Serving a Valid Section 21 Notice  Following the Deregulation Act 2015 being enacted, the section 21 procedure has become more complex than it was prior to the enactment of this Act. This is because there are now more legal obligations to meet, known as the prescribed requirements, which if not complied with, will result in […]

Rent Repayment Orders

22nd November 2019 0

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 Uncollected Goods

20th October 2019 0

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Tenant Fees Act 2019

17th May 2019 0

Please note: this guidance applies to England only. What fees can I ask a tenant to pay? You cannot require a tenant (or anyone acting on their behalf or guaranteeing their rent) to make certain payments in connection with a tenancy. You cannot require them to enter a contract with a third party or make […]

New Form of Section 21 Notice  The Section 21 Notice is being amended to incorporate the changes made under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 which brings further restrictions on serving a Section 21 Notice under the Housing Act 1988 where a landlord has taken a prohibited payment.  The amendments to the Section 21 Notice (Form […]

Following the first announcement from the Government to reform the way in which landlords can recover possession of their properties in England, James Brokenshire, the current Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has made a written statement on 23 April 2019 concerning the Governments’ intention to repeal section 21 of the Housing […]