Abolishing the No-Fault Eviction Ground After much anticipation the first draft of the Renters Reform Bill published on 17 May 2023, which included the Abolishing the No-Fault Eviction Ground under s.21 of the Housing Act 1988 (Form 6A). The section 21 ground for possession currently allows landlords to terminate an assured shorthold tenancy agreement without […]

Suspension of Evictions Landlords will now face even longer waits than normal to evict tenants in London after two large landlords were advised that the County Court Bailiff operations are to be suspended for the ‘foreseeable future’. The suspension of evictions has come as a surprise given that the wait times for a County Court […]

Enforcing A Suspended Possession Order A suspended possession order, is an order for possession of property, that is suspended on specific terms set out in the order. The consequence of this is that the landlord cannot enforce th order, unless the terms upon which it has been suspended have been breached. The Court of Appeal […]

New How to Rent Guide Publication A new How To Rent Guide was to be published on Friday, 17 March 2023; however, it was not published as expected. The last update was over two years ago, during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. The How to Rent Guide is a prescribed document which must […]

Guide on Serving Notice in Wales A “Standard Contract” is the most common agreement between a private landlord and tenant of residential property. This is the agreement that replaced assured shorthold tenancies on 01 December 2022. Existing assured shorthold tenancies converted to “Standard Contracts” automatically on this date. Tenants are now called “Contract-Holders” under the […]

County Court & High Court Enforcement – What’s the Difference? An enforcement officer (also known as a bailiff) is required when there is a possession order which has ordered the defendant(s) to give possession of a property and the deadline for doing so has passed. It is unlawful for any unauthorised person to enforce a […]

On 15 April 2019, the Government announced: “Private landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants from their homes at short notice and without good reason.” This was followed by a consultation process which ran between July and October 2019. The consultation paper proposed the abolition of section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. […]

Defending a Rent Repayment Order Application A rent repayment order (“RRO”) is an order made by a Tribunal requiring the landlord or agent to repay rent (including housing benefit or housing element of universal credit) where the landlord or agent has committed a particular offence, which are listed below. It is not necessary that the landlord […]

What is prescribed information? The Prescribed Information refers to information that is required to be given to a tenant, and anyone who pays a tenancy deposit in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy. The Housing Act 2004 sets out that where a tenancy deposit is paid, the landlord must: Secure the tenancy deposit with a […]

Does the tenancy deposit schemes apply in Wales? Following the implementation of significant changes in Wales to housing law, many landlords have been left with many question marks as they begin to relearn their legal obligations and the new terminology. One issue in particular that many landlords have been enquiring with our legal team about […]