Artículo 1: El proyecto de ley de reforma del alquiler: El fin de los desahucios ‘sin culpa’ de la sección 21 y un nuevo motivo para la posesión

En Government has confirmed a commitment to abolishing the “no fault” section 21 notice procedure through the Renters Reform Bill.

Procedimiento actual para recuperar la posesión

At the moment, there are various ways in which a landlord can obtain possession of their propiedad which has been rented to tenants under assured shorthold tenancies through the existing Section 8 and Section 21 notice procedures under the Housing Act 1988. Where a landlord wants to serve a section 8 notice they must demonstrate that one of the grounds for possession applies.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 enables private landlords to repossess their properties from assured shorthold tenants (ASTs) at the end of the fixed term without having to establish fault on the part of the tenant (subject to private landlords having complied with the requirements for serving a section 21 notice). Hence it is sometimes referred to as the ‘no-fault’ ground for eviction.

Abolición de desahucios de la sección 21

The Government have now confirmed that, through the Renters Reform Bill, section 21 notices will be abolished. This may present a problem to private landlords who are looking to sell their property and need vacant possession in order to do so. If, for instance, the tenant in situ has not committed any breaches of the tenancy agreement / the landlord cannot satisfy any of the grounds for possession under section 8, without the section 21 procedure at their disposal, on the face of it, a landlord may face difficulties obtaining vacant possession of a property if there are no grounds for possession under Section 8. 

Nuevo motivo obligatorio para recuperar la posesión para los propietarios que pretendan vender su vivienda

Sin embargo, el Gobierno ha anunciado que se introducirá un nuevo motivo de posesión en el procedimiento del artículo 8, lo que permitirá a los propietarios desahuciar a sus inquilinos si tienen intención de vender la vivienda.

El Gobierno ha confirmado que el nuevo motivo de la sección 8 será un motivo ‘obligatorio’, lo que significa que si un juez está convencido de que se da el motivo, se debe conceder la posesión.

However, even with the addition of this new ground, the abolition of the section 21 procedure (and presumably, the accelerated possession procedure) could result in significant delays for landlords obtaining possession of their property.  

There is also a possibility that the Government will introduce a requirement that all section 8 notices become subject to the requirement that the deposit must have been protected in a Government authorised scheme and the prescribed information served. At this stage, it is also not yet clear whether the other requirements which apply to the service of a section 21 possession procedure (EPC, Gas Safety Certificate and How to Rent Guide) will also be imposed on the section 8 possession procedure. 

Pruebas necesarias para demostrar la intención de vender

As yet, it is unclear what evidence will be required on the part of landlords to prove that they are intending to sell the Property. The Renters Reform Bill will elaborate in due course; however it is unclear whether simply listing the Property for sale will be enough to satisfy this ground. The problem with this is that seemingly, once having been granted vacant possession a Landlord could simply take the Property off the market and grant a new tenancy.

La respuesta del Gobierno a la consulta sobre el procedimiento del artículo 21 deja claro, sin embargo, que el plazo de preaviso para este nuevo motivo sería de dos meses, y que el preaviso no podría darse en los primeros 6 meses de un nuevo arrendamiento. En la respuesta también se afirma que, como medida de protección, el Gobierno “prevent the original landlord marketing and reletting the Property for 3 months following the use of this ground.”

El Libro Blanco también explica que los propietarios que busquen lagunas jurídicas “no se tolerará” y el Gobierno están estudiando la necesidad de “new or strengthened penalties to apoyo existing measures, including the power for councils to issue Civil Penalties Notices for offences related to the new tenancy system. We will also explore how to help local councils tackling illegal evictions.”

Conclusión

It seems clear that the future of evictions is set to change quite considerably. It would seem that along with abolishing the section 21 notice, so too will the accelerated possession procedure be scrapped. For private landlords with relatively straightforward possession claims, this may cause delays in obtaining possession of their properties.

This is not the only change proposed by the Renters Reform Bill. It also proposes to create a register of landlords, introduce a private rented ombudsman to deal with landlord and tenant disputes, to make it illegal for landlords and agents to refuse applications for tenancies from prospective tenants on the basis that they are in receipt of benefits and will grant further powers to local authorities to protect and enforce renters’ rights.

RFB will publish further articles on these proposed changes over the coming months. The Government has indicated that the Renters Reform Bill will be voted on before May 2023 and it is vital that landlords, agents, and tenants are prepared for its introduction into law to ensure a smooth transition into the new rental market.

Información adicional

• Noticias Autor:David Burns | Marissa Lawrence