Renting Homes: The Final Report - Law Commission

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(2) “Consolidation” – bringing together different regulations into a more manageable form and restating the law more clearly. By improving transparency and understanding, it should reduce compliance costs; (3) “Rationalisation” – using “horizontal” legislation to replace a variety of sector specific “vertical” regulations. 1.13 Our Bill achieves all these objectives. It offers a fundamental restatement of the law that significantly improves transparency and understanding – particularly through the use of model contracts. 6 It rationalises sector-specific rules (for example current legal distinctions between local authorities and housing associations, and between the public sector and private sector) to eliminate unnecessary differences between them. This enables both the social and private sectors of the rental housing market to operate with greater freedom. Although our draft Bill does not include schedules of repeals, enactment will result in the repeal of a great deal of existing legislation. Increased comprehensibility 1.14 Central to our recommendations is an emphasis on what we call the consumer protection approach. In many contexts, Parliament passes legislation which implies protective terms into consumer contracts. We have taken this a step further. In the same way that Parliament has provided that employers must provide employees with a copy of their employment contract, so here we recommend that landlords should provide their occupiers with a written statement of their occupation contract. We want both landlords and occupiers to be able easily to find out their rights and obligations. The written statement expressly sets out those matters which Parliament wants to regulate. 1.15 The impact of our approach can be seen in the illustrative model contracts we have provided. In just over twenty pages we have shown that is it possible to set out a statement of rights and obligations that reflects the legal relationship – as regulated by Parliament – between landlord and occupier. These will be supplemented by guidance which explains those matters which it is hard to summarise in the contract or which do not readily fit into it. Many local authorities and registered social landlords already adopt this practice; and, for the private sector, there is already a good range of guidance booklets available from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. 7 Such publications can be adapted to the scheme we recommend. Thus the recommended scheme will ensure that all occupiers benefit from the provision of this information. 1.16 Many landlord-tenant disputes currently arise from ignorance. Our recommended scheme, with its emphasis on written model contracts, drafted in plain language, enables both landlords and occupiers to discover easily their respective rights and responsibilities. This will reduce the need to seek legal advice and facilitate the resolution of problems and disputes. All parties gain from this approach which leads to significantly reduced compliance costs. 6 Model contracts are considered below in Part 3. 7 For booklets for landlords and tenants renting privately, see the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website at http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1151894, and for booklets on social renting see http://www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1152108 (last visited 15 March 2006). 14
Flexibility 1.17 Finally, and most important, our recommendations bring much-needed flexibility to the operation of the rented sector. Existing distinctions between the different branches of the rental market – with different rules, but with similar objectives – are replaced by a single framework that allows far greater freedom to policy makers. 1.18 Our approach has a number of important outcomes. (1) Technical legal distinctions between those who rent from local authorities and those who rent from housing associations are removed. (2) Opportunities for local authorities and housing associations to enter new partnerships and other forms of agreement for the development and management of social housing are increased. (3) Community landlords are able to manage their housing assets more satisfactorily, while protecting the fundamental interests of those who live in social housing. This results in the better use of publicly funded investments. (4) Private sector landlords who wish to do so can let on exactly the same terms as social landlords. 8 (5) Private landlords are able to respond even more flexibly to different demands for rented accommodation at market rents. (6) Registered social landlords are able to provide housing at market, or submarket, rents in those areas where this is needed, to provide accommodation for key workers. (7) Occupiers of rented housing have clearer information about their rights and obligations, what they can expect from their landlords, and the circumstances in which contracts may be brought to an end. (8) For the first time, there is a legal structure designed to assist the most socially excluded to move from supported housing to housing independence, while giving the providers of such housing a practical legal framework to achieve this goal. (9) Generally, the provisions in the Bill increase the options available for ensuring that the rental sector plays its proper role in the creation and maintenance of sustainable communities. 1.19 These objectives were strongly endorsed by those who responded to our consultation. 8 This is subject to one exception, namely the right of secure contract-holders of community landlords to transfer the contract to another secure contract-holder of a community landlord. 15
Page 1 and 2: The Law Commission (LAW COM No 297)
Page 3 and 4: THE LAW COMMISSION RENTING HOMES: T
Page 5 and 6: Obtaining a contract by deception 3
Page 7 and 8: Fundamental provisions applying to
Page 9 and 10: Deception 93 Persons with “home r
Page 11 and 12: Limits 128 Access 129 Parties to pr
Page 13 and 14: THE LAW COMMISSION RENTING HOMES: T
Page 15: (4) such other aspects of Housing L
Page 19 and 20: 1.26 At present, many landlords do
Page 21 and 22: 1.37 There is also power to define
Page 23 and 24: 1.47 We have heard it suggested tha
Page 25 and 26: CHANGES IN THE LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT
Page 27 and 28: 1.70 The position would be substant
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Page 31 and 32: PART 2 THE SCHEME IN OUTLINE 2.1 In
Page 33 and 34: Fundamental terms 2.12 Fundamental
Page 35 and 36: 2.24 While consent must not be unre
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4.11 However, reaching this result
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Other provisions Death of the landl
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4.38 We noted in Renting Homes that
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TERMINATION BY THE LANDLORD 4.44 Ou
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(2) ground B applies where the prem
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Secure and periodic standard contra
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(3) the joint contract-holder occup
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4.102 At the end of the four week p
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The possession notice 5.6 The court
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Estate management grounds 5.14 Wher
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POWERS OF THE COURT Discretionary g
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(1) Where, wholly or partly relying
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PART 6 DEALING INTRODUCTION 6.1 We
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6.10 It is a fundamental term in ev
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Failure to comply with conditions 6
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6.24 The policy objective is to ens
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6.31 A copy of the notice must also
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6.42 At present any succession, and
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6.51 The Bill also contains provisi
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Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act
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The status of the occupation contra
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PART 7 SURVIVORSHIP, SUCCESSION AND
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7.10 Following a development in Sco
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(2) the basic residence condition (
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(1) If there is only one priority s
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THE ESTATE MANAGEMENT GROUND FOR PO
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8.5 Occupation contracts must conta
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Access 8.11 The landlord may enter
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PART 9 PROHIBITED CONDUCT AND ANTI-
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(3) A contract-holder may not use o
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9.15 The power of arrest may be exe
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Promotion to a secure contract 9.22
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10.6 Our approach 4 now is to provi
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10.16 Although our scheme provides
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10.28 Where the landlord is a judic
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11.5 Where a landlord reasonably ex
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11.12 The contract-holder has the r
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This means Part X of the Housing Ac
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A.10 We also recommend that a speci
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(c) chapters 1 and 1A of part 5 of
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Renting Homes: The Final Report - Law Commission

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