"Yet here we have new evidence which clearly demonstrates a clear and deeply concerning lack of consistent collection of rent appeal data within the tribunal process, and evidence that 80% of current recorded appeals take over 10 weeks to decide"
- Kate Butler - Real Estate:UK
Serious questions are being raised about the ability of the tribunal and court system to handle the additional demands placed on it since the Renters' Rights Act came into force, following research published by Real Estate:UK.
The findings arrive as provisions expanding the use of the First-tier Tribunal for challenging rent increases take effect. They point to a significant lack of preparedness and little meaningful assessment of whether the tribunal system has the capacity to manage the anticipated increase in workload.
Through Freedom of Information requests submitted to the five individual tribunal property chambers, Real Estate:UK identified a clear pattern. Of the five chambers contacted, four responded. Three provided substantive data, while one confirmed it did not hold the information requested.
RE:UK asked each chamber for the total number of rent appeal cases brought by tenants annually over the past three full years, along with the average time taken to consider, process, and rule on those appeals.
Across three tribunals, 2,944 cases were recorded over that period. Yet only one chamber confirmed it held any data on how long appeals took to conclude. That chamber's figures showed just 21% of appeals were being decided within 10 weeks, prior to the Renters' Rights Act taking effect.
The Government had committed to introducing backdating of rent for unsuccessful appeals where the tribunal is judged to be "overwhelmed," a measure intended to provide greater certainty for landlords under the new regime.
However, ministers have since admitted through written parliamentary questions that no centralised data is held on appeal volumes or processing times. Without that baseline, triggering the "overwhelm" mechanism is effectively impossible, a conclusion now reinforced by RE:UK's own investigation.
The Government also committed to undertaking, as quickly as possible, a viability assessment of an alternative or filtering body that would make initial rent determinations before cases reach the tribunal, relieving pressure on the system.
Ministers have been unable to confirm any further details on such a body or when it might become operational. The Government has also declined to publish its Justice Impact Test, which assesses the Act's effect on the tribunal process, and is actively resisting its release.
On the court's side, the picture is equally troubling. Despite a Government commitment to ensure "court readiness" ahead of the Act's introduction, including an undefined share of £50 million in new funding, ministers have been unable to provide specific metrics, timelines, or a definition of what "court readiness" actually means.
Ministry of Justice data shows that the average time between a court accepting a private landlord's claim and a repossession being granted via the grounds-based route has risen by three weeks over the past year, reaching 27.4 weeks. Court timeliness, in other words, has worsened since the Government pledged to address it.
"With the Renters' Rights Act and s21 abolition now in effect, and given serious concerns as to the stability of the market, many would expect that the Government would have, and be able to share, a basic understanding of the impacts of the Act on the judicial system and its detailed plans to mitigate these," said Kate Butler, assistant director at Real Estate:UK.
"Yet here we have new evidence which clearly demonstrates a clear and deeply concerning lack of consistent collection of rent appeal data within the tribunal process, and evidence that 80% of current recorded appeals take over 10 weeks to decide."
"Expanding the use of the s13 process to all tenancies will dramatically increase the number of appeals the tribunal hears, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will be able to effectively deal with this, or that the Government will be able to undertake its commitment to measure 'overwhelm'."
This not only undermines the attractiveness of the PRS for new investors, but it will negatively impact existing landlords and incentivise their exit."
