The Biggest Shake-Up To The Property Market In Decades - The Renters’ Rights Act Explained

In today’s episode, I break down the Renters Rights Act, the biggest shake-up to the UK rental market in decades, and explain what it really means for HMO landlords.

This new legislation completely rewrites the rules for landlords, from the removal of fixed-term tenancies and Section 21 evictions to rent increases, pets, and the launch of a national landlord register. It’s a huge change that adds complexity and risk, but for those who understand it and prepare early, it also creates an incredible opportunity.

In this detailed breakdown, I walk you through the 11 key changes every landlord needs to understand, how they’ll affect your portfolio in practice, and the steps you can take now to safeguard your business and turn regulation into opportunity.

🎯 What You’ll Learn

• What the Renters Rights Act actually changes for HMO landlords
• How assured periodic tenancies will replace fixed-term tenancies
• What the end of Section 21 evictions means for possession and control
• How the new Section 8 grounds will operate in practice
• Why student landlords must rethink their tenancy cycles
• The new rules on rent increases, pets, and rent bidding
• How the Private Rented Sector Ombudsman and database will affect you
• What Awaab’s Law means for damp and mould responsibilities
• Why these changes will drive many landlords out and how to seize the opportunity left behind

If you’re serious about building, scaling, and protecting your HMO property business, this episode is essential listening. Understanding these changes now will give you a clear advantage and help you turn uncertainty into opportunity.

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Transcript

Andy Graham (00:02.671)

Hey, I'm Andy and you're listening to the HMO Podcast. Over 10 years ago, I set myself the challenge of building my own property portfolio. And what began as a short-term investment plan soon became a long-term commitment to change the way young people live together. I've now built several successful businesses. I've raised millions of pounds of investment and I've managed thousands of tenants. Join me and some very special guests to discover the tips, tricks and hacks, the ups and the downs, the best practice and everything else you need to know to start, scale and systemise your very own HMO portfolio now.

Andy Graham (00:40.727)

It has finally happened. The Renters Right Act has passed and it is the biggest shake up to the rental market in decades. But let's be clear, this isn't about balance or fairness. This is a piece of legislation written for tenants and it's going to make life more complicated for landlords, especially those of us running HMOs. 

In today's episode, I'm going to break down what's really changed, what it means in practice and how you can protect your business before these rules kick in. Now, I can already see the eyes rolling in your head. I can see you reaching down to find that skip button, but please hang around and listen to today's episode because this is incredibly important. If you want to build a strong and successful property business, you have no choice but to really understand this stuff. And there is a huge opportunity hiding in plain sight as a direct consequence of this legislation. And today I'm going to tell you exactly what that is. Let's get into it.

Hey guys, it's Andy here and we're gonna be getting back to the podcast in just a moment. But before we do, I wanna tell you very quickly about the HMO roadmap. Now, if you're serious about replacing your income, or perhaps you've already got a HMO portfolio that you want to scale up, then the HMO roadmap really is your one-stop shop. 

Inside the roadmap, you'll find a full 60 lesson course delivered by me, teaching you how to find more deals, how to fund more deals and raise private finance, how to refurbish great properties, how to fill them with great tenants that stay for longer, and how to manage your properties and tenants for the future.

Andy Graham (02:11.192)

We've also got guest workshops added every single month. We've got new videos added every single week about all sorts of topics. We've got downloadable resources, cheat sheets and swipe files to help you. We've got case studies from guests and community members who are doing incredible projects that you can learn from. And we've also built an application just for you that allows you to appraise and evaluate your deals, stack them side by side and track the key metrics that are most important to you. To find out more, head to theHMOroadmap.co.uk now and come and join our incredible community of HMO property investors.

Andy Graham (02:50.405)

Welcome back gang. So we all knew this was coming the renters rights bill now the renters rights act was working its way through parliament for months and Most of us were waiting patiently with our fingers and toes crossed hoping that there may be some slight improvements and amendments to the bill and unfortunately that did not happen it would have been no honesty far better had the conservatives who manufactured this piece of legislation been able to keep hold of it. They didn't they dropped the ball Labour got their grubby mitts on it and they made it even worse. 

