New online guides have been published by the Government, designed to help renters and leaseholders know their rights.
One of the guides, How to Rent, must by law be given to tenants, and this must be the latest version as now published. If the correct, latest, information is not supplied, no Section 21 notice can be served. The actual guide must be given to the tenant, not just a link. The other newly published guides have no statutory significance.
The new “How to” guides are:
This new guide will help private landlords learn more about their key legal responsibilities and best practice when letting a property, including how to protect tenancy deposits, carry out gas safety checks and install smoke and carbon dioxide alarms.
By reading this new document, leaseholders can learn about their unique set of rights and responsibilities. For example, a managing agent or landlord could be responsible for running a leaseholder’s block or estate – but the leaseholder may not be aware that they have no say in how they do it.
This document will help current and prospective tenants identify potential unsafe conditions in rented properties. It gives tenants an overview of the most common hazards to look out for in rented properties, including gas and electrical safety, damp and mould and trips and falls hazards, and how they should report dangerous conditions.
This updated guide provides a step-by-step process to renting privately. Tenants can learn how to challenge poor practice and understand private landlords’ legal obligations.
It is a legal requirement for all landlords, or their agents, to provide their tenants with this document. This is the latest copy, and this is the one that should be provided to all new tenants. The latest version also needs to be given to tenants in situ when their tenancy is renewed or when their tenancy goes statutory periodic.
All the documents can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-how-to-guides
I can’t find the one about how to find somewhere to rent now all the agents are out of the business and the landlords are investing in pork bellies not property
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Another potential trip up for landlords, particularly if they use a slightly older agreement which runs onto a statutory tenancy at the end of a fixed term and not a contractual tenancy at the end of a fix term. Who says tenants are in the weaker position!
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The Court held in the Superstrike case that a periodic tenancy at the end of a fixed term tenancy was not a new tenancy so there is no need to serve an updated How to Rent guide in those circumstances.
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Wrong – Google it and you will learn that it does create a new tenancy.
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The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 state where it is a replacement tenancy (as defined in S21 (7) Housing Act 1988 it is not necessary to serve a new How to Rent guide unless the Guide has been updated since the earlier tenancy started.
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Superstrike was in effect made redundant by the Deregulation Act 2015 with regard to serving new prescribed information for a deposit when a tenancy became an SPT.
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Sorry Will, meant to hit the “Like“ button, but got the “Dislike“ button instead. Anyway, it’s definitely a Like as I completely agree with your comment
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Thank you MF for your clarification. Landlords and Agents are constantly having their paths littered with trip ups/traps that can and will be used by Council Tenancy Officers whose sole purpose in life is to find grounds why tenants should not be evicted (Most landlords do not want to evict good tenants as they provide income). Such events such as recommending tenants do not leave until the bailiff come calling effectively inciting tenants to be in contempt of court by not giving possession when a possession order has been granted. Councils then are surprised when landlords do not trust the cunning little blighters!
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So hang on, the Tenants that had the older How To Rent guide, do I need to send them a copy of the new one?? That’s a waste of paper and resources! I have a signed copy from them of the one I gave them in their file so surely I shouldn’t need to give them another, as the one they had was correct at the time the tenancy started!
The How To Rent is the only one of those I HAVE to give them isn’t it?
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If the tenancy has already started and the tenants had a copy of the previous Guide there is no need to send the new June 18 guide.
We have 12 new tenancies starting in the next few weeks where the January 18 How to Rent guide was sent by email with the tenancy paperwork so I have just sent by email to all the tenants a copy of the new June 18 guide.
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“If the tenancy has already started and the tenants had a copy of the previous Guide there is no need to send the new June 18 guide.”
Until it gets renewed or goes SPT
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Agreed
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What about ones that went SPT before this new one? I had one go SP in May, so would I need to send one to them?
Seems daft to me! I might just start sending one out with a Section 21 notice when I serve one…
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It seems to be that this gov are almost trying to trip landlords and agents up at every turn.
The more changes the more chances of getting it wrong.
Hopefully this will catch out those agents which prostitute themselves with cheap fees such as the agent local to us now advertising 7% INC VAT for a fully managed service??! Imagine that agent having to tell their landlords that they didn’t have the staff to keep up with legislation based on monthly fee per property of less than £50 a pop!
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