System Failure

Im sure there is a saying that goes “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The Renters’ Rights Act is a prime example of policy whose ripple effects may be more damaging than the problem it aims to solve.

When we shift to a mandatory, fault-based eviction system without fixing the underlying affordability crisis, we aren't just protecting tenants; we are inadvertently building a wall that makes them unhouseable.

The "Cycle of Exclusion":

The Gap: LHA rates are frozen or lagging; they simply don't cover market rent.

The Default: For the most vulnerable, arrears become a mathematical inevitability.

The Court: With Section 21 gone, landlords are forced into the courts to seek Section 8 judgments.

The CCJ: The tenant gains a permanent digital mark—a "scarlet letter" in a data-driven world.

The Wall: Automated screening tools "red flag" that CCJ, blacklisting the tenant from almost every future home.

As a landlord, I’m already seeing the private sector retreat into extreme caution. And from my experience in emergency housing, I know that the safety net—despite record spending—is too frayed to catch those the market rejects.

We are spending billions on the symptoms of a broken system while policy creates a "closed loop" of homelessness. It’s time to stop patching the cracks and start redesigning the structure.