So look, in today's episode, I want to walk you through the key detail, the most important changes that really matter to you and I as HMO property investors and what we can start to do now to prepare our businesses. Because whether we like it or not, this act is going to change the way that we operate. That's complexity, that's risk. And in some cases, it might damage your business, particularly for HMO landlords. Now, if you take the time to understand it.

There is a real flip side here. This legislation, combined with everything that we're seeing at the minute, higher costs, more regulation, more tax, it is driving landlords out of the market like nothing we've seen before. For those who are prepared to stay and adapt, there's a huge opportunity. Now, this is a big piece of legislation and if you want to go and digest it in all of its glory, you can find it on the .gov website. But word of warning, you're going to need plenty of time, you're going to need plenty of caffeine, you're probably going to need defibrillator and a full medical team on standby because this is going to give you a heart attack. This is not a good read. I'm going to do my best though to save you all of that pain. I'm going to highlight the 11 key pieces within this legislation that are really important to get your head around. 

So in no particular order, I'm going to walk you through that starting with the kind of anchor of this whole thing, which was the removal of fixed term tenancies.Currently as we know we use a short short hold tenancies and typically speaking there's a fixed month period usually six months and then it will turn into a periodic tenancy. We are allowed currently to grant fixed term tenancies six months or for 12 months with a definitive end date but that's all gone and it's being replaced by an assured periodic tenancy. Tenancies will roll month to month with no automatic end date.

Andy Graham (05:10.212)

Tenants will have to give at least two months notice if they want to leave, which must align with their rent date. So in practice, it could actually be between two and three months before they leave. But this means that there is more uncertainty for landlords and more variable turnover. So just to get your head around this, think about the fact that we currently advertise a room for rent. We do our diligence on our tenants. We get them signed up. They move in and we are pretty confident that they will stay for at least six months and then hopefully beyond that. It's very unlikely that they are going to just move in on a very short term basis, two or three months and hand their notice in and try and leave because well, you can't do that currently with the types of tenancies that we use, ASTs, but that will change with assured periodic tenancies. Theoretically a tenant could just move in, stay there for two months and hand their notice in and be gone pretty quickly.

I think they can actually give their notice at any point. They could literally move in and the next day hand their notice in. So they could quite literally move out after two months. That would be of course incredibly frustrating. So what does this mean? Well, it's really now not advisable to let your properties out for short bridging periods. If you expect to need possession quickly, for instance, between student cycles after perhaps a refurbishment, it's not uncommon for a landlord and I've done this many, many times to bridge back to the academic cycle by letting the property out to a group of young professionals in the meanwhile. 

They might just stay for, let's say, six months and we give them a fixed term tenancy in the confidence that at the end of that fixed term tenancy they will leave. It is now, or when this legislation comes in next year, not going to be possible to do that. So what does that mean? Well, first and foremost, we need to be incredibly diligent about the types of people that we let move into our properties, getting a good understanding of why they want to move. Are they moving for work? Are they moving for personal circumstances? What is it? What can we do to better understand a tenant's situation to try and reduce our own risk? The other thing I think we need to consider is that if we, for example, are a student landlord and we are going to end up with a vacant period after refurbishment before the next academic cycle, we really have to think about how we're going to cover that. Now it's not advisable to put tenants in on a short period because you're

Andy Graham (07:36.496)

Probably not going to able to get them out. So what do we do? Well, my advice would be to bake that price into your purchase price. If you are going to have to take a hit on a vacant period, factor it into what you pay for the property. One way or another, you and I as landlords and as investors are going to try and defer and deflect as much of these costs as possible. And that is one example. So that is the first biggie. Assured short hold tenancies, ASTs will be replaced by assured periodic tenancies APT's 

Number two then abolition of section 21 no fault evictions. This was their kind of big flag this grand sort of piece of this legislation that they have been so incredibly proud of but what does it really mean? So section 21 is the ability to serve a no fault eviction on a tenant which we can currently do. We don't have to give a particular reason to a tenant if we want to remove them from a property. It gives us the flexibility, I suppose, to manage our stock, to sell, to refresh our tenant base. Just gives us that sort of flexibility. 

