New Legislation For Renting With Pets The government’s model tenancy agreement has been updated to allow tenants to keep pets by default. Meanwhile, the proposed Renters Reform Bill is awaiting Parliament approval. The Renters Reform Bill white paper has announced changes that will make it easier for tenants to keep pets, including giving tenants the right […]

Serving Legal Documents and the Strike Action of Royal Mail Staff Royal Mail has advised that due to strike action being taken by members of The Communications Workers Union (CWU), who work for Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide, there may be disruption to letters and parcel services on the following dates: • Friday 26th August […]

Summary Judgement Application The coronavirus pandemic kickstarted the rise of rent arrears and tenant evictions in 2020. This has followed by a cost of living crisis and wider economic downfall nationally. Many landlords have issued possession proceedings to recover possession of their properties. Tenants often raise defences or counterclaims to possession proceedings which substantially delays […]

Terminating a Tenancy After the Death of the Tenant How do you deal with Terminating a Tenancy After the Death of the Tenant? When a tenant dies, the assured shorthold tenancy agreement does not automatically end. The tenancy is transferred temporarily to the Public Trustee if a tenant dies: without a will with a will […]

Repealing the Section 21 Ground for Possession  On 15 April 2019, the then-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 […]

How long are possession orders enforceable for?  Our experts are often asked, how long are possession orders enforceable for?  Under the Limitations Act 1980 (“the Act”), Section 24 provides a period of six years for the enforcement of a possession order from the time that it becomes enforceable. This means that from the date the […]

History of Changes to the Section 21 Notice Along with other unprecedented measures to protect the public, there were ongoing changes to the notice period required to be given when serving a section 21 (“s.21”) notice under the Housing Act 1988. Although the notice periods for section 8 and 21 notices are now back to […]

Housing Benefit Discrimination is Unlawful  A ‘no DSS’ policy is when an agent refuses to rent to anyone who gets universal credit or housing benefit.  This could include when agents: refuse to let you view an affordable property won’t consider you for a tenancy because you get benefits advertise properties as ‘no DSS’, ‘no benefits’ or ‘working professionals […]

What is a Tenancy Deposit Scheme? Despite having been in force since April 2007, many landlords are still unaware of what a tenancy deposit scheme is. This article covers the basic must knows of what a tenancy deposit is. Overview The Government website is not up to date with its guidance for landlords in relation […]

Recovering Commercial Rent Arrears Government plans to “ring-fence” Covid-rent arrears and introduce a binding arbitration scheme. The current moratorium preventing landlords seeking forfeiture of leases, issuing winding-up petitions or utilising the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery scheme in relation to Covid-based rent arrears is scheduled to come to an end on 25 March 2022.  However, that […]