Changes for landlords and tenants introduced by the Deregulation Act

Amendments in the Deregulation Act (DA) have finally put an end to the confusing tenancy deposit rules which have been in place since the Court of Appeal decision in the Superstrike v Rodrigues case. The new rules outlined below apply from 23 March 2015.

Deposits paid before 6 April 2007 (which became periodic before that date)

When tenants moved into the property before 6 April 2007 and their tenancy was renewed (or rolled over) before that date, landlords cannot be fined for failure to protect the deposit. Landlords will not, however, be permitted to serve a section 21 notice to quit until they have protected or returned the deposit.

Deposits paid before 6 April 2007 (which became periodic after that date)

When tenants moved into the property before 6 April 2007 any deposit paid did not have to be protected. If, however, the tenancy agreement has been renewed (or rolled over) after this date, the landlord or agent is required to protect the deposit and provide the relevant information by 23 June 2015. Landlords who fail to protect the deposit within this time could be fined up to three times the amount of the deposit and will not be allowed to serve a section 21 notice to quit.

Deposits taken after 6 April 2007 that have been protected and the prescribed information served during the original fixed term

These cases will now be treated as if the prescribed information had been served on every renewal or whenever a statutory periodic tenancy arose - even if the prescribed information was served late initially.

In short, provided the deposit stays protected with the same deposit scheme landlords do not need to keep re-serving the prescribed information each time the tenancy is renewed.

Retaliatory Evictions

Sections 33 and 34 of the DA aim to protect assured short hold tenants (ASTs) from being evicted for making genuine complaints about property conditions while at the same time protecting landlords from abuse of these provisions by tenants seeking to gain longer term security of tenure. The new rules outlined below apply to all ASTs starting on or after 1 October 2015. From 1 October 2018 the new rules apply to all ASTs.

Section 21 notices are invalid in circumstances where:

1. The tenant has made a complaint about conditions at the property (in writing if possible) and the landlord has failed to respond within 14 days with a reasonable plan to address the problem.
2. The local authority has served a relevant notice under the Housing Act 2004 (improvement notice relating to category 1 or category 2 hazards or a notice requiring emergency remedial action).
3. In cases when the section 21 notice was given after the tenant complained to the local authority, it was given before the service of the relevant notice under the Housing Act 2004.
4. In these circumstances no section 21 notice can be served within six months of the date of service of the Housing Act 2004 enforcement notice.

Exceptions

• The conditions giving rise to the Housing Act notice are due to a breach by the tenant of their obligation to use the premises in a tenant like manner.
• The Property is genuinely on the market for sale.
• The property is subject to a mortgage and the lender requires possession for sale.
• The Landlord is a registered provider of social housing.

Landlords are now advised to:

• Make sure they can prove that all tenants were given their full contact details. Most good landlords print these details on their tenancy agreements. This protects them against tenants claiming to have made verbal complaints about disrepair as they did not have the landlord’s address or email address.
• Respond to all complaints about property conditions and disrepair in writing within 14 days of receipt and keep copies of all such communications.

Other significant changes are:

• Letting Agents' details rather than landlords' details can be provided in prescribed information when the agent is dealing with the deposit.
• A New form of Section 8 notice must be used after 6 April 2015.

From 1 October 2015

• There will be no requirement for the date in section 21 notice for a periodic tenancy to be the last day of a period of tenancy.
• Tenants will have legal right to claim back rent paid in advance (calculated on a daily basis) when a section 21 notice brings a tenancy to an end before the end of a payment period.
• Landlords will not be able to serve section 21 notices within the first 4 months of the tenancy.
• Section 21 notices will have a 6 month lifespan. Possession proceedings cannot be brought after 6 months from the date of the section 21 notice.

From November 2015

• The government published a new standard form of section 21 notice (6A) which is freely available for all landlords to use.
• A landlord whose tenancy began or was renewed on/after 1st October 2015 cannot serve a section 21 notice if s/he is in breach of a "prescribed requirement" now set out by the Secretary of State. These are:-

1. Valid energy performance certificate must be given to tenant
2. Valid gas safety certificate must be given to tenant
3. Current government "How to rent guide" must be given to tenant

Deregulation Act Update - October 2018

From 1 October 2018 the new rules set out in the Deregulation Act 2015 (above) will apply to all assured short hold tenants regardless of when their tenancy began.

Landlords wanting to evict their assured shorthold tenants using the notice seeking possession under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 must use the new standard from of section 21 Notice (form 6A) and must comply with the prescribed requirements set out by the Secretary of State. These are:-

1. Valid energy performance certificate must be given to tenant
2. Valid gas safety certificate must be given to tenant
3. Current government "How to rent guide" must be given to tenant

A full summary of all these provisions can be found on the GOV.UK website.

• GOV.UK - Private Renting
• GOV.UK - How to let

In addition Section 21 notices are still invalid and unenforceable when served on assured shorthold tenants living in unlicensed HMOs (houses in multiple occupation).

Section 21 notices are also still invalid and unenforceable in cases where tenant’s deposits are not protected in a government backed deposit protection scheme and the “prescribed deposit information” is not provided to the tenant within 30 days of receipt of the deposit.

More information about deposits can be found at:

• GOV.UK - Deposit protection schemes and landlords
• GOV.UK - Tenancy deposit protection