Renters’ Rights Bill – Supported Housing Providers focus: new grounds for possession

Matthew Watts and Sarah Orchard briefly explore the changes being proposed in the Renters’ Rights Bill and consider some of the impacts on the supported housing sector, where flexibility in management of housing stock is often key.

As our previous article on the Renters’ Rights Bill set out, one of the key provisions of the Bill is to end fixed term assured tenancies and abolish section 21 evictions in both the private and social rented sectors. The Bill looks to make all assured tenancies periodic tenancies with a term of no longer than one month.

What is changing for supported housing providers?

If the Renters' Rights Bill is adopted into legislation in broadly the same terms as currently proposed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, then providers will need to prepare themselves for some changes in how they approach the decision to recover possession of their properties and the overall timescales.

The abolition of so called ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions has been one of the main standard bearers for the Bill and it is difficult to see how the legislation will be given Royal Assent without this proposal being adopted, although there may be some delay in enactment for Registered Providers (“RPs”)

Supported Housing Providers typically serve section 21 notices to recover possession as a last resort, in circumstances where a tenant has disengaged with support or is ready to move on to general needs housing but does not choose to move. Whilst there are stringent rules on a landlord’s ability to serve a section 21 notice as a result of the Deregulation Act 2015 and the developing case law surrounding the service of Gas Safety Certificates and EPCs, providers took advantage of the accelerated possession procedure to quickly, and often relatively smoothly, recover vacant possession of their properties themselves and to free up valuable supported housing stock for other individuals in need.

New grounds for possession within schedule 2 Housing Act 1988 are proposed in the Bill to help take the place of s21 and no fault proceedings. Within the set of proposed amended grounds are several grounds specifically introduced to assist a narrow group of landlords, including supported housing providers, to recover possession having served a notice under section 8 Housing Act 1988, more commonly referred to as a ‘NOSP’ or a notice seeking possession.

The Grounds 

The following schedule lists and summarises the new grounds which could be relied upon by providers if the Bill is given Royal Assent as proposed.

As well as the proposed amended grounds for possession, the provider will also be able to rely upon additional grounds set out in Schedule 2 Housing Act 1988 in combination, including Ground 12 (breach of tenancy agreement) and Ground 14 (alleged anti-social behaviour) if the relative test is met.

Comment 

Whilst the expanded set of grounds proposed specifically for supported housing providers is certainly welcome, it is inevitable that providers will face a greater burden placed upon them. Providers will have to draft and serve a more detailed notice seeking possession which sets out the evidence relied upon to satisfy the relevant ground(s), and pursue substantive legal proceedings to recover vacant possession, which will necessitate attendance at court to obtain an order.

As part of that exercise, careful thought will need to be had, perhaps by way of an updated internal policy or an amended NOSP request form to provide answers to at least the following questions:

1. When it can be determined that a tenant no longer actually requires the level of support required;
2. When a tenant can be said to no longer require any support services;
3. When the support services no longer meet the tenant’s needs; and
4. Whether it can be said that the tenant has unreasonably refused to co-operate with support services and how.

It is the Government’s view that the increased cost and time pressure on landlords to consider whether an application for possession is genuinely appropriate in the circumstances will lead to fewer applications being filed with the court by focusing minds. There will of course be an element of landlords having to think twice (although providers should already be undertaking this exercise to contemplate the decision to recover possession via an Equality Act assessment and by taking the decision in accordance with the provider’s own existing internal policies). However, to suggest this is going to have a marked impact on the courts’ already stretched lists appears optimistic.

It is more likely that Judges will instead have more hearings added to their lists and have a greater number of substantive applications to work through. This will inevitably lead to delay and potentially increased costs for landlords without increased funding or reform. It is hoped that this reform will be considered by the Government in due course.

Providers will also need to ensure that they are not only prepared for drafting substantive legal proceedings but will also be ready to introduce processes to determine the relative strength of evidence in order to satisfy the requirements of the amended grounds.

What is next? 

The Bill is currently in the committee stage and the committee are due to provide their report by 28 November 2024. At that time, we will have more certainty as to the direction of the Bill but it would be a surprise to see changes to what has already been proposed. We will continue to update on those changes. Should you wish to discuss any of the issues set out in this piece and their impact on your services, please contact Matthew Watts.

Matthew Watts is an Associate and Sarah Orchard is a Senior Associate at Bevan Brittan.