I have rented flats for the vast majority of the last 15 years, from tiny rooms in a shared space to homes with my partner.
My experience with landlords has been as varied as the flats I’ve rented, some genuinely helpful and supportive when needed and others that were almost wilfully ignorant of the state of the places they rented.
That’s why the new Renters’ Rights Act, passed by the Labour government last month, is so important to us here in Brighton and Hove.
We feel the impact of the rental market more than most in the country. Nearly 36 per cent of us are privately renting in our city.
I’ve personally been on the brunt of experiences with landlords in our city. My first flat in the city ended when my landlord tried to increase my rent by £300. No warning, no reason, just a new price on the same four walls.
In another flat, the mould was so bad it made us ill. I had to throw away so many items of clothing because they were covered in mould. The dampness was so bad.
The landlord took months even to get it looked at, and the problem still wasn’t finished when we left 14 months later. They still tried to take £500 from our deposit for “cleaning”.
That is the reality for many renters today. It can be unstable, expensive and often unsafe. And that is why the Renters’ Rights Act matters so much, because it starts to shift the balance of power back towards people like us.
For years, the system has treated renters as temporary guests in their own homes. You could be evicted with two months’ notice under section 21 even if you had paid your rent on time and looked after the property.
That “no fault” clause has been quietly used by landlords who wanted to cash in, redecorate or simply did not want to deal with a complaint about repairs. It has also been the leading cause of homelessness in this country.
The new law bans no-fault evictions, giving renters genuine security. It means that if you are a good tenant, you can stay, and your landlord must have a valid reason to end your tenancy, such as selling the property or serious arrears.
It sounds simple, but for people who have been forced to move every year through no fault of their own, it changes everything.
Then there is the issue of rent. In a city like ours, where the market is so overheated that even modest flats are unaffordable, unacceptable rent hikes have become the norm. My own £300 rise was not unusual.
Under the new Act, landlords will only be able to raise rent once a year, and those rises will have to be fair and open to challenge through a tribunal.
It is not a rent cap, but it stops the worst of these rises from happening.
The law also makes all tenancies periodic, meaning they roll month to month. This gives renters more flexibility and stops landlords from trapping tenants in short fixed-term contracts designed to keep them insecure.
This would’ve been a godsend to me, stuck in that damp flat a few years ago, but I’d been made to sign a 12-month tenancy.
It also bans discrimination against tenants with children, pets or those receiving benefits. If you can afford the rent, you should not be refused a home because of who you are or how you pay.
And finally, it deals with something I have experienced first-hand: unsafe living conditions. The Act extends the “decent homes standard” to private rentals.
It means that landlords now have a legal duty to keep homes free from serious hazards like damp and mould. It takes what already applies to social housing and says private renters deserve the same basic safety and dignity.
But I am not naive. Legislation only changes things if it is enforced. That is the next challenge, and your Labour administration in Brighton and Hove is determined to rise to that challenge.
Still, this is progress. For the first time in a long time, Westminster has listened to renters. The Renters’ Rights Act does not solve everything but it gives people a fighting chance to stay in their homes, challenge unfair treatment and live somewhere healthy.
David McGregor is a Labour councillor and chairs the Licensing Committee on Brighton and Hove City Council.
This act has dramatically reduced supply of properties in th City. A letting agent said now they don’t even advertise properties that come up as if they do within 2 hours they are swamped with 150 people contacting them and after 2 hours the property has been let and the people enquiring who weren’t allow to view get abusive. They now only let them to people they know meaning most people won’t get a look in. Let alone the groups this act is meant to help. Landlords already have and will be able to ramp up rents to a much higher extent as reduced supply means higher demand. This has already happened if you see how much rents have risen. This is what has happened in Scotland. Landlords will be able to also house whichever tenants they want. Leases prohibit pets which means flats will be out of bounds to most tenants and landlords do not need to tell people they are refusing them because they are on universal credit or have kids but in effect the second they see their bank statement they will know and the letting agent will not be silly enough to refer anyone like this. In fact anyone sub-prime will now find it impossible to rent. Why? Landlords will want the safest bet so they won’t take people in the past they could take a risk on and evict quickly. Anyone not on dual working income, or anyone with a weak credit history or who doesn’t work in a high salary secure professional will need to think about relocating long term. This means the council and the alarm clock workers who pay tax will now need to pick up the tab for far more emergency housing. As for higher standards Brighton Council tend to have the worst maintained properties. A decorator I know also said he has lost work as historically every time a tenant left large landlords used to paint and re-carpet their flats in Brighton as a matter of routine. Now they don’t bother as people will be desperate to take anywhere.
Oh Janet, big flaw in your reasoning here:
The Renters’ Rights Act isn’t actually in force yet.
Except landlords have been warned about it for the last year and guess what they are not stupid and they have planned for it. There is an assumption that anyone with money is dum in the Labour Party. They are not. People with buy to let properties make assumptions based on legislation that is coming in and this is why many have sold up and the rest have ramped up their rental prices.
Janet, you’re now shifting the goalposts.
What you’re really describing is anticipatory behaviour in the market, which definitely happens, but it doesn’t operate in quite the dramatic way you suggest. The academic evidence shows a more mixed reactions, but most do nothing.
Brighton’s supply crunch predates all this by several years. We’ve had record low turnover, extremely high demand, and chronic under-delivery of new homes long before, Letting agents being “swamped within two hours” has been the Brighton norm since roughly 2019.
You’re also forecasting a world where landlords supposedly know everyone’s credit risk yet simultaneously don’t advertise and only rent to people they already know. That’s a fable of perfect information and prejudice. Reality is nothing like that.
If anything, the more interesting question is does the Act interact with Brighton’s already overheated ecology once it does come into force. That’s a debate worth having with actual data.
The interesting part of this article mentions clothes being covered in mould. Unless water was actually dripping onto the (presumably stored), clothes, the origin of the dampness was condensation. In the vast majority of cases, condensation and associated mould growth are factors of the way in which the internal environment of the property is managed. Unless there are no extract fans or the windows are jammed shut, the responsibility for this lies squarely with the occupier. No amount of legislation can change this.
It is important that rented properties have adequate ventilation and heating but the manner in which these are implemented still lies with the tenant. Both parties must take some responsibility in respect of this.
Absolutely, so maybe some education needs to be provided as well? Bit more preventative that way, right?
The information is all out there and accessible. I fear that people would prefer to pass the buck rather than recognising their own responsibilities as is often the way these days. It seems surprising that a local councillor appears to have taken this approach.
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. In my experience, you really have to put stuff in front and centre for people to take notice. It is rare for people to seek out information. We could all do with being more personally responsible