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Generation Rent and Shelter have slammed the growing trend of landlords banning tenants from working from home.
Reports say Independent, SpareRoom ads are increasingly specifying that renters must not do any work on the property.
Ben Toomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “If you’re paying rent it shouldn’t matter what the landlord does there.”
“Unfortunately, in practice there is little to stop landlords from imposing harsh conditions on tenants, as they can threaten eviction under Section 21 if they don’t comply.
“Whether the unreasonable demands are legal or not is not the issue. What is most important is that evictions can be carried out without needing a reason.”
“When the next government reforms the renting system, as both major parties have promised, they must repeal section 21 and make it clear that unfair terms, such as bans on working from home, are unlawful so that a landlord’s selfish preferences cannot mean tenants are rendered homeless.”
The news gained traction on Twitter/X after the landlord said the tenant couldn’t work from home, despite the room having a desk – and, to add salt to the wound, the rent for the room was £1,300.
But Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), pointed out that the £1,300 rooms were aimed at lodgers with live-in landlords.
He responded on the platform: “Firstly, this is an advert for a lodger with a live-in owner. Section 21 does not relate to non-ASTs. Lodgers have far fewer protections and if you’re sharing a home you may be able to forgive someone imposing conditions. It’s similar to a flatshare where someone is added to the lease and the other tenants check that whoever joins is suitable.”
He added: “What I take issue with in this is the comments made by the renter generation: ‘If I’m paying rent, it shouldn’t be my landlord’s business what I do in my house.'”
“It would be nice to hand over the keys and abdicate responsibility for whatever the tenant does there, but in reality that’s not possible.
“Due to my licence conditions I have to deal with ASB. Neighbours beg me to manage their rental property when things are to their liking (gardening, rubbish, low levels of noise).”
“And frankly, if a tenant turns my house into a brothel or a drug den, it’s 100% my job to intervene.”
Shelter’s legal team suggested that under current law, landlords can restrict working from home.
They are Metro“While we may consider the restriction to be unreasonable or unfair, landlords will undoubtedly argue that they have reasons for imposing the condition and that this is reflected in the rent, so it is unlikely to be considered an unfair term under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.”
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, added: “We have not built enough truly affordable social housing for decades and renters have paid the price. Private renting has exploded but regulation has not kept up, to the detriment of renters.”
“As a result, landlords are free to impose unfair and unreasonable terms, knowing that tenants have no choice but to bear with them and keep quiet in order to keep their homes.”