"Limiting rent in advance, combined with frozen housing benefit rates and not enough rental housing will make it all but impossible for those with poor or no credit histories in the UK to prove their ability to sustain tenancies"
Held today, this stage of the Bill will give MPs both an opportunity to debate any issues and consider amendments to the planned legislation which was put forward during the committee stage in November.
This will then be followed by debate on the Bill’s Third Reading, at which point it will have ended its journey through the Commons before the amended legislation moves to the House of Lords.
It is expected that the Lords will agree with the Commons.
The government says the bill will end Section 21, the so-called “no-fault” eviction, and give renters greater security and stability.
However, a proposed ban on paying rent in advance is one of several issues worrying many, with a coalition of groups representing landlords and letting agents warning that the ban on more than one month’s rent upfront could leave property owners open to risk should tenants have no other way of proving their ability to pay their rent on an ongoing basis.
Speaking ahead of today's reading and debate, the coalition which includes the National Residential Landlords Association, British Property Federation, Goodlord, Leaders Romans Group, and Propertymark said:
“We accept that Section 21 repossessions are ending, and support measures to ensure every rental property is of a decent quality. However, the Government’s proposed changes risk making access to rented housing harder for the very people we want to support.
“Limiting rent in advance, combined with frozen housing benefit rates and not enough rental housing will make it all but impossible for those with poor or no credit histories in the UK to prove their ability to sustain tenancies. This includes international students, workers from overseas and those employed on a short-term or variable basis with an income that fluctuates.
“Cutting off any assurance landlords might seek when renting to those who cannot easily prove their ability to afford a tenancy is neither practical nor responsible. Those who will suffer are those most likely to struggle to pass affordability checks.”