But in truth, most responsible landlords rarely, if ever, used this, other than perhaps to bridge those academic cycles in the student market, which would have usually be done on a fixed term tenancy basis anyway. So this to me always struck me as very unusual. I think the idea behind it was that some landlords, let's call them rogue landlords, would try and increase the rent on a tenant and that tenant would have an issue with it, maybe challenge it, and the landlord would threaten a section 21 no fault eviction on it. And I can see that that is really not good for a tenant, but how often was this being done? I'm not honestly sure of that answer, but I don't think many at all. 

So anyway, from now on, possession must fit into one of the section 8 grounds, the new section 8 grounds and evidence, as you're going to find out as we continue through today's episode, is going to be key. Every case to remove a tenant is going to need a very clear demonstration and reason for ending that tenancy. So that is the second thing. Section 21, no fault evictions, they have been abolished. You will no longer be able to serve those notices to remove tenants.

Andy Graham (10:01.456)

So how can we remove a tenant if we want or need to? Well, yep, that all comes under the new section eight grounds for possession and it's broken down into mandatory grounds for possession and discretionary grounds. The difference being the mandatory grounds for possession, it's very black and white. The judge will have no choice but to enforce the matter. Whereas on the discretionary grounds for possession, the judge has more say in the matter. 

So, I mean, let's walk through these. I've picked out the most important ones to us. There are quite a few, but first of all, occupation by a landlord or family member. This is ground one. If a landlord or family member wants to move into a property, they can't do that within the first 12 months of assigning a new tenancy. And then they have to wait for four months. So they'll serve the notice and then have to wait four months for that tenant to legally be obliged to move out. So kind of looking at 16 months.

Companies and trusts are apparently excluded from this. I guess, look, as investors, this is probably not going to matter too much to us. I can't imagine many of us ever really wanting to do this. However, I think it is important to really understand that if you thought that this was perhaps one of the ways that you might be able to get a tenant out if you wanted to, or a group of tenants out if you wanted to say that you or your family member is going to move in, then hold your horses because you are going to have to demonstrate it and there will be a restriction on how soon you could put that property back on the market. You will not be able to just do that. It would be against the law and there will be some pretty severe penalties. I won't go into all of that detail, but essentially rent repayment orders to the tune of up to sort of 30,000 pounds. 

So if you did this incorrectly, they've actually got a misusing possession ground. if you knowingly or recklessly serve a notice for possession on any of these grounds, knowingly or recklessly do it incorrectly, it is an offense and it will be an offense under the housing planning act 2016 and yet can lead to rent repayment orders. So it's pretty serious stuff. Anyway, that's ground one, occupation of a landlord or family member. Grounds one a, sale of a dwelling house. So if a landlord wants to sell a property,

Andy Graham (12:20.796)

Again, they can't do so within the first 12 months. They must show proof of intent, sales instruction or listing. And the notice period is four months. And I don't believe that they will be able to let the property for a period of time. I'll have to check that detail. But again, like I think it's potentially up to 12 months that you will not be able to re-let the property. Pretty serious stuff and not good.

Grounds for student accommodation. So for recognised educational providers, letting to students within the previous 12 months, there will be a two week notice period, but that is for recognised educational providers. The simpler way to just tell you who that it is PBSA, Purpose-Build Student Accommodation Providers. It's a different planning class. It's not HMO landlords letting to students. Grounds for a deals with that.

So what is grounds for A? Well, specifically for student landlords, this applies to HMOs, let to full-time students. They're required obviously for new groups each academic year to be able to re-let that property. This was one thing that they did at least concede on slightly. Now you can serve the foray, so ground for possession but only between the 1st of June and the 30th of September. And not if the tenancy was agreed over six months before the move in. So this kind of puts a little bit of unusual pressure on the academic tenancy cycle. It really means that we'll have to be really on top of it, serving the notice at the appropriate time. 

But fortunately, as a student landlord, you can still serve a notice to remove a property. It is a four month notice period. Thank God that that's there. Unfortunately, we can't grant fixed term tenancies as we've already said to students. So what does that mean? Well, that means that your students can move out at any point with two months notice and any person in that group can serve notice on behalf of the group. Now, what would that actually mean? Well, in reality,

Andy Graham (14:34.568)

When would or are students likely to serve notice? Well, possibly after they've signed their tenancy, but before they move in, there could be a bit of a fallout and they might try and want to get out of that tenancy agreement. But in most cases and legitimately, it'll be students that have done their academic year and towards May they've done their exams, they're hanging around, not going to university. The friends are going off traveling and breaking off for summer and they don't want to stay and pay for their property over the summer months.

