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Important changes to laws for residential Landlords and the eviction procedure come in to force today

Changes to the Housing Act 1988 section 21 notice procedure introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 come into force today. The amended procedures place further restrictions on when a landlord can serve and enforce a section 21 notice in relation to residential properties let on assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs).

SUMMARY 

In force: Today 01 October 2015 

Affects: All new AST’s 

• Restricting a landlord from taking retaliatory action 

• Removing the need for a landlord to specify in a s 21 notice the last day of a period of the tenancy as the date on which the tenancy comes to an end 

• Limiting a landlord's ability to serve a section 21 notice at the start of an AST

• Enabling the Secretary of State to make regulations that prescribe the form of a section 21 notice 

• Landlord cannot serve a s21 notice where it has failed to comply with certain prescribed requirements e.g EPC, deposit protection 

• Obligation on landlords to provide information about the respective rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant under an AST e.g MUST supply DCLG: How to rent: The checklist for renting in England. 

• Giving a tenant a statutory right to claim back rent paid in advance, in respect of a period falling after a section 21 notice brings the tenancy to an end] 

Today 1 October 2015 the changes to the Housing Act 1988 section 21 notice procedure introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015 come into force.

The procedures place further restrictions on when a landlord can serve and enforce a section 21 notice in relation to residential properties let on assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs).

Which ASTs are affected?

The changes only apply to ASTs granted on or after 1 October 2015
Not mandatory for statutory periodic tenancies arising after 1 October 2015 pursuant to a tenancy granted before that date
NOTE from 1 October 2018, the new rules will apply to any AST irrespective of when it was created

The new provisions include:

  • Restricting a landlord from taking retaliatory action. A landlord cannot serve a section 21 notice when a tenant has made a written complaint to the landlord about the condition of the premises or the common parts of the building and the landlord has not responded/has given an inadequate response.
  • Removing the need for a landlord to specify in a section 21 notice the last day of a period of the tenancy as the date on which the tenancy comes to an end, including in relation to a section 21(4) notice.
  • Preventing a landlord from serving a section 21 notice in the first four months of the AST.
  • Restricting any claim for an order for possession, so that it must be started within

Six months from the date the section 21 notice was given, OR

Four months if a section 21(4) notice giving more than two months’ notice, from the date specified in that notice

A fresh section 21 notice will have to be served if possession proceedings have not been started within these time limits.

  • Introducing a new prescribed form of section 21 notice (section 37, DA 2015)
  • Preventing a landlord from serving a section 21 notice unless it has provided the tenant with an Energy Performance Certificate or a gas safety certificate (section 38, DA 2015 introducing section 21A, HA 1988).
  • Preventing a landlord from serving a section 21 notice unless it has provided the tenant with prescribed information. To satisfy this requirement the landlord must give the tenant a copy of The DCLG: How to rent in England booklet..
  • Granting a tenant the right to a rent apportionment of rent paid in advance, in respect of a period falling after a section 21 notice brings the tenancy to an end 

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