Delay causes alarm - but be ready for quick introduction of new rules

There is considerable confusion within the lettings industry after the House of Lords literally pulled the plug on legislation that would have seen smoke alarms become compulsory from October 1 – only for it to be reinstated a week later.

Many in the lettings industry had already geared up for the change, seen as a major advance with regard to tenant safety. But the noble lords declared that the industry had not been consulted sufficiently ahead of the measure becoming effective so rejected the legislation with only three weeks to go to the deadline for implementation.

With exactly two weeks to go, the legislation was then passed meaning that from October 1 the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 will be in force.

All landlords in England, or agents acting on their behalf, will be required to install smoke alarms on every floor of their property and test them at the start of every tenancy.

Landlords or their agents must also fit carbon monoxide alarms in rooms with a solid fuel appliance, which includes wood burners and open fires.

Those who fail to meet the regulations face fines of up to £5,000.

Landlords who have not yet prepared for the smoke alarm installations believing that they no longer need worry about the October 1 deadline must now ensure they have the necessary alarms in place or risk being fined.

It is already the case that under the Buildings Regulations 1991 all newly built property from June, 1992, and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) must have fitted mains-powered smoke alarms with battery backup.

For some time, in anticipation of the regulations that come into effect on October 1 we have been advising landlords to install smoke alarms in all properties to both protect the occupants and help prevent legal action against landlords.

It is also already a legal requirement for HMOs to have a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm fitted. We have been advising landlords to install CO alarms in all properties to protect the occupier and help prevent any legal action against the landlord.

Landlords of all rental properties (subject to a small number of exemptions – such as licensed HMO properties and properties where there is a resident landlord) are required to do the following:

1. Install at least one smoke alarm on each storey of a rental property that is used as living accommodation. These alarms may be battery powered or hardwired although some local authorities may have local regulations which require more stringent conditions. This requirement is for all rental properties, not just those with tenancies beginning after 01 October 2015. Install a CO detector in any room that contains a solid fuel appliance which includes coal- or wood-burning fires and wood-burning stoves. Wood-burning stoves installed since 2011 must already have a CO detector and a certificate proving they have been safely installed.

2. Currently gas appliances are not covered by the above Regulations but we strongly advise that CO detectors are installed in properties with gas- or oil-fired appliances. Remember, installation of CO alarms is a requirement for all rental properties with solid fuel appliances not just those with tenancies beginning after October 1, 2015.

3. Carry out testing to ensure that all smoke and CO alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy commencing on October 1 2015 or thereafter. There is currently no requirement to check alarms during the tenancy as this responsibility will lie with the tenant.

Ensure that you are ready for the October 1 deadline. Despite the confusion caused by a week when all believed the legislation might not go through, there is unlikely to be any period of grace.

Lisa Simon, 

Partner Head of Residential Lettings

T: 020 7518 3234 

E: lisa.simon@carterjonas.co.uk

Parliament's dying Act clarifies tenancy law

You may be growing weary of election-speak and politicians but before Parliament dissolved at the end of March there was one outcome that brings major relief for landlords in the private rental sector (PRS).

One of the last acts of the Commons was to pass into law the Deregulation Act 2015, which came into force on March 26, 2015. It clears up the confusion caused by the now infamous Superstrike case, the outcome of which caused some panic about deposit protection and whether or not a valid Section 21 notice could be served to regain possession.

The outcome is still mindbending for some, but the important date to remember is June 23, 2015, by which time all deposits held but not registered with an approved tenancy deposit scheme must be registered and the prescribed information given to the tenant.

It has been compulsory since April 6, 2007, for landlords to protect a tenant’s deposit in respect of an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in an approved tenancy deposit scheme and to provide certain prescribed information to the tenant within 30 days of receipt of the deposit. Failure to do so prevents the landlord serving a valid Section 21 Notice to bring the tenancy to an end and leaves landlords at risk of a financial penalty of up to three times the deposit.

A deposit on an AST taken before April 6, 2007, that continues to be held as a statutory periodic tenancy which also started before April 2007, does not need to be protected. In these circumstances, landlords seeking to gain possession of the property using notice under Section 21 of the Housing Act, 1988, must protect the deposit and issue the Prescribed Information to the tenant prior to serving the Section 21 notice.

A deposit on an AST taken before April 6, 2007, that continues to be held against a statutory periodic tenancy which began after April, 2007, must be protected with an authorised scheme, if this has not already been done, by whichever is the earlier of either:

- the 23rd June 2015, or;

- before a court decides on proceedings under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (possession) or;

- before a court decides on proceedings under Section 214 of the Housing Act 2004 (failure to protect a deposit).

A deposit taken on an AST after April 6, 2007, and correctly protected, with Prescribed Information served to the tenant, does not need the Prescribed Information reissued to the tenant on future renewals of the AST or where the AST rolls into a statutory periodic tenancy so long as the landlord, tenant, and property information remain the same and the deposit remains in the same tenancy deposit protection scheme.

The Deregulation Act also clarifies that where an agent has protected a deposit on behalf of a landlord, the agent’s contact details can be provided within the Prescribed Information.

The law is relevant to any deposit currently held on an AST. It assists landlords who did not re-protect deposits or re-serve Prescribed Information when a tenancy was renewed or when a statutory periodic tenancy arose. Tenants must still be given revised Prescribed Information about their deposit if there is a change in tenant(s), landlord(s), premises or the deposit protection scheme.

There are also changes creating a new form of Section 21 notice coming into force on July 1, 2015. Any tenancy created after that date will need to use a new style of Section 21 notice, tenancies created before then, or based on renewals or extensions of tenancies created before then, can still use the old style notice. From June 1, 2018, all ASTs will need to use the new style notice irrespective of when they began.

The remaining changes to Section 21 - the limit on serving notice in the first four months and the various alterations regarding tenant complaints about condition - do not come into force until October 1, 2015, and, again, are only applicable to new tenancies commencing after that date until they become applicable to all tenancies from October 1, 2018.

Lisa Simon, 

Partner Head of Residential Lettings

T: 020 7518 3234 

E: lisa.simon@carterjonas.co.uk