Renters’ Rights Bill

Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab)]

My Lords, I warmly congratulate my noble friend on a powerful and very moving maiden speech.

My noble friend is known for being one of the “famous five”, a group of local Labour Party members who helped Tony Blair to be selected as a Labour candidate in 1983, as he indicated; the rest is history. My noble friend stepped into those very big shoes when he won the Sedgefield constituency, but he clearly showed that he could fill them. He was immensely proud, as he said, that he had been instrumental in bringing a Hitachi Rail factory to Newton Aycliffe.

The House will have realised how equally proud he is of his northern industrial heritage. A Sedgefield lad born and bred, he still lives in his constituency and he showed us the love that he has for it, for that heritage and for County Durham. However, he was too modest to say that he is working on a PhD on its culture and class issues. My noble friend’s background and solid life experiences will ensure that he makes a formidable contribution to this House. I know that he will be given a warm welcome.

I supported the previous Government when they sought to reform the private rented sector to the benefit of tenants, and I support my Government now in ensuring that reform happens. I was really disappointed that the Conservative Party has refused to support the legislation, when both pieces of legislation have the same aim. The Government have developed comprehensive protections for tenants and, at the same time, recognise the contribution made by responsible landlords who provide quality homes. It is clear that great care has been taken in the drafting of this Bill to avoid unintended consequences. Of course, there are ways in which the Bill can be improved, and we have been briefed by Citizens Advice and Shelter, as well as by several organisations representing different interests in the PRS and those involved in student housing, but all expressed general support for the Bill and its aims.

I believe this legislation has the power to transform the private rented sector into a place where tenants can access safe and decent properties at a fair price in the knowledge that, unless their landlord has good reason, it is a place they can call home for as long as they like. It also presents an opportunity for the vast majority of good landlords to establish longer-term tenancies and to show that the minority of bad ones have no place in the sector.

In the Bill, there are issues about the Courts & Tribunal Service, the removal of fixed-term tenancies and enforcement capacity—to name only some aspects. In the time we have, I will focus on a few: first, the impact on social landlords; secondly, the new ombudsman and the role of agents in helping to get that right; and, thirdly, student accommodation. If we are truly to solve the housing emergency, we need to deliver the complementary goals of increased supply and stronger regulation that will ensure that homes are built and maintained at a high standard. This Bill is key to the second half of that equation.

In the social housing sector, it is clear that much has been done by the Government already to allow social landlords to gain access to properties in need of essential redevelopment and improvement works. Regeneration can restore pride in communities and in places that have been left behind, so I am pleased that changes in this legislation will not impede housing-led regeneration and redevelopment.

I know there are concerns that some of the proposed changes to rent increases might impact on social landlords’ ability to increase rents in a harmonised way and affect their ability to deliver repairs and maintenance. There are also concerns about accessing the First-tier Tribunal. I hope the Minister will be willing to meet the National Housing Federation to discuss these.

I turn now to the very welcome proposal for a new ombudsman for the private rented sector, and I declare an interest as the chair of the Property Ombudsman scheme—TPO. It is right that all renters, whether in social or private rented housing, can access quick, fair, impartial and binding resolutions for complaints about their landlord. Can the Minister clarify whether a PRS ombudsman would apply to social landlords’ market rent tenancies?

In the private rented sector, TPO has been dealing with complaints against letting and managing agents for over 20 years. It dealt with 70,000 inquiries last year. That has taught us that tenants’ complaints often include not just the agents but the decisions and actions of their landlords as well. For example, where there is a cost to repair a property, landlords need to authorise payments and instruct agents to carry out the work. From a tenant’s point of view, the agent and the landlord are one and the same, so letting agents will have an important role in delivering the objectives of the legislation.

Whether the decision be that there is one combined ombudsman for the PRS and social housing sector or two separate ombudsmen, it needs to be clear that the purpose of the ombudsman is to provide clarity to tenants on where to go for redress. This will be a new concept for the 50% of PRS landlords who do not employ agents. Can the Minister provide some clarity on how they will be engaged with the process?

I welcome the proposed landlord database. Agents will be required to use the database to check whether the properties that landlords ask them to market are registered as well as that the landlord is registered with the new PRS ombudsman. Can the Minister please clarify whether the database is intended to be a one-stop shop that agents and tenants can use to check the property is registered and compliant and that the landlord is registered for redress?

It is a complex area, with the potential for tenants to find themselves lost and frustrated. A lettings dispute can involve on average five different unresolved issues. Will the Minister consider how the database could be developed to help tenants triage multiple issues to ensure that serious hazards are referred to local authorities, landlord issues are directed to the new ombudsman, agent issues are referred to the Property Ombudsman and rent issues are appointed to the First-tier Tribunal?

Joint investigations will be required and both ombudsmen will need to be able to refer cases to local authorities for enforcement, especially when homes fall short of the decent homes standard and Awaab’s law. Just as the Property Ombudsman now works with redress providers and trading standards, a joined-up approach will be required to ensure that the new system works for both tenants and landlords.

I raise a final issue: the impact of the Bill on student housing. The Government have said that they will exempt purpose-built student accommodation from the decision to end fixed-term tenancy agreements. They subsequently included off-street accommodation, where most students live in their second and third years. Unfortunately, as far as I understand it—although it was not clear from the Minister’s introduction—this will not apply to one- and two-bedroom apartments, yet these account for a third of all student housing. The university sector believes that this is likely to cause confusion and disruption for students and could lead to landlords exiting this market because of the uncertainties. If that is the case, will the Minister agree to look at this again?

This is a complex Bill that will have an interesting Committee stage, but I assure the Minister that the organisation that I chair—the Property Ombudsman—is ready to offer its substantial experience of the PRS to help ensure that the Bill works for tenants, landlords and agents.