Anthony Gold

Get in touch

020 7940 4060

  • People
  • Insights
  • What to Expect
  • Contact Us
Anthony Gold
  • Services
    • Housing And Property Disputes
      • Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Services For Commercial Landlords, Tenants And Agents
      • Services For Residential Landlords And Agents
      • Housing And Tenancy Issues
      • Judicial Review
    • Injury And Medical Claims
      • Life Changing Injuries
      • Medical Claims
      • Personal Injury
      • Child Abuse
    • Family And Relationships
      • Starting Relationships
      • Ending Relationships
      • After Relationships End
      • Useful Contacts
      • Religious & Cultural Issues
      • Family Law FAQs
      • Family Dispute Resolution
      • Modern Families And Surrogacy Arrangements
    • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
      • Business Agreements
      • Business Disagreements
      • Commercial Property
      • Commercial Property Disputes
      • Leasehold Services
      • Residential Property
    • Wills, Estates & Court Of Protection
      • Wills, Trusts And Estates
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Capacity And Court Of Protection
    • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
      • Personal Claims
      • Professional Negligence
      • Business Disagreements
      • Claims Against Trusts And Estates
      • Employment
    • People
    • Insights
    • What to Expect
    • Contact Us
  • Get in touch

    020 7940 4060

  • Housing and Property Disputes
  • Injury and Medical Claims
  • Family and Relationships
  • Conveyancing, Property & Business Services
  • Wills, Estates & Court of Protection
  • Dispute Resolution & Employment Law
  • Property disputes
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Challenging the decisions of councils and public bodies
  • Rights of way, boundaries, covenants and easements
  • Party wall disputes
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Services for commercial landlords, tenants and agents
  • Breach of covenant
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Lease renewals
  • Services for residential landlords and agents
  • Regulatory issues
  • Repossession
  • Agents (including letting agreements)
  • Housing and tenancy issues
  • Repairs
  • Repossession and eviction
  • Rehousing and homelessness
  • Judicial review
  • Life changing injuries
  • Brain injury
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Amputation
  • Psychiatric injury
  • Fatal injuries and inquests
  • Medical claims
  • Surgical claims
  • Non-Surgical Claims
  • Birth injury
  • Child health and paediatrics
  • GP and primary care treatment
  • Private healthcare
  • Personal injury
  • Road traffic accidents
  • Accidents abroad
  • Accidents at work
  • Faulty products
  • Public liability and other accidents
  • Child abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Starting relationships
  • Pre nuptial agreements
  • Pre civil partnership and same sex relationship agreements
  • Cohabitation and living together agreements
  • Property ownership agreements
  • Ending relationships
  • Divorce and separation
  • Ending a civil partnership
  • Ending cohabitation
  • Agreeing child arrangements
  • Agreeing finance and assets
  • International arrangements
  • After relationships end
  • Abduction and leave to remove children
  • Changing and challenging parenting agreements
  • Changing and challenging financial agreements
  • Grandparents’ rights
  • Useful Contacts
  • Financial planners
  • Referral to Pension Actuaries and Pension on Divorce Experts (PODEs)
  • Tax Specialists
  • Financial Neutrals
  • Counselling
  • Conveyancing
  • Wills
  • Religious & cultural issues
  • Jewish family law
  • Islamic family law
  • Family Law FAQs
  • Children FAQs
  • Cohabitation Agreement FAQs
  • No-Fault Divorce and Separation FAQs
  • Financial Issues FAQs
  • Pre-Marital Contracts FAQs
  • Family Dispute Resolution
  • Roundtable Meetings
  • One Solicitor Solution
  • Mediation
  • Collaborative Practice
  • Arbitration
  • Second Opinions
  • Private FDR’s
  • Early Neutral Evaluation (‘ENE’)
  • Modern Families and Surrogacy Arrangements
  • Domestic Surrogacy
  • International Surrogacy
  • Business agreements
  • Business advice
  • Employment
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Supplier contracts
  • Business disagreements
  • Commercial property
  • Commercial Sale and Purchases
  • Commercial loans and mortgages
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Commercial advice for landlords and tenants
  • Planning advice
  • Mortgage debentures and securities
  • Commercial property disputes
  • Breach of covenant
  • Dilapidations and failing to repair
  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession
  • Lease renewals
  • Leasehold services
  • Lease extension
  • Collective enfranchisement
  • Service charge disputes
  • Repairs to leaseholds
  • Right to manage
  • Residential property
  • Residential Sale and Purchases
  • Property Investment: plot developers & plot buyers
  • Remortgages
  • Auction: sales and purchases
  • Ownership matters and transfers
  • Wills, trusts and estates
  • Making a will
  • Applying for probate
  • Distributing the estate
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Trust advice
  • Tax planning and advice
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Appointing a deputy
  • Removing a deputy
  • Arranging lasting power of attorney
  • Gifts and legacies
  • Managing assets under a deputyship
  • Care issues
  • Removing lasting and enduring power of attorney
  • Special educational needs
  • Capacity and court of protection
  • Personal claims
  • Debt recovery
  • Ownership disputes and shares in property
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Building disputes
  • Professional negligence
  • Professional Negligence
  • Property Fraud
  • Investment Fraud
  • Business disagreements
  • Building disputes
  • Civil and commercial mediation
  • Claims against directors
  • Contract disputes
  • Debt recovery
  • Directors personal liabilities
  • Employment
  • Professional negligence
  • Claims against trusts and estates
  • Contesting a will
  • Losses caused by trustees
  • Employment
  • Employment
  • Unfair or Wrongful Dismissal
  • Settlement Agreements
Anthony Gold > Blog > Fitness For Human Habitation Becomes Law

David Smith

Mediator

david_smith@anthonygold.co.uk

Share
  • January 2, 2019
  • Blog
  • By  David Smith 
  • 1 comments

Fitness For Human Habitation Becomes Law


Just before Christmas, on 20 December 2018, the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Bill received its Royal Assent becoming the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (‘FFHH’ for short). This Act makes changes to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to require that all landlords ensure that residential properties are put and kept in a condition fit for human habitation both before they are let and during a tenancy. This will apply to all social and private sector tenancies in England only.

