Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Head of Housing and Health providing information in relation to the Renters Rights Bill (formerly Renters Reform Bill) which has now been through all the parliamentary stages required and received Royal Assent on 27^th October 2025.

The Group had before it, and NOTED, a report * from the Head of Housing and Health providing information in relation to the Renters Rights Bill (formerly Renters Reform Bill) which had now been through all the parliamentary stages required and received Royal Assent on 27^th October 2025.

The following was highlighted within the report:

·       This was a significant piece of legislation brought in at the end of October 2025 and introduced a ‘once in a generation’ change in the rights of tenants.
It set out what landlords could do and what landlords could not do in the private sector.

·       Over time the legislation would bring similar provisions to private landlords which existed for social landlords.

·       The key changes were set out in Section 2 of the report.

·       The Council’s Public Health Service would have to manage this regulatory change, providing support and guidance to tenants. They would have to enforce a number of provisions for landlords who weren’t compliant. The volume of regulatory work was not yet known but was anticipated to be significant. Whilst the Council knew the conditions of all of its own stock, little if anything was known about the condition of private sector stock. The Government would be providing some funding but hadn’t told Council’s how much yet.

·       The legislation would be brought in in three phases. The first phase would take effect from May 2026. From this date there would be an abolition of ‘no fault eviction’. Fixed term tenancies would end and be replaced by rolling periodic tenancies giving tenants more protection. The grounds for landlords to gain possession of a property were also changing. There would be clearer rules around anti-social behaviour and persistent arrears. That would be partly to protect the landlord. There would be situations where it was perfectly legitimate for the landlord to gain possession, but they were made much clearer in the new Act. Landlords would only be able to increase rent once a year and two months notice would need to be given beforehand. There would be a ban on rental bidding. Landlords would also have to reasonably consider pet requests. There would be strengthened enforcement powers and expanded civil penalties.

·       Phase 2 would come into force from late 2026 onwards and that would require a national database of landlords (where it would be compulsory for landlords to register) and the introduction of a new private rented sector landlord Ombudsman.

·       Phase 3 was very much about long term measures and providing better quality housing in line with the ‘Decent Home Standards’ and energy efficiency considerations.

·       The Private Sector Housing team knew roughly how many private sector properties did not meet the ‘Decent Home Standard’ (through a modelling process) but they did not know where they were located.

Consideration was given to:

·       It was estimated that there were over 6.5k private sector landlords in Mid Devon but the Private Sector Housing team only communicated with approximately 200 of them. The team consisted of 3 full time  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38