Key Facts

• 90% of CLA members provide some form of private rented housing.
• 23% of respondents' properties are let out at less than 80% of market rent.
• There was a 16.5% reduction in the number of privately rented homes in rural areas between 2018 and 2021.
• 44% of rural landlords plan to sell some of their properties over the next two years.
• The Renters (Reform) Bill is being discussed in a Public Bill Committee session.
• Witnesses are providing evidence related to the Bill's implications on various sectors including agriculture, rural business, and housing legislation.
• The Bill’s intent is to give security to occupiers.
• A minimum term will affect planning for build-to-rent and financing requirements.
• Up to 10% of tenants in London want short-term tenancies.
• Westminster City Council insists on a minimum term for rental property.
• Grainger proposes a six-month minimum term with two months' notice.
• Antisocial behaviour can take over 15 months to address through courts.
• The Government are consulting on a registration scheme for party flats and Airbnbs.
• Richard Miller from the Law Society introduces himself as head of justice at the Law Society.
• Nimrod Ben-Cnaan, head of policy and profile at the Law Centres Network, introduces his organisation which represents law centres across the UK and delivers a significant portion of duty desks for legal aid scheme possession proceedings.
• HM Courts and Tribunals Service's private family law digitisation project was announced in August 2020.
• The original project completion date was December 2022, but it remains ongoing more than three years later.
• Significant backlogs within the courts are causing issues such as possession orders expiring due to delayed proceedings.
• 42% of the population lacks access to a legally aided housing provider in their local authority area.
• The last time remuneration rates for legal aid were increased in cash terms was in the 1990s.
• Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 reduced the scope of legal aid services.
• Tenants often do not show up in court due to lack of advice.
• It takes an average of 16 weeks to get a bailiff’s warrant after a possession order is secured at Croydon county court.
• The Law Society has concerns about the broadening of the definition of antisocial behaviour from 'likely to cause' to 'capable of causing'.
• Jacky Peacock is the head of campaigns for Advice for Renters.
• The organisation receives independent grants from charitable trusts to provide legal aid services.
• A new database and portal are being set up as part of the Renters (Reform) Bill.
• Jen Berezai is the co-founder of AdvoCATS, a non-profit organisation working on pet-related issues in rented properties.
• The organisation ran the “Heads for Tails!” campaign to change the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• Approximately 20% of UK housing stock is flats, which may be affected by head leases prohibiting pets.
• The session addresses issues related to pet damage insurance and landlord policies towards tenants with pets.
• No further questions are asked by Members after Jen Berezai's responses.
• The session is ordered to be adjourned until later in the day.