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 […]
The Government have now launched their consultation on the proposed repeal of section 21 evictions and to end the assured shorthold tenancy regime. The consultation paper states: “We intend to deliver the intention to remove section 21 by removing the assured shorthold tenancy regime. Section 21 notices can only be served under assured shorthold tenancies […]
A tenancy deposit scheme safeguards tenancy deposits paid in connection with shorthold tenancies. Landlords commonly require tenants to pay a deposit, as security for any damage that the tenant may do to the property. Chapter 4 of the Housing Act 2004 sets out the framework for tenancy deposits. The core purpose of Chapter 4 of […]
Hammersmith & Fulham LBC v Monk [1991] UKHL 6 (05 December 1991) Though old, this case concerned the effect of a notice to quit given by one joint tenant without consent of the other joint tenant in relation to a periodic tenancy. Mr Monk and Mrs Powell held a periodic tenancy as joint tenants at […]
Timothy Taylor Ltd v Mayfair House Corporation and another [2016] EWHC 1075 (Ch) The tenant operated a high-class art gallery from the ground floor and basement of a five-storey building in Mayfair. Under the 20 years lease, the landlord reserved an express right to alter or rebuild the building, even if the gallery (or its use or […]