Application

The Act comes into force three months after it has been passed, that is on 20 March 2019. However, it will only apply to tenancies made after that date so any tenancy entered into before 20 March (ie. signed by both parties and executed) will not be covered by the legislation initially even if the actual occupation begins after 20 March. Any tenancy that is newly granted, is renewed, or comes into existence as a periodic from a fixed term after 20 March will be covered by the legislation immediately. Tenancies which were periodic before 20 March 2019 will not be covered by the new provisions until 20 March 2020 so they effectively have 12 months grace. Tenancies that are continuing as a periodic tenancy from a fixed term tenancy by way of contract (so not arising as statutory periodic tenancies) are probably not covered as they will not have come into existence on the expiry of a fixed terms but by way of a continuation of the fixed term. The legislation will not affect tenancies which are on longer foxed terms starting before 20 March 2018 and carrying on for an extended period (such as 18 or 24 months) until those tenancies are renewed or become periodic.

FFHH is not the HHSRS

Contrary to careless scaremongering by some private landlord advisors and pressure groups the FFHH is not the HHSRS for tenants. The standard of fitness is to be assessed by the court using the 29 hazard profiles provided for by the HHSRS but not in the same way or to the same standard as the HHSRS. The HHSRS is a means of assessing notional risk in a property and improving it. The FFHH is a means of assessing fitness for a specific occupier. So FFHH is not assessed by considering whether there are category 1 or 2 hazards in a property (as the HHSRS is) and FFHH is assessed based on the person actually occupying the property (as opposed to HHSRS which is based on notional occupiers from high risk groups). That is not to say that an HHSRS assessment for a property will not also be relevant to its fitness. Clearly, a property with a large number of serious HHSRS hazards is unlikely to be fit. However, a property which has HHSRS hazards which are specific to the risk groups used for an HHSRS assessment may in fact be fit for the specific occupier in the property if they do not fall into one of those risk groups.

Exemptions

There are a few exemptions from the legislation. Tenancies that are for more then seven years are not covered by FFHH and are exempt from s11 repairing obligations as well. However, this cannot be cheated and a tenancy for seven years with a break clause at two years will be treated as a two year tenancy unless the break clause is tenant only.

Obligations

It is likely that the case law already applying to section 11 disrepair will also apply here and so a landlord will not be liable for fitness unless they have been put on notice of the lack of fitness. However, that cannot be guaranteed and so landlords should make sure that they are inspecting regularly and are taking reasonable steps to be aware of fitness issues. Landlords are not required to fix or resolve anything which requires superior landlord consent where the superior landlord is not giving that consent despite being asked. However, this does mean that superior landlord consent will need to be sought.

Breaches

As with disrepair now, where a fitness standard is not maintained the tenant will be able to seek damages and will be able to demand that the property is made fit.

Effects

For many private landlords this should not be a huge concern. Most private residential property is fit for habitation and if it is not it probably should be! There will be significant effects across the social sector which does have some very specific problems with fitness which they will need to resolve.

Anthony Gold Solicitors will be holding a seminar on the new FFHH standard in March. See our events page for more information.

* Disclaimer: The information on the Anthony Gold website is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be treated as such. It is provided without any representations or warranties, express or implied.*

David Smith

Mediator

david_smith@anthonygold.co.uk

Get in touch

Call, email or use a contact form – whichever suits you. We’ll let you know the best person to help you get started.

Call or Email

020 7940 4060

mail@anthonygold.co.uk

Comment

Add your comment

We need your name and email address to make sure you’re a real person. We won’t share your email address with anyone else or send you spam. Please complete fields marked with *.

One thought on “Fitness For Human Habitation Becomes Law”

  1. Genevieve Walden says:
    January 19, 2019 at 11:33 am

    Thank you David for always keeping us informed and pointing out areas for potential future concerns/challenges.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

code

Related Services

  • Breach of covenant

  • Breach of covenant

  • Challenging the decisions of councils and public bodies

  • Dilapidations and failing to repair

  • Dilapidations and failing to repair

  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession

  • Forfeiture and recovery of possession

  • Ownership disputes and shares in property

  • Ownership disputes and shares in property

  • Ownership disputes and shares in property

  • Party wall disputes

  • Planning advice

  • Public liability and other accidents

  • Rehousing and homelessness

  • Remortgages

  • Remortgages

  • Repairs

  • Repairs to leaseholds

  • Repairs to leaseholds

  • Repossession and eviction

  • Repossession

  • Service charge disputes

  • Service charge disputes

About the author

  • David Smith

Meet the team

  • Housing and Property Disputes

You might also like...

  • What Does the EU Withdrawal Agreement Mean for the PRS

  • HMO Week Day Five - How and When to Apply for a Licence

  • HMO Week Day Four - Understanding Management Regulations

Contact Us

Request a Call Back

About Us

  • Accessibility
  • Compliance
  • Responsible Business
  • Equality & Diversity
  • History
  • Our Beliefs
  • List of LLP members

Careers

  • Trainee Solicitors
  • Vacancies

Social Media

  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • View our YouTube channel

Online Payments

  • Payment page through Worldpay

Accredited by

Lexel Parctice
76000Award

Copyright © Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP. All rights reserved. Anthony Gold Solicitors LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC433560 and is authorised and regulated by the by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration Number 810601