My Blog reading friends may be aware of the ‘eviction ban’ introduced at the start of the pandemic. The good news is this is being lifted on the 23rd August 2020.
Our government recently announced changes to the eviction processes in England and Wales. These temporary measures aim to help the courts cope with the influx of possession proceedings once the ‘eviction ban’ is lifted.
The changes include claimants needing to issue a “reactivation notice” to resume halted evictions and will be effective until March 28th, 2021.
Walsall Landlords – Are you abiding by all the laws?
As the dust finally settles on the manic world of returning to work after a small hiatus, my thoughts return to the Blog. I have been asked on many occasions where I get inspiration from when writing such ‘out there’ and ‘interesting’ articles (which I take with compliment). The truth is a lot of my inspiration comes from talking to Walsall landlords and Walsall property owners.
Approximately a fortnight ago I was talking to a professional landlord who has an extensive portfolio up and down the country including a few in Walsall. We got talking about Housing Law and all the regulations/ legislation that landlords need to adhere to.
Did you know, there are over 125 individual acts of legislation that landlords must adhere to if they’re to remain on the right side of the law? Most landlords can’t name the specific acts but know and understand the basics, which are:
Tenancy deposit protection
Annual gas safety inspections
Energy Performance Certificates
Smoke alarms
Carbon monoxide alarms, and;
Serving of prescribed information
But, can you name the acts these rules come from? Can you name the recent legislation that demands an energy efficiency assessment be ordered before the property to marketed to let and a valid EPC in place within 7 days and where reasonable to do so, this can be extended up to 21 days. This is detailed in the act The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015.
What about the relevant act that gives tenants the powers to report poor housing conditions? This is covered by Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. It is this act that obliges tenants to keep the property in a “tenant-like manner”. Later acts gave tenants the right to complain without fear of revenge evictions making it a criminal offence to evict a tenant who requests “too many” repairs.
More legislation is working its way through parliament, being written into law, including the upcoming tenant fee ban, deposit cap and potential three-year minimum tenancies!!
Now, more than ever, landlords should give strong consideration to letting their property and managing it themselves. With more than 125.. and counting.. acts of legislation that landlords must be aware of and adhere to, it is no wonder that we regularly see Walsall landlords and Walsall Letting Agents regularly falling short of fulfilling their obligations.
Walsall Property Blog 
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