Renters’ Rights Bill: RPC opinion (green-rated)
The Regulatory Policy Committee’s opinion on MHCLG's impact assessment for the Renters’ Rights Bill.
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The Bill makes provision for changing the law about rented homes, including abolishing fixed term assured tenancies and assured shorthold tenancies; imposing obligations on landlords and others in relation to rented homes and temporary and supported accommodation.
The IA states that the private rented sector has doubled in size since 2002, now representing 19% of all households. The IA also states that, while most landlords provide a good service, the sector as a whole currently provides the least affordable, poorest quality and most insecure housing of all tenures, leading to poor outcomes for tenants and costs to the state. Landlords face delays in evicting tenants who are at fault, and report frustration at being undercut by a minority who do not comply with regulations. The IA maintains that government intervention is needed because tenants lack the bargaining power to effect change, and primary legislation is required to reform landlord possession grounds and bolster enforcement against the worst landlords.
The RPC notes that, while the IA received a green RPC rating for the EANDCB figure and the assessment of impact on small and micro businesses, it was assessed as ‘weak’ for its rationale and options assessment, its assessment of wider impacts and for its overall cost-benefit analysis. The monitoring and evaluation plan was, however, assessed as ‘good’.