So June, July and August, it's my advice. And I've already shared this on the podcast and in the community many, many times. My advice would be if you're not already running a July to July academic cycle, now is the time to get into that because that just reduces your risk period over the summer months. But if tenants do give notice, they're likely to do it towards springtime so that they move out early summer or late spring at the end of the day.

There's nothing that we will be able to do and it's very, very frustrating. And as a student landlord, we would have no option but to just take it on the chin because as we've already highlighted, you can't then just bridge to a professional tenant or group for a short period of time. Now, here's why I wouldn't worry too much about this. First and foremost, not many student groups actually want to give notice. They want to live in their house. They want to stay. They want to have fun.

I think the second thing is if one person in the house gives notice, well, it is just one person. It's very unlikely that the rest of the group would want to leave. So you've got a choice there. At that point, you could say to the remaining tenants, look, do you all want to cover the additional rent for that person? Yes or no. You could decide maybe to just suck it up and just pay that yourself, or you could still find another person to join them on that tenancy. It doesn't mean that your whole tenancy is null and void. 

It's very unlikely that all five or six of the group want to actually give notice. If they do, that is pretty disastrous, but I think it's incredibly unlikely. So I really wouldn't worry too much about this focus. And this will be a repeating theme today on good quality combination on good service and get your student properties into that July to July cycle. And you'll probably be fine. Like 98% of us, 98% of the time will be fine.

Andy Graham (16:51.934)

There'll be a little bit of cost. There'll be some notices served, but at the end of the day, that will gradually wash its way through the market and rents will rise to account for that additional risk. And look, let's be honest. We've had it pretty good for a number of years. It's been really good. Rents have gone up. Everybody paid through COVID. So I don't think this is as bad as it actually looks on the surface. There's a new grounds for redevelopment section.

Ground six redevelopment, if a landlord intends to demolish or substantially redevelop a property, they will be able to do so by providing a four month notice under this grounds. But again, landlords will have to provide suitable accommodation if needed, and they certainly will have to demonstrate the legitimacy of this. So that might be through plans, through money set aside to do the works. And again, if you are reckless, you say you're going to do this, but you don't then rent repayment orders could be the order of business for your tenant. And I'm quite sure many ambulance chasing solicitors who will be on the lookout for this sort of stuff. 

Ground 7A for severe antisocial behavior and criminal conduct. You can serve an immediate possession order on tenants, but this is in my experience, at least unlikely to be the sort of thing that you will encounter. I mean this is when tenants have been convicted of listed offenses of serious breaches, not just kind of your classic antisocial behavior stuff. But there is discretionary ground for that, which we're going to come on to. 

Finally, the last of the mandatory grounds for possession that I want to highlight today is ground eight, serious rent arrears. Tenants, if they are in arrears of over three months rent at the notice and at the hearing, then you will be able to, I believe, serve a four week notice on them. Currently, it is two months arrears, so it's now three months. Why anybody thought that was a good idea, I don't know. And I think that this is just one of those frustrating things that allows tenants to game the system. What it means is that tenants can just get themselves into three months arrears at any point, and as long as they just kind of pay enough down so it's under three months, then you can't actually

Andy Graham (19:09.78)

get them out of the property. And I can guarantee that professional sort of arrears accruing tenants will play that game. 

Anyway, let's move on to some discretionary grounds for possession. Number 10, any rent arrears, tenants in any amount of arrears, there will be a grounds for repossession. You can serve a four week notice on them, but they'll be up to the court and you can almost guarantee that's not going to be of any use at all. Persistent arrears, again, if tenants persistently pay late rent, then again, there's a notice period of four weeks, but it's ultimately down to the court to make that decision. 

And I think it's very unlikely that the court is going to force a tenant out unless it's pretty significant. Breach of tenancy. If tenants breach the tenancy terms, grounds 12, you can serve a notice with two weeks notice. But again, it's a discretionary ground, so it's up to the court. Deterioration of the property, grounds 13. That's two weeks, grounds 14, antisocial behavior. So this is actually the one that has worried me the most because if you get a bad tenant in a HMO, that tenant can rot and that rot can spread and it can frustrate and upset other tenants and the other tenants start to move out and the bad tenant inevitably refuses to move out. 

