Renting Homes: The Final Report - Law Commission

(1) accommodation for the homeless; 39 and
(2) supported accommodation. 40
2.62 While this may seem like a long list of exceptions, the total number of contracts
affected by them is modest compared with the total number of occupation
contracts that come within the scope of the scheme.
OTHER MATTERS
2.63 A number of matters have not been considered as part of our reform of the law
on rented homes but are nevertheless very closely related to it. These include
housing benefit and rent regulation.
Housing benefit
2.64 Many consultees argued that housing law cannot be reformed without addressing
housing benefit. We accept that housing benefit is a key factor in sustaining many
landlord-tenant relationships. We also know that failings in administration
frequently trigger claims for possession, which are not really about seeking
possession but are about getting housing benefit problems sorted out. 41 But
these issues are outside the scope of this project. The Government is currently
undertaking a major review of housing benefit. 42
Rent regulation
2.65 A number of consultees criticised the Commission for not revisiting the law
relating to rent control and regulation. This was never envisaged as part of our
remit. The present Government accepted that the policy of market rents in the
private rented sector is not to be disturbed. It may be noted, however, that an
important consequence of the ability of landlords to charge market rents for their
lettings is that it is reasonable to expect landlords to adhere to their contractual
obligations. 43
39 Sch 1 paras 11 and 12.
40 Sch 1 paras 13 and 14.
41 The Civil Justice Council is currently developing a housing possession protocol which, if
approved, should go a long way to ensure that cases that are really only about housing
benefit do not get to court.
42 See A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work (2006) Cm 6730, ch 6 ("A
radical new approach to Housing Benefit").
43 We revisit these issues in our Ensuring Responsible Renting project.
40