In the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement of last week, Philip Hammond announced: “In the private rental market, letting agents are currently able to charge unregulated fees to tenants. We have seen these fees spiral, often to hundreds of pounds. This is wrong. Landlords appoint letting agents and landlords should meet their fees. So I can announce …
Thank you to our friends at Nearly Legal for notifying us of the latest update to the prescribed form of the section 8 notice. This comes in the form of The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2016 The changes are to take account of the new ground 7B seeking …
Where rented properties are infested with Rats or other pests it is not always the landlord’s responsibility to deal with them. The starting point is that in relation to furnished lettings, there is at common law an implied condition that a property will be free from pest infestation at the commencement of the tenancy. If …
During the Christmas period PainSmith will close on December 22nd 2016 at 4pm but if you email us or telephone that day helpline calls will still be answered; as will all email helpline queries on December 23rd 2016. The office opens again on December 28th 2016 from 9am until 5.30pm; but will be closed on …
Landlords are under a duty to ensure gas appliances, fittings and chimneys/flues provided for tenants are safe pursuant to the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The 3 main responsibilities can be summarised as follows: Maintenance: pipework, appliances and chimney/flues need to be maintained. At the very least we at PainSmith recommend gas appliances …
The Homelessness Reduction Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons after winning support from MPs across the benches. This means that it is now one step closer to becoming law. Our previous blog on the Bill can be read here. The bill, introduced by Conservative backbencher Bob Blackman, will toughen up …
On the PainSmith helpline we are often asked about rented properties that have been destroyed by a fire. The question usually posed is what is the tenant’s legal rights if the rented property is destroyed? The answer in most cases is that if the rented property has been destroyed, the tenancy is at an end. …
Foxtons has been fined a total £12,000 for breaches of Section 83 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Section 83 states that a letting agent “must…publicise details of the agent’s relevant fees.” Subsection 4 requires such details to include “a description of each fee that is sufficient to enable a person who is liable to …
Yes, this is the third blog on the TPO rule change with effect from 1 October 2016. Sorry. Last week we advised readers about the new rule relating to property viewings. Agents were advised that the new rule, 8F stated: “TPO require agents to obtain “expressed consent” for access to the property notwithstanding any notice …
One route to obtaining possession of a property is by serving the tenant with a Section 8 notice pursuant to the Housing Act 1988. A section 8 notice has to be served in the prescribed form (Form 3) and can be issued to tenants that are either on an Assured Shorthold or fully Assured tenancy. …
We still have a few places left for the forthcoming Seminar in Oxford featuring an update on the Immigration Act from Gareth Fowler of Key Safe Tenant Vetting and an update on other legal matters including Deregulation Act and the Housing and Planning Act 2016. For more details click Here or email alexandrar@painsmith.co.uk
Further to our post of last week, we would like to thank the Philip James Partnership Ltd, for contacting the Ombudsman and seeking clarification on paragraph 8F of the 2016 TPO Code of Practice and then sharing the response with us. Paragraph 8F states: “TPO require agents to obtain “expressed consent” for access to the …
The Property Ombudsman amended its code of conduct effective from 1 October 2016. There are a number of small changes which will not affect most agents but there are two which are far more serious, one of them very. For agents that are members of the Property Ombudsman scheme this rule change may pose a …
Repairing obligations are often not taken very seriously by Landlords. This is a huge mistake which can result in courts awarding tenants damages for the disrepair, which in more serious cases can virtually eliminate a tenant’s rent arrears and make recovery of possession under section 8 all but impossible. The repairing obligation applies where the …
Back to Basics – Landlord’s repairing obligations Read More »
In Stodday Land Limited and Ripway Properties Limited v William Marsland, the High Court held that a Notice to Quit was invalid because it was served before the purchaser became the registered owner of the property. Stodday sold most of its land to a new owner on 19 June 2013. The registration of the new …
In Timothy Taylor Ltd v Mayfair House Corporation 2016, the High Court awarded a Tenant damages after deciding that the Tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment of the property had been breached by the Landlord. The Tenant ran a top-end art gallery in Mayfair, London. The commercial lease contained an express covenant by the Landlord permitting …
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