And I've seen this happen many, many times and it can be a very destructive and very expensive problem. Now there are still issues with the court systems and this is a big part of all of this that we are yet to understand how it's going to work. But at least there is a grounds here for discretionary ground at least for repossession on anti-social behavior orders. So if a tenant or a visitor is causing a nuisance or commits a criminal offense or uses the property for illegal purposes, you can give them a notice under grounds 14 and that can be immediate. But again, it's discretionary. So it really will be down to the court and how long will it actually take to get through the court process and what does all of that cost? That's the really frustrating thing here. But look, good news is there. Sometimes the threat of that action is enough for some tenants to kind of get in line or just move on. But at least it is there. So look, those are the key grounds for, I think most HMO and private landlords that really matter. I think the key ones around rent arrears, A, antisocial behavior, grounds 7A and 14.

Andy Graham (21:34.31)

occupation or sale grounds 1 and 1A, they kind of deal with the most important stuff for us. So it is still there. We can still get tenants out when we need to most. But what does this mean for our business? Well, I think a few things. First and foremost, we shouldn't just assume because these grounds for possession are there that it will actually be easy to enforce. I think it's still going to be exceptionally difficult to get through the court process and actually get judgments made.

If you haven't experienced it, it's already a nightmare. I think that this just makes it even more difficult. And I think it'll clog the system up even more. The court system is fundamentally broken. And I think it is irresponsible to bring a piece of legislation like this in without simultaneously reforming the piece of our law system that is contingent on actually being able to enforce this. So look, that is, I think a word of caution for me.

It is so important that we, where possible, avoid ever having to do any of this. So good record keeping, very professional process of managing your tenants, your whole letting system. I think the work you do upfront in finding good tenants, vetting good tenants, I think all of that is now more important than ever. Good customer service. You know, you want good tenants that stay and pay that value you, that value your property. 

If you compromise on that there is a real risk that this sort of stuff and the new I suppose Leverage that tenants have I think this is a huge amount of leverage. It could be really damaging to your business. So Most importantly get ahead of this stuff good tenants, good systems, good process is good customer service and try and avoid it ever happening try and avoid the need for any of this stuff and any of these notices and grounds of possession ever needing to be required

Okay, so they are the new grounds for possession. Moving on, number four. And don't worry, that is the heavy stuff and the big stuff. The remainder of today's episode is a bit easier. Rent increases. Landlords can now raise the rent up to a maximum of once every 12 months with a Section 13 notice, which requires two months warning for tenants. Now, we can currently increase the rent. We need to give one month's notice. I don't think many people increase the rent more than once every 12 months, if that anyway, so...

Andy Graham (24:00.431)

I don't think that that the fact that now you can buy law only once every 12 months really matters that much. Now tenants can challenge this at the first tier tribunal, but tenants can already challenge it. And in my experience very rarely do. So I think if you're fair, again, this is probably a bit of a moot point. Probably won't have to do much here. Ultimately though, the first tier tribunal will set the market rent. And if it disagrees, it can say no, it can tell you the tenant what the rent should be.

Interestingly, if a tenant challenges it and they agree with you, then they can backdate that rent and the tenant will have to pay for that. So look, I think what is important here is that you are increasing your rent every 12 months because trying to make large increases every two or three years could be really quite difficult and you're more likely to find that it goes through the process of the first tier tribunal. 

Anyway, keep good data, keep comparable records, clear records of your maintenance and costs and insurance and utility increases. Just make sure that you can justify your position if you are challenged. I think the fact that this is being heavily advertised to tenants may well mean that they do start to challenge it more than they currently do. For that very reason, I think it's going to be an absolute nightmare getting stuff through the first tier tribunal. I mean, it's already slow. I think this will just clog it up even further. 

Okay, number five, there will be a ban on rent bidding, personally, I've not got an issue with that. I've always thought that it's a pretty bad practice. I've never personally taken advantage of that. Very popular practice in London, but you can't do it now. It will be illegal. 

Number six, tenants' rights to request a pet. So tenants can formally request a pet and landlords must respond within 28 days. Now you can refuse it, but it must be on reasonable grounds. So allergies, license restrictions, insurance, things like that. I think also reasonably as HMO property owners and operators. I think there are many, many reasons if you prefer not to have pets in your properties that you could find to reasonably justify that it wasn't possible. 

