Surrey Homes | SH17 | March 2016 | Fashion supplement inside

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