Shadow Housing Minister Mark Isherwood has criticised Welsh Labour for voting down every amendment he put forward today in Stage 2 proceedings on the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill.
Taking part in this morning’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee meeting to undertake Stage 2 proceedings on the Bill, Mr Isherwood proposed a series of amendments to protect both tenants and landlords, but Labour voted against all of them.
The Bill was first proposed in February 2020 with the aim of amending the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 to guarantee a minimum of 12 months’ before a landlord can obtain possession at the start of a new tenancy as long as the contract holder does not breach the terms of the contract.
Speaking previously on the Bill, Mr Isherwood has stressed that “given the increasing dependency of people on the private-rented sector for housing, a fine balance must be struck to protect both parties in these arrangements”. The amendments he put forward were to ensure that this would happen.
Speaking during the meeting, he said:
“The Bill’s Explanatory Memorandum states that ‘’the overarching aim of the Bill is to improve security of tenure for those who rent their home in Wales’’. However, responses to the Welsh Government’s consultation were mixed. Although, 70% of contract-holders in the Private Rented Sector/PRS who responded were supportive of the main proposal to extend the notice period for section 173 evictions to six months, and 78% were supportive of the proposal to prevent an eviction notice from being served within the first six months of a new occupation contract, 94% of private landlords who responded were against the former and 92% of letting agents were against the latter. This is a serious matter with potentially major consequences for both Landlords and Tenants.
“As the National Residential Landlord Association/NRLA stated in written evidence to Committee, ‘landlords do not go to court without good reason and prefer to keep good tenants in their homes’.
“We know that there are some bad landlords out there, but we also know that the overwhelming majority of private landlords are committed to doing the right thing.”
He added:
“In light of the increasing dependency of people on the private-rented sector for housing, the Welsh Government should help Private Landlords to maintain a good number of quality rental properties. Many of these landlords have already faced several additional months without rent because of the restrictions placed upon them during this pandemic, even though the tenancy had failed before the crisis began.
“There is a fine balance that must be struck to protect both parties in these arrangements. Tenants of course need the security of a good home and a responsible landlord, but landlords need responsible tenants who pay their rent when they can. The majority of landlords are individuals who let out one or two properties. Many of these rely on that income for their day to day living expenses or to provide pensions. To drive decent landlords out of the sector and reduce the housing stock available for rent would be detrimental to tenants in the long run.
“As ARLA Propertymark, the professional and regulatory body for Letting Agents, states, ‘letting property will become less viable for landlords under the Bill’s proposals… where there is no straightforward means to regain the property quickly when things go wrong’.
“They note, in consequence, that there will be less privately rented homes, ultimately leaving tenants with less choice of where to live, increasing rents and forcing landlords to become more risk averse and only choose to house the lowest risk tenants.
Speaking after the meeting, he said:
“It is deeply disappointing that Labour chose to vote down every single amendment I put forward this morning. By not agreeing to any of my amendments, the Welsh Government runs the risk of driving good landlords out of the housing sector, which is something we can ill afford when Wales is in the midst of a housing crisis.”