If you are a landlord and you need to evict your tenant, the first step is to serve a valid notice. If the tenant has an assured shorthold tenancy, there are two types of notice a landlord can serve on their tenant – section 21 notices and section 8 notices.

How do I serve a valid section 21 notice?

A section 21 notice is usually the easier route as the landlord does not need to prove that the tenant has broken the tenancy agreement. These notices can only take effect after the fixed term is over of by way of a break clause in the fixed term. The notice must be in writing, the notice period must not be less than two clear months. If the tenancy began on or after 1 October 2015 or has been renewed after that date then the notice must also be in the prescribed format and cannot be served in the first four months of the tenancy.

Deposit Issues

The landlord needs to make sure that if a deposit has been taken, it has been protected, and the prescribed information has been given to the tenant. If this has not been done, any section 21 notice cannot be validly served.

Additional Information

If the tenancy started on or after 1 October 2015, the landlord will need to provide the tenant with additional documents before a section 21 notice can be validly served. These documents include; the correct version of the How to Rent Guide, an Energy Performance Certificate, and a Gas safety certificate.

HMOs and Property Licences

A section 21 notice will also not be validly served if the property in question is required to have an HMO or selective licence and does not have one. The landlord would first have to apply for the appropriate licence from their local authority and then serve the section 21. Alternatively, landlords can apply to their local authority for a temporary exemption notice in order to serve a valid section 21. The landlord should always check that they have the correct licence for their property before serving a notice. You can find information about the various property licensing schemes in London on the London Property Licensing website.

How do I serve a valid section 8 notice?

When serving a section 8 notice the landlord will need to demonstrate that one of the grounds in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 has been fulfilled. A section 8 notice must be in the prescribed format and state that it is for the tenant, what grounds are being relied on, why they are being relied on, and how long the tenant has to fix things before Court proceedings will be commenced.

Often the most commonly used grounds for landlords is ground 8. This is used where the tenant is in at least two months’ rent arrears (or eight weeks if the rent is paid weekly). If a valid section 8 notice has been served on ground 8 and the tenant has at least 2 months or 8 weeks rent arrears

both at the time the notice was served and at the hearing, the Court must make a possession order.

Possible Counterclaims

Before serving a section 8 notice for rent arrears landlords should think about whether it is possible for the tenant to raise a counterclaim to a section 8 notice. Tenants can raise a counterclaim on the basis that the deposit was not protected, or that there is significant outstanding disrepair at the property.

If the deposit has not been protected by the landlord within 30 days of the tenancy agreement and the prescribed information given to the tenant by the same time, the landlord can face penalties of up to three times the deposit being awarded to the tenant. It is therefore essential if a deposit has been taken and this has not been done, to weigh up how much the tenant may be awarded, and how much the rental arrears are.

We can advise landlords on how best to protect their position before serving notices if they are concerned that tenants will make allegations about disrepair or failure to protect a deposit.

* 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.*

Cold weather spells can put your home at risk of burst pipes. Burst pipes happen when water freezes inside pipes causing them to expand and crack. When the ice thaws water escapes through the cracks.

Landlords are responsible for repair and maintenance of pipe work and will need to carry out the necessary repairs. However, by this time extensive damage may have been caused to belongings. To minimise the risk of burst pipes follow these simple guidelines:

• Make sure that you know where your stopcock is located and also make sure that it works.
• Ensure that heating is left on at around 15 degrees when you are out of the property.
• Open your loft hatch to allow warm air into the loft
• eport any dripping taps to your landlord which risk becoming frozen if the temperature drops.

If you are away from the property for more than a few days consider draining down the central heating system but only do this after seeking professional advice.

If pipe bursts carry out the following:-

• Turn off the water at the stopcock
• Switch off the central heating to avoid further damage
• Turn on all taps in the property to drain the system. Also, flush the toilet.
• Turn off the electrics if there is water leaking near to the electrical installations.
• Contact your landlord without delay to report this to the repairs department.

If your landlord delays in carrying out repairs you may be able to bring a claim.

* 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.*

The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announced in her speech at the Conservative party conference on 4 October that the Government will introduce new criminal offences targeted at landlords.

The criminal offences referred to in that speech are those already introduced by the Immigration Act 2016.  These offences can be committed by landlords or letting agents where they knowingly let residential properties in England to persons who do not have a valid immigration status. These criminal offences are not yet in force, and it appears that the Government will introduce the necessary legislation to make them effective in December.

It is now more important than ever that landlords and letting agents in England are aware of their responsibilities under the right to rent scheme and that they carry out all necessary immigration document checks properly.

We will be holding a seminar to provide an update on recent developments in Right to Rent, including the new criminal offences. This will be of particular assistance to letting agents and landlords. For further information about the seminar contact Eileen Donaghey.

