Rent tribunals could be overwhelmed by Renters’ Rights Act without reforms, lawyer warns

The first-tier tribunal is used to determine the local market rate of rent increases in the private rented sector (PRS).

Under reforms in the Renters’ Rights Act set to come into force in May, tenants in the PRS will be able to challenge any rent increases above market rates.

Matthew Pennycook, the housing minister, acknowledged during the bill’s last stage in parliament the uncertainty over how many cases the first-tier tribunal could face when the reforms are rolled out in May.

He highlighted a power allowing landlords to backdate rent increases after tribunal decisions, which would act as a “safeguard” if the legal system is “overwhelmed by a sharp increase in challenges”.

But Mr Smith stressed that more data needs to be collected and published by the government in order to track whether or not the tribunal is overwhelmed.

Mr Smith said: “It is simply bizarre that the government is failing to collect basic data on the performance of the rental appeals tribunal.

“For all its talk of not wanting the system to be overwhelmed, without measuring the average time taken to process rent cases both now and in the future there will be no way of knowing the impact the Renters’ Rights Act is actually having, and what additional resources are required by the tribunal to operate effectively.

“If ministers are serious about wanting their reforms to work, they need urgently to measure, and publish in full, baseline data on the performance of the tribunal now.

“The government should regularly publish this data to ensure everyone can see if, and when, the tribunal starts to struggle with the anticipated massive increase in rent appeal cases it is asked to consider.”

An MOJ spokesperson said: “Work is underway to strengthen capacity and prepare the tribunal for the anticipated increase in applications when the Renters’ Rights Act reforms take effect.

“We have been taking active steps to recruit more judges to ensure the [tribunal] is ready for new demands.

“We are also exploring how we can improve the tribunal data we collect and use as we prepare for the act.”

Inside Housing understands that the MOJ and HM Courts and Tribunals Service will monitor tribunal performance using a range of indicators including the volume of new rent appeals received.

The government is working on a new digital system to make tribunal processes more efficient, as well as long-term plans to create a different system to handle initial rent determinations, in order to ease pressure on the first-tier tribunal.