The Renters’ Rights Bill received Royal Assent this week which will mark a major shift in the legal landscape for landlords. In this article Landlord & Tenant Specialist Olivia Parkinson has bought together everything you need to know…
Implementation of new Act
The Government must now announce the Act's implementation timetable, when certain parts of the Act will come into force. No one yet knows when this will be but both landlords and tenants must be given sufficient notice of the changes to ensure compliance. It is hoped that there will be a 6 month implementation period but this is not guaranteed.
Following commencement of the Act, all new tenancies will require updated tenancy agreements.
Has section 21 been abolished?
Yes, the use of section 21 notices (i.e. no fault evictions) that will be instantly prohibited once the Renters Rights Act is implemented.
However, there is due to be a transition period whereby any section 21 proceedings that have already been commenced can continue and any section 21 notices that have been served but not acted on. Landlords will need to issue the claim by the expiry of the notice (i.e. 6 months from the date of the notice) or three months after commencement (whichever is shorter).
When can’t a section 8 notice be served?
A section 8 notice cannot be served under these circumstances:
Deposit protection
If the tenants deposit has not been protected in a scheme, and prescribed information has not been served on the tenants (where grounds is not ASB). Landlords may be able to protect late, and, therefore, serve a notice (but this may still carry financial penalties for failure to protect within the timeframe).
Database registration
Once the database is set up, a landlord cannot serve a section 8 notice (unless on ASB grounds) if they are in breach of the database requirements.
Rent repayment orders
Due to the introduction of new rent repayment orders, this may result in counterclaims which could specifically affect rent arrears grounds.
New grounds/changes to existing grounds
GROUND | CHANGES TO RULES |
Ground 1 (landlord moving in or moving family member into the property)
| Notice period has been extended from 2 to 4 months. Unable to be used within the first 12 months of the tenancy commencing (can be served after 8 months to expire after 12 months)
|
Ground 1A (sale of the property) | 4 month notice period. Landlord may not market or relet the property for 12 months after the notice expires or during the notice (if the tenants move out) or after the claim is filed at Court. The restriction on reletting will not apply if possession was also granted on an anti-social behaviour ground |
Ground 4A (Student tenancy) | Must be a licenced HMO, cannot be used on 1 or 2 bedroom properties. It will be a prior notice ground and therefore notice will be required before the tenancy begins (or a month after the commencement date of the legislation for pre-existing) – wording will therefore be required in the tenancy agreements. All tenants must be full-time students or the landlord had reason to believe they would become full time students during the tenancy. Landlords can only seek possession using this ground between 1st June and 30th September and only if the landlord intends to re-let to another group of students. Can only be used where the tenancy was agreed no more than 6 months before the start date of the tenancy. |
Ground 6B (non-compliance) | Mandatory ground for eviction where the landlord has breached legislation and received various enforcement notices (such as improvement notice). Whilst an order can be made, the Court also has discretion when making the order to order the landlord to pay the tenant compensation for needing to remove the tenant due to the landlord’s faults. |
Grounds 8, 10 and 11 (rent arrears) | Mandatory ground 8 changed from two months in arrears to 3 months in arrears (if rent is paid monthly) or 13 weeks in arrears in any other rental frequency. Notice period increased from 2 weeks to 4 weeks. Landlords will be unable to take Universal Credit benefit delays into account when calculating arrears. |
Grounds 7A and 14 (anti-social behaviour | Both are now an immediate notice ground. The Court cannot grant possession earlier than 14 days from the notice date. Courts will consider in particular the impact on other tenants in a HMO when deciding whether to grant possession so evidence of this when applying to the Court will be crucial. |
Other key changes being introduced
THE CHANGES | WHAT THIS IS SET TO LOOK LIKE |
Assured tenancies | The Government is set to abolish assured shorthold tenancies meaning there will be no more fixed term tenancy agreements and they will automatically be periodic rolling tenancies from the commencement of the Act. There will be no need to sign new documentation. This will also mean that tenants do not need to wait for the fixed term to expire before giving notice, they can give 2 months’ notice at any time in line with their rent date. Tenants can give notice in any written format i.e. by text, WhatsApp, email etc. Landlords will only be able to evict by using one of the section 8 grounds above. |
Right to pets | Tenants will be given a statutory right to request a pet before they move in and during the course of their tenancy. Landlords will have a specific time to consider the request and respond giving reasons for any rejection. |
Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman | Landlords must register even if they are using an agent, and a failure to do so will result in a fine of up to £7,000 which increases to £40,000 for repeat or ongoing offences. |
Private Rented Sector Database | Landlords must register even if they are using an agent. Registration is required per owner so if a landlord owns some properties in their personal name and some in a company name, both must be registered. Landlords must join before they market a property for letting and it must be shown in in the marketing. Landlords will be unable to serve a section 8 notice they are not signed up to the database (except on grounds 7A and 14). The local authority will have the power to enter without a warrant where they have suspicions that the property is not on the database. |
Discrimination | Landlords will be prevented from conducting any practices that amount to discrimination. Applicants that are on benefits or have children cannot be prevented from:
Landlords will still be able to take affordability into account when considering a tenant. |
Bidding wars | Landlords will be required to include an asking price for the rent in all advertisements and are prohibited from promoting or accepting rent that exceeds this listed price. The local authority will have the power to fine landlords up to £7,000 for accepting bids above the listed price. |
Guarantors | Guarantors will no longer be liable for any rent due after the tenant has passed away. |
Decent homes standard | Will require the property to be:
Non-compliance carries a fine of up to £7,000 and up to £40,000 for persistent and repeated non-compliance as well as the possibility of criminal prosecution. See further below for more information. |
Specialist Landlord & Tenant Solicitors
If you have any questions about how these new changes will affect you, get in touch with a member of our specialist landlord & tenant team on 01202 499255.
We offer all new clients a free initial chat, you can book yours by filling out the form.
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