Deregulation Act 2015

Part 1: changes to assured shorthold tenancies

Sarah Coates-Madden looks at some of the housing-related changes being brought in by the Deregulation Act 2015, which received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015. This week, she discusses the changes already in force in relation to tenancy deposits and what effect they will have on landlords of private residential properties.

Tenancy deposit scheme

The law requires that any deposits taken on assured shorthold tenancies (AST) in England and Wales starting after 6 April 2007 must be protected in a government-authorised deposit protection scheme.

This now also applies on deposits taken on any AST before April 2007 and that have not been protected. The deposit must now be paid into an appropriate scheme and PI served. Otherwise you will not be able to issue a valid Section 21 notice at any point in the future. 

This regulation overturns the Superstrike v Rodrigues [2013] EWCA CIV 669 decision, and landlords now have a period of 90 days from the coming into force of the act on 26th March 2015 to rectify the situation.

What this means & what to do now

There will be a few landlords with pre-April 2007 deposits that now require protecting and have been given three months to do so to avoid any risk.

All landlords should:

• Check all their tenancies to see when they’ve taken and protected deposits

• Check they have served the PI.

The deadline is 23rd June 2015.

Use this opportunity to get everything in order and prevent any issues with the protecting of deposits, serving the PI, serving Section 21 notices and avoiding any potential penalties.

If you do this, it will be as if you had always been compliant. If you don\'t, it will be too late. You will not be able to serve a Section 21 notice unless the deposit is repaid to the tenant, and in certain circumstances, depending upon the applicable dates, you will be liable for penalties for non-protection.

Need advice? We can help you

Please call Sarah Coates-Madden on 01482 325242.  Or email scm@gosschalks.co.uk. 

You can find out more about how we can help you here: >www.gosschalks.co.uk

Related articles: Deregulation Act 2015 part 2: Heat Network Regulations 2014/ Deregulation Act 2015 part 3: Section 21 notices and new changes to retaliation evictions

Part 2:

Sarah Coates-Madden looks at some of the housing-related changes being brought in by the Deregulation Act 2015, which received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015. This week, she discusses the changes relating to the Heat Network Regulations 2014 and what effect they will have on landlords of private residential properties.

Heat Network Regulations 2014

These new obligations apply to landlords operating commercial and residential property lets to multiple occupants.

They will apply where the landlord “supplies and charges for the supply of heating, cooling or hot water to a final customer through communal heating.\" A landlord heating the building using a central boiler and charging the cost back to the individual tenants (usually via a service charge) is the most obvious example.

The communal systems need to be registered with the National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO), who are the enforcement authority, by 30th April 2015 and then re-registered every four years.

You must also notify the NMRO for any new system installed after this date before it becomes operational. 

These regulations apply to both commercial and residential property in both the public and the private sector. Although there is a small list of exemptions.

What this means for you

Before 30th April 2015

You must provide the NMRO with information about the heating system. This includes the location and types of building, what metering equipment is installed, the number of customers (tenants) and the capacity of the heating system.

Before 31st December 2016

You may be required to install meters, or heat cost allocators, to each individual occupier unless these measures are not cost-effective. The regulations contain detailed guidelines on when installation will not be considered cost-effective. But, generally, they involve looking at the cost of installation versus the projected energy savings.

Where the projected energy savings over a 10 year period are likely to be more than the cost of installation, you\'ll be required to comply with this obligation. If it\'s not considered cost-effective, you must review this every four years.

Landlords may need to call in assistance from energy experts to compile this data, and will need to determine whether these costs are recoverable from their tenants.

Make sure you\'ve complied with the regulations by the due date to avoid penalties.

Need advice? We can help you

Call Sarah Coates-Madden now on 01482 324252.

Or email scm@gosschalks.co.uk.

You can find out more about how we can help you here: >www.gosschalks.co.uk

Related articles

•Deregulation Act 2015 part 1: changes to assured shorthold tenancies

•Deregulation Act 2015 part 3: Section 21 notices and new changes to retaliation evictions

Part 3:

Sarah Coates-Madden takes a closer look at some of the housing-related changes being brought in by the Deregulation Act 2015, which received Royal Assent on 26th March 2015. This week, she discusses the changes relating to prevention of retaliatory eviction and the health & safety and the condition of the premises that will affect Assured Shorthold landlords and tenants.

