NRLA urges clarity as Renters’ Rights Act could overwhelm courts

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NRLA urges clarity as Renters’ Rights Act could overwhelm courts

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned court capacity could be overwhelmed by the Renters’ Rights Act.

In a letter to the Justice Select Committee, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle pointed out that landlords are having to wait weeks for court hearings to regain possession of their properties.

With three months to go until the Renters’ Rights Act comes into force, the association is urging the government to do more to prepare the courts.

Government has yet to define what it means by the courts being “ready

According to government statistics, it now takes an average of over 34 weeks between a landlord making a claim to the courts to possess a property under the grounds-based Section 8 process and a property being repossessed, the highest level in four years.

Mr Beadle points out that industry experts, including the Master of the Rolls, who oversees the operation of the civil courts, have warned that abolishing Section 21 “will undoubtedly create more contested possession cases than we have had hitherto” and expressed concern about how prepared the county courts are to handle an increase in cases.

In a letter to the Justice Select Committee, Mr Beadle warns that the government has not provided clarity on how the courts will be prepared for the digital possession process.

He said: “At Report Stage of the Renters’ Rights Act, the Housing Minister told the Commons that: “Court readiness is essential to the successful operation of the new system”. We agree with the Minister.

“However, the government has yet to define what it means by the courts being “ready”. Without that clarity, it is unclear what the planned digitisation of possession cases is intended to deliver or how success will be measured.

“More broadly, whilst the Master of the Rolls has indicated that the “first iteration” of the new digital platform to process possession cases is expected to be released in late Spring 2026, it remains unclear what this will look and feel like in practice for tenants and landlords, or the extent to which it will speed up the processing of legitimate possession claims.”

Government is sending contradictory messages

Mr Beadle says the government is sending contradictory messages over tribunal data, claiming it will intervene if the Tribunal becomes overwhelmed while admitting it lacks the basic information to make that assessment.

He explains: “In response to a recent written question from Lord Carter of Haslemere (HL10508), the Minister reaffirmed that the government would use the proposed safeguard in the Act “if the Tribunal appears at risk of being overwhelmed by a sharp increase in challenges” and that this would be subject to the affirmative procedure.

“However, in reply to a related written question (HL10509), the Justice Minister, Baroness Levitt, stated that HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold data on the average time for the First- tier Tribunal Property Chamber to consider, process and rule upon rent appeal cases, and that such data could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

“This creates an obvious tension. Ministers have said the government will intervene if the Tribunal becomes overwhelmed, which the Master of the Rolls has warned is very possible.

“However, the Ministry of Justice does not hold the basic data needed to assess the current caseload or to define what level of increase would constitute the Tribunal being ‘overwhelmed’. Without this information, it is difficult to see how the government can effectively determine when the new powers should be exercised.”

The NRLA is calling on the Justice Select Committee to question the government for more clarity on how the courts will be prepared for the new system.

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We are feeling SO trapped?

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We are feeling SO trapped?

We had planned to sell our 4 BTLs when we retired in 2015, but time seems to have slipped by, and we are still trapped with 3 of them. Two of them have been tenanted by the same people since 2006, and the third is currently vacant.

With all the nasty stuff coming down the line at private landlords, and as we are now in our mid-late 70s, we decided to grasp the nettle, and so, in the autumn of 2025, we put all 3 on the market with an agent who would list them on an auction site, hoping to sell them quickly to another investor.

None of them sold. We took the 2 that are tenanted off the market, leaving just the vacant one, where it has been ever since, sadly still with no serious interest. The interest-only mortgage ends in September, when it will either need to be repaid or we will need to find another deal.

Now we’re wondering whether we should re-let the vacant one and put the other 2 on the open market, sucking up the Early Redemption fees on their (newish) mortgages should they sell.

Our questions are:

• What is the last date we can issue a Section 21 before the Renters’ Rights Act comes in?
• What is the longest notice we could give our tenants at that time?

And should they still fail to sell within a reasonable time (since we will be covering both mortgages, full council tax x 2, vacant property insurance x 2 etc which will eat up our pension pots) would we be able to re-let them after issuing the Section 21s before the RRA comes in, or would we need to leave them empty for a year as by then the RRA would be in force?

Or … should we just stick with our good tenants (selling if/when they move out), keep our fingers crossed we can weather the legislation, the expense of getting all 3 up to an EPC C (not to mention deciphering Making Tax Difficult) and leave it to our kids to sort the mess out when we’re pushing up daisies???

Denise

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January house prices jump 2.8% as buyer confidence returns

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January house prices jump 2.8% as buyer confidence returns

The average asking price of newly listed homes jumped to £368,031 in January, marking a 2.8% rise from December and the biggest January increase ever recorded.

According to Rightmove, the £9,893 monthly increase is also the strongest rise seen in any month since June 2015.

National prices are now 0.5% above levels seen a year ago as confidence improves following last autumn’s Budget uncertainty.

Stock levels are at their highest since 2014, and a third of homes have already reduced their asking prices, signalling that competition remains intense.

Listing at higher prices

Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: “It’s an encouraging start to the year to see sellers confident enough to list their homes at higher prices after several months of muted price growth last year, coinciding with more potential buyers returning to market.

“However, asking prices are only back to where they were in the summer of 2025 before the Budget rumours began surfacing, which unsettled the market and dented confidence.

“This new year, seller confidence is a good sign.”

She added: “There’s a 12-year high number of homes for sale for this time of year, so buyers have lots of choice, and a third of properties that were already on the market for sale have had a price reduction.”

Buyers return

The price rebound reflects a return of movers to the market with buyer enquiries climbing 57% in the two weeks after Christmas compared with the fortnight before.

New listings rose by 81% and the traditional Boxing Day bounce was particularly strong.

Rightmove says its platform saw its busiest ever day for traffic.

While recent demand is lower than the stamp-duty-driven rush seen at the start of 2025, it broadly matches levels recorded in 2024.

Most areas saw rises

Regional trends remain mixed with most areas recording price growth in January.

However, the East Midlands and Scotland moved against the wider pattern with month-on-month declines.

Rightmove’s mortgage tracker shows the average two-year fixed rate has fallen to 4.29%, down from 5.03% a year earlier.

That’s the lowest level since before the September 2022 mini-Budget.

The cheapest two-year deals for borrowers with larger deposits now start from 3.47%.

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