We have written extensively about Right to Rent in the Anthony Gold blog. You can read these for an overview of the different aspects of the scheme and how this affects you.

• Overview of Right to Rent
• Update: What is â€‹Permission to Rent?
• Forged Documents and the Right to Rent
• How to appeal against civil penalties
• Making Tenancy Agreements and Terms of Business compliant

* 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.*

It is not uncommon to buy property with a tenant already in place. Sometimes this is part of the package and the certainty of income each month is part of what the new landlord is buying. On other occasions the intention is to ask that tenant to leave so that the land can be used by the new owner themselves or for works carried out at the site. This situation leads the new owner to ask when they can give notice. Is it once offers have been exchanged, the sale has completed, or some other point?

This issue came up in the last fortnight in the case of Stodday Land v Pye. While this case concerns agricultural land it makes points which are of general importance in this question. Stodday owned land of which Pye was an agricultural tenant. It sold most of the land to a new owner on 19 June 2013 but it was not formally registered by the Land Registry until 16 July 2013. During that period Stodday and the new owners sent Mr Pye notices to quit in respect of the plots they now saw themselves as owning.

These notices to quit were found to be invalid both at first instance and on appeal by the High Court. The normal position at common law is that a beneficial ownership is not a sufficient right in land to give notice to a tenant, you must be a legal owner. You cannot be a legal owner until the full legal formalities, including registration with the Land Registry have been complied with. Therefore until full registration of the land occurs the new owner cannot serve notices.

Despite efforts to argue around this position and an assertion that the classic common law position did not fit well with the current concerns the High Court stuck to the classical position firmly. Therefore the registration gap, as it is known, will continue.

Purchasers should be considering their needs when buying property which is tenanted. If they are going to want access to the site more rapidly it would be better to agree that the vendor serves notices if possible or they will need to allow for the delays caused by registration in their planning.

* 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.*

Water leaks can cause serious damage to properties. You may be experiencing an intermittent water leak or there may have been a flood.

Is your landlord responsible?

Your landlord is most likely to be responsible for remedying the leak, if for instance, it’s coming through cracked roof tiles or from a faulty pipe. Conversely, they may not be, if the leak is caused by your upstairs neighbours splashing water on the floor every time they bathe.

However, even if your landlord is not responsible for stopping the leak, they are likely to be accountable for repairing the effects of the leak, such as damaged wall plaster or replacing your water damaged ceiling.

If you are a tenant, your landlord may be liable for carrying out repairs under your tenancy agreement. Leaseholders may have some protection under their lease. Therefore you should check the terms. In addition, there are also implied terms contained in legislation, such as section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which you may be able to rely on.

Notice

You must tell your landlord about the problem, as it is likely that your landlord’s obligation to carry out repairs will only arise at this point (i.e. known as putting them on notice). Sometimes where there are external issues, there no requirement for you to give this notice. However, as you may be unable to pinpoint whether there’s an internal or external issues, it is sensible to report it.

Your landlord’s contact details may be in your tenancy agreement or you may deal directly with a letting’s agent. Report the issue to both. You can tell them orally or in writing.

They will then have a reasonable time to carry out repairs.

What is a reasonable time?

This is dependent on the facts. For instance, your landlord will be expected to remedy a major flood more quickly than an intermittent drip through your kitchen ceiling.

Evidence

It is always a good idea to keep a good record of what happens.  Generally, your landlord will not keep detailed records of every eventuality that happens on the property. For example, your landlord’s repair records or contact history may be incomplete or have been lost.

You might have to prove your case. Therefore keeping evidence is extremely important. This can be maintained in a variety of ways, such as:

• Keeping a diary of when the leak occurs/ when you report the issue
• Photos or videos are particularly  useful as the date/ time are recorded instantly (remember to back these up)
• Saving any letters, appointment slips, emails or texts
• Ordering an itemised mobile/ landline bill, which you can highlight to show when you reported the issues

Retaliatory evictions

Fear of eviction sometimes stops tenants from complaining about leaks.  However, if your tenancy began after 01 October 2015, the  Deregulation Act 2015 provides some additional protection from ‘revenge evictions’. There are particular steps that need to be taken and therefore you should seek advice early on.

What if your landlord fails to carry out repairs or completes insufficient repairs?

Although this is frustrating, you should continue to report the issue. Your landlord should also be given access to inspect and carry out repairs. You should think carefully about stopping your rental payments, as your landlord may start possession proceedings.

We may be able to help you pursue a case to force your landlord to carry out repairs, as we have a wealth of expertise in advising those experiencing such situations and ultimately getting repairs carried out.  We may be able to pursue your case under legal aid or we may be able to offer a “No win, No Fee” agreement.