New legislation to restrict so-called revenge evictions would be a charter for anti-social tenants. That’s the warning from the Residential Landlords’ Association (RLA), as MPs discuss measures which could make it much more difficult for landlords to deal with nuisance tenants and those who don’t pay their rent.

The Tenancies (Reform) Bill introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather claims to target retaliatory evictions, where landlords evict their tenants when they complain about the condition of their homes.

But the RLA, which represents private landlords, says not only is there no evidence that the vast majority of landlords would ever evict their tenants without good reason, but that the legislation would actually undermine confidence in the private rented sector at the time when it is needed most.

RLA chairman Alan Ward said: “This proposal would cause serious damage to a flourishing sector which is providing much-needed homes for rent. The overwhelming majority of landlords do not and will not evict tenants for no reason. But landlords need to be able to deal with nightmare tenants who cause misery in their communities and those who just won’t pay their rent. Removing their freedom to do so would be a charter for anti-social tenants.”

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]-->

strong>New bill would be a ‘charter for anti-social tenants’ warns RLA

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style>