Surrey Homes | SH17 | March 2016 | Fashion supplement inside
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspiring Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspiring Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
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BUSS MURTON advertorial<br />
Attention landlords and tenants!<br />
ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCIES<br />
& THE DEREGULATION ACT 2015<br />
Last October some important<br />
changes to the law relating to<br />
Assured Shorthold Tenancies<br />
(ASTs) were made. Nowadays<br />
most private tenancies are ASTs,<br />
so many landlords and tenants<br />
are affected by these changes.<br />
These changes were brought in<br />
because it was considered that<br />
many landlords were using section<br />
21 notices instead of dealing with<br />
legitimate tenant complaints about<br />
the condition of the property.<br />
These rules do not apply to Wales<br />
and only affect ASTs that began<br />
on or after 1st October 2015 and<br />
relate to section 21 notices (the<br />
notice served which terminates<br />
the tenancy) and the landlord’s<br />
obligations to his/her tenants. Where<br />
the new rules are not followed,<br />
the landlord may be prevented<br />
from evicting the tenant and may<br />
not be able to serve a further<br />
section 21 notice for 6 months.<br />
New rules<br />
Documentation required<br />
at beginning of an AST:<br />
A landlord must now provide<br />
certain documents to tenants at<br />
the beginning of the tenancy.<br />
These documents are:<br />
• The government booklet<br />
“How to rent: the checklist<br />
for renting in England”.<br />
• Gas appliance safety certificate.<br />
• Energy performance certificate.<br />
Service of section 21 notice;<br />
• A section 21 notice can only<br />
be served after 4 months from<br />
the beginning of the tenancy.<br />
• A new prescribed form of<br />
section 21 notice must be<br />
used; this standard form<br />
is available online.<br />
• If the local authority serves a<br />
health and safety improvement<br />
notice then no section 21 notice<br />
can be served for 6 months.<br />
Complaint about the<br />
property by tenant<br />
• If the tenant makes a complaint<br />
about the condition of the<br />
property the Landlord must<br />
respond within 14 days<br />
stating what work he intends<br />
to do and give a timescale<br />
for doing the work.<br />
• If the landlord fails to reply or<br />
the reply is not adequate or<br />
the Landlord serves a section<br />
21 notice, then the tenant<br />
can make a complaint to the<br />
local authority who will then<br />
inspect the property and can<br />
serve a remedial notice or carry<br />
out the remedial action. If this<br />
happens then any section 21<br />
notice served will be invalid<br />
and no further notice can<br />
be served for 6 months.<br />
Jacqui Brooks<br />
Jacqui Brooks is an Associate<br />
Solicitor in Buss Murton’s<br />
Litigation Team. If you would like<br />
more information please contact<br />
Jacqui on 01892 510 222 or email<br />
jbrooks@bussmurton.co.uk<br />
BUSS MURTON<br />
COMMERCIAL & PERSONAL SOLICITORS