The Renters Reform Bill has now become law in England which abolishes the right for landlords to make "no-fault evictions", but will it make its way to NI and what will that mean for landlords here?

"No fault" eviction means a landlord cannot evict a tenant unless they are in serious default (either rent arrears or other breaches of the tenancy agreement) or they want to sell the property, live in it themselves or renovate it. 

It is likely that it may come to NI in some shape or form, as our local MLAs have pushed through a raft of tenant-orientated reforms recently, most of which emanate in GB, and seem keen to introduce more. MLAs seem oblivious to the fact that over-regulation along with unfair taxation on landlords is pushing them out of the market, decreasing the supply available. This has contributed to the shortage of private rental accommodation, but MLAs don't seem to care as rental reforms are a "crowd-pleaser" and they believe good for their re-election chances. 

But have landlords really that much to fear from no fault eviction rules? It doesn't stop a landlord evicting a bad tenant (in theory), nor does it prevent a landlord raising the rent here, all be it that is now restricted to once every twelve months. The main concern is the constant cry from the likes of the Greens and PPP for rent controls. Should Stormont decide to impose communist style rent controls on landlords who are subject to free market forces which include mortgage rates and the cost of maintenance, repairs, rates and insurance, it could see a mass exodus by landlords which will result in severe housing crisis. Rent controls have proven to fail almost everywhere in the world; when we had them here in NI, landlords had no incentive in providing good quality housing and this resulted in very poor accommodation. But will our MLAs put substance over vanity?

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