We blogged recently about the ‘disappointing’ awards made in RRO cases, especially since Vadamalayan v Stewart [2020] UKUT 0183.
We had a look this morning through the recent crop of RRO awards listed and are pleased to report a marked change in approach.
See:
https://www.gov.uk/residential-property-tribunal-decisions
(for RROs click the checkbox Housing Act 2004 and Housing and Planning Act 2016 to get these).
Here’s a quick summary below (or download here) where we copy the current listing of RRO cases with an extract of the key award paragraph from the decision. Pretty much all working on 100% of the rent or near as and doffing their caps to Vadamalayan with some mentioning the confirmation ruling in Chan. One even admits that “We therefore have no real discretion…”. Seems the penny is dropping at last.
I’m glad to read here that there has been “a marked change in approach” and that judgements are “getting to 100%”. This is undoubtedly good news for tenants. However, after the award has been given to the tenants and the dust has settled, what’s the incentive for the landlord to be a good boy and treat his tenants with respect and decency? Isn’t it the case that once a landlord is licensed, he can do pretty much anything he wants? What redress do tenants who are renting a licensed property have to get back at an exploitative landlord? Of course, living in a licensed property ensures greater safety and better quality living conditions, but what about the landlord’s attitude? This is something that is very hard to change because we’re talking about personality, ie, once a rogue landlord, always a rogue landlord. I won my case against my nasty landlord with the help of Guy and his team, but that landlord is up to his old tricks again. He is packing 8 people into a small house during a pandemic and not accepting housing benefit tenants because his “insurance policy doesn’t allow it”. This is obviously illegal, but he continues to break the law because there’s no incentive not to. What we need are stronger laws against landlords so that they can be convicted at anytime for their crimes against their tenants. Generation Rent have been leading a campaign to set up a National Landlord Register to ensure that landlords are “fit” to run a property and deal fairly with tenants, but this has struggled to get the required 10,000 signatures to get itself off the ground. Alternatively we could could have something like Tripadvisor, but for rental properties. Tenants could just leave feedback regarding their experiences at a certain property so that others in the community can make informed decisions about whether to rent or not. Finally, and most importantly, there must be an acknowledgement by the Establishment and its representatives that there is a problem in the private rental sector and that tenants are being shafted big time. “Getting to 100%” is music to my ears, but we still have a long way to go until tenants reach the Promised Land.