Okay. The seventh key thing I want to highlight today is that new private rented sector ombudsman. Every landlord is now going to have to join a new national ombudsman scheme. It'll give tenants an independent route apparently for complaints about repairs or management. So if you run your portfolio professionally,

Andy Graham (26:22.161)

This is going to make a difference on a day to day basis. Now I actually think that this is a good thing. I have always thought, and this is from my experience of running an agency, having an ombudsman and subscribing to an ombudsman is a good thing because if you do get into a disagreement with a tenant and that tenant wants to make a complaint and you still disagree, if you self manage, there's not really anywhere for that complaint to go. There's no independent adjudication. The tenant always feels hard done by.

And very rarely can you resolve it amicably. Whereas if it goes to an independent adjudicator, like a private rented sector ombudsman, which is exactly how agencies have to subscribe anyway, then they ultimately make the decision. And if it's reasonable, decide with the tenant it's unreasonable, decide with you. And it just means that the problem just from your perspective just goes away. They make that decision. 

You should already be following good practice in terms of your complaints, procedure, repairs, management, maintenance, and all of that stuff. So as long as you're doing that in the right way, then it's more than likely that if a tenant does have an issue, they are probably being unreasonable and actually just being able to refer that, let them refer it to the ombudsman. It's actually going to make your life easier at the end of the day. And in my experience, certainly as an agency owner going to the ombudsman on several occasions with, you manage thousands of tenants, you will get tenants that find issues and faults, never did the ombudsman side with the tenants. They have always in my experience been pretty fair. Will that be the case? I guess time will tell, but hopefully, hopefully so. 

Number eight then, kind of the eighth key thing I want to highlight from the new legislation is that the private rented sector database will come into force. It's like a rented property portal. So all of us as landlords and all of our properties will have to be registered on a national database showing license and safety details and things like that. And I suppose the idea is that it's designed to improve the transparency and help authorities target non-compliance.

Do I think for a second that it's going to help anyone target non-compliance? Not in a million years. I think that this is, and there will be a cost to it. I think this is a kind of a back door to having and holding more data on landlords. If I'm honest, high-risk properties are already being managed several ways, licenses, selective licenses and things like that. I don't think a private rented sector database really does much here. I think it's just another.

Andy Graham (28:40.679)

hurdle for landlords and I think it's really frustrating. 

Number nine, the extension of the decent homes standard. So the decent home standard is being extended to the private rented sector. It exists in the social housing sector now, and it's just a requirement to keep homes safe and warm and free from hazards like damp and mold as if it's not already stuff you are doing as a professional landlord who wants to make money in their business. Again, the idea that this being kind of now extended to the new renters rights act. 

Like the idea that that will make the bad landlords do it is bonkers. It's in my opinion, not having this here is the enforcement of this when landlords aren't doing it. Inspections and fines and legal action and recourse. Anyway, that exists, but I'm pretty sure you guys are all doing that anyway. 

Number 10, Awaabs law. So landlords must fix serious health and safety issues such as damp and mold within a set time after a notification. And there'll be timelines and penalties. So if you don't know about this, Awaabs law was brought in to prevent the recurrence of a really awful story and scenario of a young child who died in a social house, council managed because of damp and mold. And understandably, they want to extend, they brought a law in to kind of make sure that councils managed this better so it could never happen again. And they are now extending it to the private rental sector.

My issue with damp, however, is that in my experience in HMOs, it is almost always the tenants fault. And this is a very, very difficult piece to argue. I think there'll be an increasing requirement for an expert to come in and do sort of damp and mold surveys and provide some sort of a report. And I think that having that report in hand, tell you either it's something that you as a landlord should be doing a better job of, or whether it's actually just tenant behaviors.

But one way or another, I think that you've got to be really aware of this now. This has always been a challenge with tenants in HMOs dampen mold, black spot mold, often caused by condensation, long showers, lots of cooking, not turning the heating on, all of that stuff, just living and breathing, it creates a lot of condensation, but it is very difficult when tenants believe that it is the property or the landlord not doing something. Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes there are material issues with the fabric of the

Andy Graham (31:06.525)

property, but in my experience, most of the time in our properties, at least that is not the case. And when it has been something structural material, then certainly it's something I would get done. And I'm sure you would too, but just be aware of it. And I think that is something that we are going to see come up more with tenants. And I think it's going to be something that we have to respond better to and more professionally and maybe even with third party surveys and things like that. 

