Landlords – lucky escape for the time being It has just been announced that the Renters Reform Bill will not pass into law during this Parliament. All Landlords can now breathe a sigh of relief that this ill thought out, rushed piece of legislation has been effectively binned. If all the polls are to be believed we will have a new Government in July. Labour do have plans for the private rented sector, however it will take some considerable time for a new Government to implement any such legislation. No doubt, a re-branded bill is likely to have some similar key points, however the most important thing is to have the court system streamlined and able to cope with the volume of potential cases that the proposed changes will inevitably create. The Renters Rights Bill, though fundamentally flawed, did have a couple of positive points in terms of landlords rights for possession on certain grounds. However, without the necessary reform to the court system this would simply disadvantage all landlords. We can only hope that the next government, if they do implement new legislation, prepare the framework correctly and ‘put the horse before the cart’.