The Welsh government has announced new guidance for tenants, landlords and letting agents in respect of tenants’ fees. The guidance for tenants and the guidance for landlords and lettings agents are 2 separate documents with the latter being a lot more detailed. In summary the guidance documents set out: If the tenancy agreement is signed …
The How to Rent Guide has been changed again. The How to Rent Guide was substantially updated on 31 May 2019 to reflect the changes introduced by the Tenant Fees Act. Since that date there has been 2 further minor changes. The 2 minor changes are noted on the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local …
There was an unexpected and, possibly unlawful, amendment to Form 6A on 8 August 2019. As readers of this blog should be aware, Form 6A is the prescribed form that must be used when landlords or their agents wish to serve a section 21 notice on a tenant with an assured shorthold tenancy. Form 6A …
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined a London estate agency £80,000 for leaving 18,610 customers’ personal data exposed. The breach appears to have occurred when the agency transferred data from its server to a partner organisation and failed to switch off an ‘Anonymous Authentication’ function. This error meant that access was not restricted and …
This month the short guidance to Right to Rent (RtR) guidance has been amended by the Home Office, mainly to deal with B5JSSK nationals. People who are allowed to reside in the UK are allowed to rent a property during their stay. This includes most people from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and …
The government has commenced a consultation on abolishing s.21 notices and improving the implementation of section 8 notices. In April this year the government announced that it would end s.21 evictions. This would see landlords unable to end tenancies without giving a reason and require them to follow the s.8 process where evidence and reasons …
The government has commenced a consultation on the database of rogue landlords and property agents. The consultation will seek views on who has access to the database and whether the scope of offences included on the database should be expanded. The database of rogue landlords and property agents was introduced as part of the Housing …
In October last year the government launched a scoping review of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to consider whether it needed updating. The review of the HHSRS has now reported and it has been announced that there will be a comprehensive overhaul later this year. The overhaul will include: Reviewing and updating …
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has published a report by the property agents working group containing recommendations for government on a new regulatory framework. Membership of the working group includes RICS, ARLA Propertymark, National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and NLA amongst others. The government has proposed that property agents are …
The Home Office has been granted permission to appeal the High Court decision of March this year which held that the Right to Rent policy was unlawful. In March the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) were successful in their claim that the Right to Rent scheme is incompatible with the European Convention …
The Welsh Government has announced that it will consult on extending the notice period for the equivalent to the s.21 notice in the renting Homes (Wales) Act from 2 months to 6. The plan to extend the notice period was announced by housing minister Julie James and will see an amendment to s.173 of Renting …
Extending notice period for Section 21 notices – Wales Read More »
The Property Ombudsman (TPO) has just announced that seven estate and lettings agents have been expelled. TPO is an independent and impartial dispute resolution service. Disputes which have not been settled between a customer and registered agent can be referred to TPO for a resolution. TPO has the power to put a customer back into …
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has issued the final report from its independent review of the use and effectiveness of selective licensing (SL). The purpose of the review was to assess how SL has been used as a policy tool and whether it has delivered the intended outcomes. In summary, the …
Review of the use and effectiveness of Selective Licensing Read More »
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has launched a call for evidence to explore innovative approaches to deposit protection and look at improvements to the way the deposit protection process works. One of the issues that the MHCLG appears to have identified is the length of time it takes for some tenants …
Lewisham council is consulting on introducing new additional HMO and selective licensing schemes. At present Lewisham operates the mandatory and an additional HMO licensing scheme within its borough. Lewisham is now proposing introducing two further schemes which will operate in tandem with the existing schemes. The proposal is to introduce a new additional HMO licensing …
Lewisham council consulting on extending licensing Read More »
Some 4 weeks after the Act came into force the private rental market is already seeing the negative consequences of the legislation. The Act came into force on 1 June 2019 but prior to this the industry warned that the consequences would have a negative impact on the rental market. ARLA amongst others warned earlier …
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