During the July 4 election campaign, the Labor Party openly proclaimed its intention to change the legislation on real estate rentals by siding with tenants. The possibility of an increase in capital gains tax on sales of secondary housing was also raised.
Initially, the rent increase requested from Julie’s family amounts to a few percent. She accepts it. “Then, every week, the real estate agent approached us with a new figure, she says. To finally tell us that he wanted 80% more than the current rent. We obviously cannot pay such a sum. We had to leave. And since all the landlords in the neighborhood are playing this little game at the moment, we ended up in a much smaller apartment.” In September, 18% of apartments put up for sale were previously rented, a record since this statistic began in 2010 – even if the tax rate for secondary housing was ultimately not changed during the budget. the end of October In addition to meaning that many tenants lost their homes, this movement further reduced the supply available for rental.
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A few weeks before Julie’s move, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner presented her draft law on tenants’ rights on October 11. “We need to reform rental and rebalance the relationship between tenant and owner.”she indicated. “This bill goes in this direction and tenants can be assured that the government will protect them.”
Almighty owners
It must be said that in England, the owner has all the rights, the tenant… the right to pay. And again, when he is not thrown out. Thus, most rental contracts, often for a renewable period of one year, have a clause allowing the rent to increase after six months. A clause very often activated. Section 21 allows the landlord to evict his tenant whenever he wants without any justification. Concretely, tenants who are a little careful, that is to say daring to question the increase in rent or reporting problems in their apartment, are thanked quickly. In a weak position, many tenants prefer never to contact their landlord in the event of a problem. Finally, before signing the contract, real estate agents often suggest that candidates offer a higher rent than that requested in order to have a better chance of obtaining it. Difficult advice to refuse knowing that seventeen households are competing in London for each home placed on the market, according to a recent survey by the property listings site Rightmove. Many landlords also reject applicants on welfare, with children or pets.
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With her bill, Angela Rayner took up many ideas put forward by the conservatives in 2022, but blocked following lobbying by wealthy landlords, and expanded on them: ban on offering a rent higher than that requested, end of evictions without justification , prohibition of discriminating against candidates and increasing the rent more than once a year, and only following the market level, and obligation to maintain housing in a healthy state. Julie will not return to her beloved home once the project becomes law, probably next summer, but she comforts herself by telling herself that she will be “better protected in the future”.
