The Tribunal system is at risk of being overrun when the Renters Rights Bill becomes law, it’s been claimed.

Between 2019 and 2023, the number of fair or market rent cases before England’s Residential Property Tribunals increased by almost 89%, from 483 to 921.

These cases arise when tenants challenge a Section 13 rent notice. Once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law, Section 13 will be the only method landlords can use to raise rents, which can only happen once a year.

Moreover, as of March 31 this year, open cases at England’s Residential Property Tribunals exceeded 8,000 – a 144% rise since 2019, highlighting the sharp increase in tribunal caseload.

The latest English Housing Survey reports there are 4.6m households in the private rental sector. Under the Renters’ Rights Bill, any English tenant served with a Section 13 notice could challenge the rent hike in tribunal, potentially leading to millions of additional cases annually. 

Now PropTech service Reapit UK I has raised the alarm about overload for the tribunal system.

General manager Steve Richmond says: “Without ramping up funding for our courts and tribunals, frustrations will grow for both tenants and landlords. The Renters’ Rights Bill brings significant changes but adds more pressure to an already strained system. We’re also concerned the government hasn’t fully considered the added costs to courts and tribunals, as no impact assessment has been published.

“When making a fair or market rent judgement, a tribunal will often ask to view the property. This adds additional time and cost to the proceedings. Instead, evidence such as photos and videos submitted digitally should be used to make the decision to reduce costs. We also think the government should publish a database of market rents, so tenants can check if their rents are close to market rates before they apply to a tribunal. It will also mean all tribunals are working from the same data.

“If landlords lack confidence in the court and tribunal system to handle rent appeals and evictions quickly and fairly, we are concerned about the unintended consequences. We need the government to address the court and tribunal backlog because lengthy delays will burden both landlords and tenants with months of uncertainty. This could lead to a drop in tenant satisfaction, and we fear landlords may exit the sector. This would happen at a time when more homes are urgently needed in the PRS.”

Blog Post from Letting Agent Today

See details of our CHG Guaranteed Rent Scheme here