BIG NEWS IN THE KINGS SPEECH! For landlords who were naturally very concerned about the Renters Reform Bill there was a brief sigh of relief when the last government announced the ‘snap’ election which meant that all ministers were released back to their constituencies and therefore no further bills would become acts under that parliament. Thankfully, the Renters Reform Bill was not rushed through before parliament dissolved. Today in the King’s speech there was a clear announcement that the Renters Reform Bill is back; “Legislation will be introduced to give greater rights and protections to people renting their homes, including ending no fault evictions” . How quickly this bill will go through parliament is currently unknown. However, it very likely to be much quicker than the last governments efforts, the Renters Reform Bill was first announced formally in Her Majesty the Queens speech on 19th December 2019. Inevitably, the new government will want to stamp their own mark on this bill, hence it is likely to take some time to go through. However, the basic principles of still being able to obtain possession on certain grounds (sale of property, landlord needing to move back in, arrears, anti-social / illegal behaviour) must still apply in order to avoid landlords leaving the rental market in droves. It has been voiced that Awaab’s Law (currently only applicable to social housing) will be introduced to the private sector. Boiled down, this will place greater responsibility on landlords to combat damp and mould in rented properties. We will provide more information as soon as it is announced, however please don’t hesitate to contact our Lettings department for any advice on how best to prepare and ‘future-proof’ your rental property investment.