Housing charity calls for changes to private renting | Alex Johnson | Independent Property Blogs

Housing charity calls for changes to private renting | Alex Johnson | Independent Property Blogs

Shelter is calling for the introduction of a new renting contract to give greater stability to the growing numbers of people who rent their homes from a private landlord.
The housing charity calls for a new kind of tenancy called the Stable Rental Contract to become the norm across the rental market in England. The contract would give renters more stability to put down roots, and landlords more certainty of a good return on their investment. The charity says the new Stable Rental Contract would:

* Last for five years, giving renters the chance to put down roots
* Increase rents in line with inflation each year, giving landlords predictable incomes and renters predictable outgoings
* Give landlords confidence that they can easily evict genuinely bad tenants
* Allow landlords to end the tenancy if they sell the property
* Give renters flexibility, allowing them to give two months notice to leave.

Over the last fifteen years, the number of people who rent their home from a landlord has almost doubled to 8.5 million people, and nearly a third of renters are families with children. At the same time, Shelter’s research shows that 35% of renting families worry about their landlord ending their contract before they’re ready to move out. More than one