Response: Overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector

By: Rhea Newman
Published: September 2018

Response: Overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector

Shelter strongly welcomes the government’s proposals to introduce 3-year tenancies for private renters. Everyone should have access to a secure home where they can put down roots and a 3-year tenancy would be a significant step towards giving private renters the security they need.  

This change will only be meaningful, however, if it is backed up by a change in the law, so that landlords have to offer longer tenancies to all renters. Anything less than a change in the law, which allows landlords to choose who they offer longer tenancies to, risks creating a two-tier market where some renters are given greater security and others are not.

Ultimately renters should have the right to stay in their home for as long as they want to and nobody should ever be evicted without a reason. Therefore, whilst 3-years is a significant step in the right direction, as part of developing proposals for a new longer tenancy framework, we also encourage the government to look closely at what is happening in Scotland to assess the benefits of permanent tenancies.