Rent regulation in England and Wales is the part of

English land law English land law is the law of real property in England and Wales. Because of its heavy historical and social significance, land is usually seen as the most important part of English property law. Ownership of land has its roots in the feudal sy ...

that creates rights and obligations for tenants and landlords. The main areas of regulation concern: * the mechanisms for regulating prices (historically called "

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

"). Since the

Housing Act 1980 The Housing Act 1980 (c. 51) was an act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave five million council house tenants in England and Wales the Right to Buy their house from their local authority. The Act came into f ...

(c. 51), prices are generally left for landlords to fix except in the "affordable" sector where councils and

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit organization, non-profit organisations that provide low-cost "Public housing in the United Kingdom, social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surpl ...

s manage around 4.4 million homes which are subject to rent regulation. * the reasons that a person can be evicted. Since the

Housing Act 1996 The Housing Act 1996 (c. 52) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Part VI of the act concerns permanent allocation of housing, while Part VII concerns the duties that a local authority has towards homeless people and when these duties ...

(c. 52), most tenancies can be terminated on their expiry for any reason. * the obligations to repair and maintain the property, under the

Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (c. 70) is a UK act of Parliament on English land law. It sets minimum standards in tenants' rights against their landlords. Background The reason for the introduction of the Act was not as might be assumed to h ...

(c. 70). In general, people renting homes or

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...

may agree with a landlord to any

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

terms they like, but some rights and duties are made compulsory. Historically, the United Kingdom sought to ensure fair rents, prevent evictions without a fair reason, and placed obligations on landlords to properly maintain premises. Such regulation seeks to redress the

inequality of bargaining power Inequality of bargaining power in law, economics and social sciences refers to a situation where one party to a bargain, contract or agreement, has more and better alternatives than the other party. This results in one party having greater power ...

between landlords and tenants in a market where there is unlimited freedom of contract. Most rights for tenants were abolished by the

(c. 51) and in subsequent legislation through the 1980s. The remaining legislation is found in the

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 The Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56) is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament extending to England and Wales. Part I of the act (sections 1-21), which dealt with the protection of residential tenancies, is now largely supe ...

( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56), which gives rights to business tenants, and the

(c. 70) which gives some rights, although fewer, to people renting for the purpose of a home.

History

Before the 20th century, and during the industrial revolution, the regulation of the rental property relationship was largely left to the market. The first major regulation was introduced by the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act 1915 ( 5 & 6 Geo. 5. c. 97), largely as a consequence of rent strikes in Glasgow.

Regulation

Tenancy contract

*''

Marchant v Charters Marchant is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adio Marchant (born 1987), English singer and songwriter known professionally as Bipolar Sunshine * Alison Marchant, Australian politician * Cecil Marchant (1895–1965), English WW1 ...

977 Year 977 ( CMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * May – Boris II, dethroned emperor (''tsar'') of Bulgaria, and his brother Roman manage to escape from captivity in Const ...

1 WLR 1181,

Lord Denning MR Alfred Thompson Denning, Baron Denning, (23 January 1899 – 5 March 1999), was an English barrister and judge. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1923 and became a King's Counsel in 1938. Denning became a judge in 1944 when he w ...

, a person has a lease when the occupant had a ‘stake in the room or did he have only permission for himself personally to occupy’ it? *'' Johnson v Moreton''

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

AC 37, 66, Lord Simon, ‘There was one economic and social relationship where it was claimed that there were palpably lacking the prerequisites for the beneficent operation of laisser-faire – that of landlord and tenant. The market was limited and sluggish: the supply of land could not expand immediately and flexibly in response to demand, and even humble dwellings took more time to erect than those in want of them could spare. Generally, a man became a tenant rather than an owner-occupier because his circumstances compelled him to live hand-to-mouth; the landlord’s purse was generally longer and his command of knowledge and counsel far greater than the tenant’s. In short, it was held, the constriction of the market and the inequality of bargaining power enabled the landlord to dictate contractual terms which did not necessarily operate to the general benefit of society. It was to counteract this descried constriction of the market and to redress this descried inequality of bargaining power that the law – specifically, in the shape of legislation – came to intervene repeatedly to modify freedom of contract between landlord and tenant.’ *'' Bankway Properties Ltd v Pensfold-Dunsford'' 0011 WLR 1369,

Arden LJ Mary Howarth Arden, Baroness Mance, , PC (born 23 January 1947), known professionally as Lady Arden of Heswall, is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before that, she was a judge of the Court of Appeal of England an ...

, 2 4

Right to repairs

*'' Bruton v London & Quadrant Housing Trust''

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

UKHL 26 *

(c. 70)

Security of tenure

Security of tenure exists for business tenancies under the

( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2. c. 56). It was abolished for most residential properties by the

Housing Act 1988 The Housing Act 1988 (c. 50) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It governs the law between landlords and tenants. The act introduced the concepts of assured tenancy and assured shorthold tenancy. It also facilitated the transfer of ...

(c. 50). However, it remains for some people who live in

council house A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

s. * Protection from Eviction Act 1977 (c. 43) *

Assured tenancy An assured tenancy is a legal category of residential tenancy to an individual (or individuals jointly) in English land law. Statute affords a tenant under an assured tenancy a degree of security of tenure. A tenant under an assured tenancy may n ...

Assured shorthold tenancy The assured shorthold tenancy (AST) is the default legal category of residential tenancy in England and Wales. It is a form of assured tenancy with limited security of tenure, which was introduced by the Housing Act 1988 and saw an important d ...

Rental price controls

The

Rent Act 1977 The Rent Act 1977 (c. 42) was an act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom. The act introduced the protected tenancy in England and Wales. The organization setting the rent, the Valuation Office Agency, was known as the "Rent Office". Se ...

(c. 42) was the last piece of legislation in England and Wales to place limits on how much landlords could raise prices for residential homes. It was substantially repealed by the

(c. 50).

Regulators and ombudsmen

The Property Ombudsman The Property Ombudsman (TPO) scheme is an ombudsman in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast ...

Notes

{{reflist

References

*R Arnott, ‘Time for Revisionism on Rent Control?’ (1995
9(1) Journal of Economic Perspectives 99
*A Anas, ‘Rent Control with Matching Economies: A Model of European Housing Market Regulation’ (1997) 15(1) Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 111–37 *S Bright, "Avoiding Tenancy Legislation: Sham and Contracting Out Revisited"

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 OO2, the minor planet 7499 L'Aquila *1990 OO2, the asteroid 9175 Graun Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'' ...

CLJ 146 *S Bright, ''Landlord and Tenant Law in Context'' (2007) *T Ellingsen and P Englund, 'Rent regulation: An introduction' (2003) 10 Swedish Economic Policy Review 3 *M Haffner, M Elsinga and J Hoekstra, 'Rent Regulation: The Balance between Private Landlords and Tenants in Six European Countries' (2008) 8(2) International Journal of Housing Policy 217 *H Lind, 'Rent Regulation: A Conceptual and Comparative Analysis' (2001
1(1) International Journal of Housing Policy 41
*C Rapkin, ''The Private Rental Housing Market in New York City'' (1966) *G Sternlieb, ''The Urban Housing Dilemma'' (1972) *P Weitzman, 'Economics and Rent Regulation: A Call for a New Perspective' (1984-1985) 13 NYU Review of Legal and Social Change 975-988 English land law

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

Regulation in the United Kingdom