NewBold Solicitors - Housing, Landlord, Family

Disrepair: Clamp down on rogue landlords

alexdurston

Feb 19 | 2019

A private landlord has been ordered to pay over £12,000 relating to 19 offences at his property in Riverside. Councillor, Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member responsible for housing issues for the Shared Regulatory Service confirmed that they will act on any complaint that is made and if the property isn't brought up to standard, they will take these matters through the courts and prosecute. To read the full story, click here. You can ask your landlord to pay you compensation if disrepair caused damage to your health or your belongings. For further information on our services click here and/or contact us on 0330 123 1131 for a free no win no fee consultation.

CALLING ALL LANDLORDS! Eviction advice

Catherine Hartland Watkins

Jan 24 | 2019

In order to evict a tenant successfully, you have to make sure that all the pre-eviction steps are in order. Have you registered yourself as a Landlord? Do you have a licence in place? Did you register a bond? Did you serve the prescribed information? Do you have a tenancy agreement? If you are claiming (for example) rent arrears, do you have a rent schedule showing the dates when rent was paid and the dates when rent payments were missed? If all this is in order, you then have to decide whether you are issuing a S21 notice or a S8 notice. The S21 notice is usually for 2 months, the S8 notice has to be for 2 weeks (it can have a different notice period depending on the ground in the S8 notice you are relying upon, but it is again usually 2 weeks). The S21 notice is non-fault based, the S8 notice, is used when the tenant has breached a term of the tenancy agreement (e.g. not paying your rent). It is important to decide which process will suit your individual circumstances in order to make sure the process is smooth and effective. Once the notice has been served on all the tenants you are evicting, and once it has expired, you can move to the next step in the eviction process. You cannot obtain vacant possession until a Court order has been obtained, so your next step is to apply for possession, either through the S8 process or through the S21 process. The Section 21 process is a paper based exercise, a S8 process means that you will have to attend Court. If the pre-eviction steps have not been followed, you may still be able to obtain possession, but, you may need the assistance of an expert housing lawyer to do this as you will have to be carefully and skilfully advised on the best options available to you. If you would like a S8 or S21 notice, then we will provide you with one without charge. If you would like help to complete the notice correctly, serve it correctly on the tenant and then provide a certificate of service for the Court process, our housing team can assist you for £75.00 plus vat. Click here for further details. The above applies to properties in Wales. If you are renting properties in England, then you have to comply with slightly different regulations that our housing team can advise you during a free consultation.

Private landlords will be legally required to become members of a redress scheme

alexdurston

Jan 24 | 2019

The Government has today (24 January 2019) announced an overhaul of the 'broken housing complaints system'. Community Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP stated 'the proposals I have announced today will help ensure all residents are able to access help when they need it, so disputes can be resolved faster, and people can get compensation where it's owed.' For full details of the announcement click here. To be kept up to date speak to us about our newsletters, or keep reading our blogs, follow us on Facebook, or attend one of our training events. Speak to Kirsty for further information

Ban on tenant fees in England will come into force on 1st June 2019

alexdurston

Jan 16 | 2019

The Tenant Fees Bill has completed its passage through the House of Lords and Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the Government's housing spokesperson in the House of Lords, confirmed it will come into effect on the 1st June 2019 for all tenancies signed on or after that date (subject to Royal Assent). Examples of banned fees would be:

Charging for a guarantor form
Credit checks
Inventories
Cleaning services
Admin charges
Gardening services

Landlords and agents will be able to charge their tenant for damage caused to the property, loss of keys and late payment of rent. These fees will also be limited and there will be stricter rules in place. There will be consequences for charging a fee that is not permitted. Tenants will be able to reclaim the money they have paid via the county court and trading standards will be able to issue fines up to £3,000.00. Landlords will also be unable to serve a Section 21 notice if they have charged a tenant a fee where they should not have and kept the money. To be kept up to date speak to us about our newsletters, or keep reading our blogs, follow us on Facebook, or attend one of our training events. Speak to Kirsty for further information.