On 19 April 2018 the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee published a report on the private rented sector in which it said that the most vulnerable tenants need greater legal protections from retaliatory evictions, rent increases and harassment so they are fully empowered to pursue complaints about repairs and maintenance in their homes. …
The court of appeal has held in Smith v Khan that in unlawful eviction cases damages must compensate the tenant for not only depriving them of the property but also for anxiety, inconvenience and mental stress. Facts The claimant was a Nigerian national who had leave to remain in the UK but was not entitled to …
In our previous post we mentioned that organisations needed to be fully aware of the lawful processing basis that they are relying on for each data processing activity. This post will address the main bases applicable to agents. There are 6 lawful bases for processing and no single basis is more important or better than …
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is coming into force on 25 May 2018. This means it will be in force in the UK despite Brexit and will apply to agents and landlords who handle client’s and tenant’s data. GDPR will effectively replace the Data Protection Act 1998 and it is vital that agents …
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – 25 May 2018 Read More »
The Homelessness Reduction Act is now in force. Our previous post can be read here. The new legislation will require councils to intervene earlier to prevent homelessness. It is hoped that the Act will ‘eliminate rough sleeping within the next decade’ with local authorities taking ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent and relieve homelessness. What this means …
The Government has now introduced the Tenant Fee Bill to the House of Commons. The Bill proposes to ban landlords and their letting agents from requiring private tenants and licensees in England making payments in connection with any tenancy. Our previous post can be read here. Below is a summary of the Bill. The ban …
With the possibility of England introducing a landlord registration scheme we thought it wise to keep an eye on the scheme in Scotland. Any new scheme may be influenced by the Scottish scheme introduced in 2004 with a view to improve standards in the private rental sector. Scotland has therefore launched a review of the …
Many commonwealth citizens have lived in the UK for most of their lives but recently it has become clear that they have had difficulty providing the necessary evidence to prove their status. The government has therefore issued urgent guidance for landlords on the RtR checks on undocumented commonwealth citizens while they take steps to resolve …
Commonwealth citizens (‘Windrush’) and Right to Rent Read More »
This Bill was introduced to Parliament on 17 January 2018. The Bill seeks to require all private landlords in England (Scotland already has a registration requirement) to be registered. The second reading was due to take place on 27 April 2018. The Bill was introduced by Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Labour) MP who suggests that the …
MEES is now in force. This means that as of the 6 April 2018, private rental properties will need to have a minimum EPC rating of E or it will be illegal to rent the property. Our previous post can be seen here. However, as with most general rules there are exemptions to the minimum …
EPC minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) are now in force Read More »
In Caridon Property v Monty Shooltza County Court appeal judge has dismissed a landlord’s claim for possession on the expiry of a Section 21 notice. The landlord’s claim failed because the tenant was not given a gas safety certificate before the commencement of a post 1 October 2015 tenancy pursuant to Regulation 2 of the …
The government consultation on client money protection schemes for lettings agents has now closed. In summary the government’s response to the consultation is as follows: 63% of respondents agreed that any client money protection (CMP) scheme should be market-led, that is a private scheme which is approved by the government in order to operate. The …
The government has issued guidance on when and under what circumstances local authorities in England may make an entry on the ‘rogue’ landlord or agent database. The database was established following the introduction of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The database is designed to help local authorities track agents and landlords that have been …
In Caridon Property v Monty Shooltza County Court appeal judge has dismissed a landlord’s claim for possession on the expiry of a Section 21 notice. The landlord’s claim failed because the tenant was not given a gas safety certificate before the commencement of a post 1 October 2015 tenancy pursuant to Regulation 2 of the …
It has been reported that Tower Hamlets (TH) council will be asking housing secretary Sajid Javid to exempt parts of the borough from rules enabling people to let their homes out for short term holiday lets like those found on Airbnb without permission. Landlords renting out their properties in the borough for an aggregate of …
Since the introduction of the Deregulation Act 2015 the process of registering and returning a tenancy deposit has been made simpler for most landlords. There are still some situations though where it is very complex and the Deregulation Act changes have actually made that worse. In general, deposits should be protected within 30 days of …
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