Retaliatory evictions, health & safety and condition of the premises

The Deregulation Act will impose new conditions that ensure the health and safety of tenants within AST properties before a valid Section 21 Notice can be served. This is to prevent so-called retaliatory or revenge evictions.

Under these proposals a valid Section 21 Notice can’t be served if:

1. The tenant has made a written complaint to the landlord regarding the condition of the property before service of a section 21 regarding the condition of the property.

2. The landlord has not provided an adequate written response within 14 days.

3. The tenant has complained to the local authority which has served an Improvement Notice or Emergency Remedial Notice.

If the landlord serves a Section 21 Notice between steps 2 and 3, that Notice will be invalid if the local authority does serve an Improvement Notice.

The above will not apply if the condition of the dwelling-house is caused by breaches by the tenant of their obligations.

These changes are likely to be introduced in October 2015.

What this means for landlords

If a tenant makes a written complaint about the condition of the property, the landlord will not be able to give notice to vacate and recover possession of the premises as a direct response to the complaint.

The landlord must give an adequate response to the complaint in writing within 14 days. Plus include details of how the landlord proposes to deal with the issue, and a timescale for the work to be carried out.The Act sets out what an adequate response will have to include.

If the landlord has been served with an Improvement Notice by a local authority, the landlord will not be able to serve a Section 21 Notice for six months.

Landlords will need to keep up to date with what’s required of them. They should also review the arrangements they have in place for tenants to notify repairs and issues, and make sure that tenants are provided with up to date contact details for reporting complaints. The proposed changes will introduce extra time constraints to the Section 21 process.

What this means for tenants

From a tenant’s point of view, the proposed changes should give some extra protection and clarity of their rights but to take advantage of those rights they will have to ensure that they properly report any complaints about the condition of the property in writing.

Other changes introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015

Section 21 Notice

A new prescribed form Section 21 Notice is expected from July 2015. Plus the removal of the need for a landlord to specify the last day of a period of the tenancy, which they currently have to do on a Section 21(4)(a) Notice.

Under Section 36 of the Act, from 1st October 2015, landlords will no longer be able to serve a Section 21 Notice within the first four months of the start of the tenancy. So those landlords whose practice it is to automatically serve a Section 21 at the start of the tenancy will no longer be able to do so.

The thinking behind this change is to ensure that tenants in real terms always get at least two months’ notice under Section 21. It’s likely to lead to more landlords limiting service of Section 21 Notices to when they’re actually seeking to recover possession.

Section 21 Notices currently last indefinitely. Under the proposals expected from October 2015, a Section 21 Notice will only be valid for six months. If legal proceedings haven’t started within the six months, the landlord will have to serve a new Section 21 Notice. Then wait a further two months and then issue legal proceedings.

Section 38 - 40

Section 38 of the Act will introduce more restrictions on Section 21 Notices. For example, it\'s likely that no valid Section 21 Notice will be able to be served while there\'s no EPC or gas certificate in place for the property. Secondary legislation will be made in connection with this section.

Section 39 of the Act is also expected to introduce a new required form of information to be given to AST tenants by their landlords, setting out the rights and responsibilities of each.

Section 40 of the Act will introduce a statutory requirement for landlords to repay rent to AST tenants pro-rata, where it has been paid in advance for a rental period, and where the tenant ceases to be in occupation for the whole of that period.

In most cases, existing tenancies and notices issued before the date the changes come into force will not be affected. But there will be some transitional arrangements. If you\'re in doubt, please get in touch with us to discuss.

Need advice? We can help you

Please call Sarah Coates-Madden on 01482 324252.

Or email scm@gosschalks.co.uk.

You can find out more about how we can help you here: >www.gosschalks.co.uk

Related articles

•Deregulation Act 2015 part 1: changes to assured shorthold tenancies

•Deregulation Act 2015 part 2: Heat Network Regulations 2014