Deregulation Act 2015 How does it affect Landlords?

Letting regulations are changing regularly, so it is important for Landlords to keep up to date with all new legislation and acts, in order to protect themselves and their investments.

The Deregulation Act 2015 was passed 26th March 2015, and contains several changes that will have an effect on Landlords and Section 21.

Changes affecting Landlords and Letting Agents

The list below shows some of the changes that affect Landlords:

• Deposits which were taken before the 6^th April 2007 for tenancies who have moved onto a periodic tenancy on or after this date, will now need to be protected in a tenancy deposit protection scheme, if the tenancy is still running. Landlords had up until the 23^rd June 2015 or potentially face fines if this isn’t done.

• Deposits taken before 6^th April 2007, where the tenancy became periodic before this date, Landlords are not required to protect the tenants deposit. However, Landlords will not be able to serve a Section 21 notice to regain possession of a property unless the deposit is protected.

• If the tenancy is renewed or rolls over on a periodic basis, Landlords do not need to reissue Prescribed Information to their tenant if the deposit remains with the same authorised scheme, and the parties and property remain the same.

• The legislation also clarifies that the reference to the Landlord within the prescribed information includes those acting on behalf of a Landlord, like letting agents.

Tenants complaints about conditions

If a complaint is made by a tenant and they receive a none adequate response within 14 days from their Landlord, the tenant is then able to complain to the local authority, if they issue a relevant notice this means a Section 21 notice cannot be served for 6 months from the date of the notice given by the local authority. If no relevant notice is issued this does not have an impact on the Section 21 notice.

Smoke and monoxide alarms legally required in rental properties

The government confirmed that all UK letting agents and Landlords will be required by the law to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their properties, which provides safer homes for tenants.

If you’d like to discuss how you can best protect yourself with Landlords Insurance, contact us for a no obligation chat