Number 11 then. Last point for today is the ban on discrimination against families and benefit claimants. It's now illegal, or it will be, to refuse tenants because they have children or receive benefits. No DSS or professional only language is going to be admitted in, in adverts or applications. However, and at the end of the day, affordability will remain a key part of the legislation and you absolutely as a landlord can reserve the right to pick and choose who is appropriately suited to your property and if you rent a HMO and you have a certain number of people in there and you have a license then clearly it is not appropriate to have children in there as well.

So again, I don't think this matters too much to us as HMO investors and landlords. So there we go guys. Those are the 11 key things from the renters rights acts that I wanted to highlight to you today Like I said, the piece of legislation is big but on the whole, these are the key things that you need to be aware of and I do honestly think that there's nothing in here that is too bad. 

Frustrating? Yes, of course. More complication, more hurdles, more costs. Yes, for sure. Ultimately, I think those costs will find their way back to the tenant. It always does. It always will. It will take a bit of time though. It will lag. But I think as long as you are committed to being a good professional landlord, if you want to build a successful business, then actually this is an opportunity to make a better business out of all of this stuff. 

And I said earlier that this is a huge opportunity laying in plain sight. And that is because a lot of people are looking at this legislation along everything else that's happening right now. And let's not forget that the majority of landlords and the majority of the stock is owned by baby boomers who are approaching that point in their life when they will be reconsidering what they do. And it's these things like this that

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make the decision as to whether or not to refer to property or look for another tenant or wait and sell or sell now. It's that sort of stuff and this sort of thing that is pushing more landlords out of the market. And that is a massive, and I mean, once in a generation opportunity staring us slap bang in the face. So if you're committed, if you want to build a property business, if you believe like I do in the value of real estate in the UK and you share the same belief that I do in terms of the requirement for good quality accommodation, then I think that this is almost teeing us up for several years of buying opportunities, really great buying opportunities. 

I don't think it looks necessarily cheaper as a result of any of this. I still think we've got lots of challenges ahead and costs and things like that to consider, but this is too much for a lot of people. They are getting out of the market and if you want to stay in and if you're prepared and you're committed, then it could be a huge opportunity for you. So that is the full pitch. 

Look, we've gone from a system that gave landlords an amount of flexibility and certainly clear control over the terms. You could remove a property, you could issue a fixed term tenancy agreement to a system that is far more regulated and let's be honest, far more tenant led. But if you understand these details, how each one changes and works and how to prepare then you'll be so far ahead of most landlords and that will be a huge advantage. Look guys, I know today's episode has been pretty heavy. 

Like I said earlier on, this wasn't an episode I was looking forward to recording. I was waiting and hoping and crossing everything that this legislation would be amended for the better. Better still just kind of dropped altogether, but it wasn't to be. So it's here. We need to deal with it. But the good news is I think we can.

Thank you for tuning in today. I hope it really has helped you. I know it's heavy stuff, but I hope it really has helped you in your property business. And I hope it's given you some reassurance that you might well need right now. If you've got any questions about any of this, then come over to the HMO community. It's our free group in Facebook. It's a great place to ask questions and find more guidance and advice and support. There's lots of conversations and questions being asked about this right now. So if you're unsure about any of it and I'm sure that there's still

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many gaps here that you have about this stuff come on over and let's discuss it and we can figure it all out together. If you're serious about building and scaling your HMO property business, head on over to thehmoroadmap.co.uk right now. Honestly, if you want to build a successful property business in this space, then you have to be taking it seriously. Go and get everything that is available inside the HMO roadmap now. I wish it existed when I was getting started. Hundreds of videos, over 400 resources, case studies from community members, dozens of tools and resources that will save you thousands of hours and thousands of pounds trying to figure all this out yourself and making very expensive mistakes. 

That's it guys. Thanks again for tuning in and don't forget that I'll be right back here in the very same place next week. So please join me then for another installment of the HMO podcast.