The new government’s Queens Speech confirmed that there will be a Bill that will involve the ending of section 21 evictions under the Housing Act 1988, commonly known as the ‘no fault eviction’ procedure. In a press release published on 19 December 2019 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP […]
Landlords have called on the government to ensure any housing reform is “done right” as the Conservative party takes the country’s helm for the next five years. The UK voted overwhelmingly for the Conservative party, boosting the party’s position in the House of Commons by nearly 50 seats and providing its leader Boris Johnson with a […]
A rent repayment order (RRO) is an order of a Tribunal which requires repayment of rent (or housing benefit or housing costs element of universal credit) paid in respect of a tenancy or licence, by a landlord/agent who has committed a particular offence listed in the legislation. The offences are: using or threatening violence for securing entry into […]
Tenants abandoning or vacating a premises during their tenancy and leaving their goods behind is a common problem for landlords. The landlords have a legal obligation to take care of the uncollected goods and in tort becomes an involuntary bailee with the duty to act reasonably in relation to the uncollected possessions. The law that […]
How to Respond to your Tenants’ Damp Problems As we enter the autumn months, landlords will naturally begin to see an increase in the number of complaints they receive from tenants related to damp problems in their properties. This year however, with the introduction of the Homes Act, landlords are under even more pressure to […]
Houses in Multiple Occupation (‘HMO’) require licensing under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004. Mandatory HMO licensing applies to any HMO which is let to 5 or more people that are from 2 or more households (families). Some councils also require other HMO’s to be licensed. Some councils require all private landlords to get a […]
Can a joint tenant drop out? A common question that arises from landlords and also letting agents is whether or not a joint tenant can surrender their tenancy and what impact this has on the other tenant. Historically, where more than one-person owned land, they owned the land either in common or jointly. Common ownership […]
Updated Section 21 Notice The Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), again, had made an error on the Form 6A, section 21 notice. The error was corrected and Form 6A was updated on 12 August 2019. However, the Form 6A update was updated without any accompanying statutory instrument which means the updated Form […]
Some landlords are charging “pet rent” running into hundreds of pounds a year in an attempt to recoup losses from a ban on unfair letting fees enforced by the Tenant Fees Act 2019. The new practice means tenants with animals are being charged up to £50 a month additional rent for a single pet. The […]
Unsigned Section 21 Notice, valid or invalid? In the case of Barker v Hands [2007] EWCA Civ 869 a landlord served a notice on the tenant under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. The tenant failed to the leave the property by the end of the notice period and the landlord subsequently issued a […]