already under huge strain with renters outstripping available properties and we need to be able to attract new investment.”

“If ministers really do want to create a ‘fairer private rented sector’, they must work with us to ensure these reforms are carefully balanced and any interventions to achieve short-term objectives do not constrain the market in the longer term,” he explains. 

Meanwhile, Zoopla executive director of research and insight Richard Donnell says the reforms “mark another milestone in the journey to create a suitable equilibrium between renters and private landlords who provide the majority of homes for rent”.

However, Donnell explains that the private rented sector is “under growing strain due to lower levels of new investment by private landlords, largely a result of tax changes and more regulation”. 

“There are a growing number of amateur, private landlords exiting the market, offsetting the increased investment from corporate landlords and institutional investors into the build-to-rent market.”

“There is a delicate balance to ensure reforms don’t compound these supply-side challenges which continue to keep upward pressure on rents, which have risen 11% in the last year. Ensuring decent homes is paramount but so is the investment into this important sector of the housing market,” he adds. 

Earlier this week, secretary of state of levelling up, housing and communities Michael Gove attended the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee evidence session on the government’s levelling up plans announced last month in the Queen’s Speech.

During the session, he said since the record high of 244,000 completions pre-pandemic there has since been “a number of economic headwinds which will make life more difficult” to reach the 300,000 target of new homes. 

Gove said the target is still in place “but there are a number of factors that are going to make it and have made it more difficult”.

Gove highlighted the country’s “significant housing challenges” such as a historic lack of supply compared to the level of population growth. 

While Gove said the Treasury has confirmed the plans will be funded, he couldn’t confirm how the plans would be funded.

He also revealed that Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Eddie Hughes will reveal more on the renters and leasehold reforms later this week alongside the publication of today’s whitepaper. 

Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new measures to support more people to get onto the property ladder, including a comprehensive review of the mortgage market.

The Prime Minister set out the government’s commitment to reversing declining homeownership rates.

However, the new proposals were not welcomed by those within the industry with Shaw Financial Services founder Lewis Shaw describing the Prime Minister’s announcement as “the ultimate political meringue: sweet, lightweight and with very little substance”.