This is the last update of the year as we head into the festive season – and it’s jam-packed. There were a huge amount of updates from the government in November, including the King’s Speech, the Autumn Budget, and the Renters (Reform) Bill continuing to make its way through parliament.
Updates from the King’s speech
Charles III made his first speech as King to open parliament in early November. He stated his commitment to passing the Renters (Reform) Bill and to abolish section 21. There was also a commitment to introduce a bill to make it easier for homeowners to buy the leasehold of a property, and further ongoing commitments to focus on ensuring the country reaches Net Zero emissions.
Decent Homes Standard to be applied to private rented sector
The Renters (Reform) Bill is going through the committee stage in parliament, where officials debate the bill on a line-by-line basis. It appears that one of the biggest outcomes so far will be to introduce a Decent Homes Standard to the sector for the first time.
Landlords will have to ensure that a property meets certain standards, such as “being in a reasonable state of repair”, “having reasonably modern facilities and services” and “providing a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.”
Autumn Statement marks changes to LHA and some tax cuts
A few weeks after the King’s Speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer presented government spending for 2023. This included:
- Changes to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) – which will now cover at least 30% of local market rents.
- Tax cuts that may impact some self-employed landlords. Class 2 national insurance has been abolished, and class 4 national insurance has been reduced from 9% to 8%.
- More opportunities to help homebuilders convert a house to two flats, as long as the “exterior remains unaffected”.
New material information rules
Trading Standards has issued further guidance to improve material information in property listings. As well as the need to always list critical information about a property (the rent, the deposit, and council tax rates), other information – such as number of rooms or whether the property is a flood risk – should be available to prospective tenants no more than “one or two clicks away.”
The Revive Property Sales and Lettings Limited team