Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Marlesford Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Marlesford (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest, as in the register, as a Suffolk farmer with rented residential properties. I have been running our rural business for over 50 years. I have also been particularly concerned to protect and, where possible, enhance the beauty of rural England. I served three terms as a countryside commissioner for England and Wales, five years as chair of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and 20 years as president of the Suffolk Preservation Society. I therefore look at this Bill mainly through rural eyes.

I am afraid that I see this Bill as fundamentally flawed. Allow me to explain. Last year, I welcomed the new Government and wished them well, in the national interest. Since then, they have got into choppy waters, mainly by pursuing policies that were internally contradictory to their main objectives, particularly economic growth. We are seeing this again with this Bill. The drafting suggests a dislike, or at least a distrust, of the private rented sector. Yet this sector accounts for some 18% of the whole rented sector.

To increase the number of houses is one of the Government’s objectives. We all recognise that there are some very bad, even evil, landlords. I fully support all parts of the Bill dealing with this, including the abolition of Section 21. However, the central point in the Bill is the abolition of the assured shorthold tenancy. Of course, Mr Gove’s Renters (Reform) Bill also did this. This policy and the deporting of migrants to Rwanda were two of the most stupid things that the last Government did.

From the 1960s right the way through to the 1980s, rural housing was subject to severe constraints on both tenancies and rents. Rents set by the rent officer were extremely low, often providing zero return on capital and cash flow that was not enough even to keep the houses properly maintained. As mechanisation of farming continued, more and more houses became available to farmers. The big leap forward came in 1988 with the introduction of the assured shorthold tenancy. John MacGregor was the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Nick Ridley was at Environment—two fine Tory Ministers. The AST gave security of tenure through mutual agreement to both tenant and landlord for an initial period of six, 12 or 24 months, with annual rent reviews and the option of renewal on a rolling two-monthly basis. The AST has worked very well for 36 years. It seems batty to abolish it now; surely this is a case of “If it works, don’t fix it”.

The Conservatives changed the lease term to six months, in Committee in the Commons. This Government are jealous of that and have brought it back to just two months, virtually a non-term. As the courts in England are overwhelmed, it is extremely difficult to see how this can be policed. I very much took the point made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, about how the judicial review of these very high penalties of up to £40,000 can be done. It is not really for local authorities to impose such things. Sums of that size are a judicial matter. The proposed tribunals to adjudicate on rents will be as restrictive to, and much more costly than, the rent officer. Traditionally, the private rented sector has used the RPI rather than the CPI for annual rent reviews. Meanwhile the Unite union is agitating for the CPI, as others have mentioned today, and wage increase rents if they are lower.

Finally, I urge the Government to recognise that the private rented sector in housing is part of the capitalist system. Landlords are a form of entrepreneur. While their profession must certainly be monitored and called to account, with appropriate penalties for abuse, it must be allowed to attract investment. The rents at the moment are barely adequate to provide a return on capital, low as it may be. There are few properties which produce a taxable rent of 3%. Most of them are 2% or less.

I recognise that there are those, some of them in the Government, who dislike private landlords. However, I suspect that even the Chancellor would recognise that there are no economic resources available to replace the system. The Government have housing targets to reach. These are imperilled by the present Bill. Let us hope that the experience and expertise of your Lordships’ House will allow it to be improved.