Whats makes a will valid
For a number of years residential possession proceedings have been governed principally by section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 and section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
There are changes happening and the new Renters Reform Bill is currently going through Parliament on a second reading and is expected to become law in Spring of 2024. After that, it will take at least 6 months before it comes into force for new tenancies and 18 months for existing tenancies. The abolition of Section 21 will take longer.
Essentially what the Bill does is eliminate no-fault eviction so that whereas previously a landlord could evict a tenant from residential accommodation by giving two months’ notice without proving fault, the law changes in that no-fault eviction are then abolished and the landlord must take possession proceedings on prescribed grounds to obtain possession.
The new Bill proposes that the grounds of possession be expanded to include, for example, claims for possession where the property needs to be occupied by a member of the landlord’s family or even a grandchild.
Additionally, if the landlord wishes to sell the dwelling house, then they would be permitted to do so although not in the first six months. The Bill also proposes that the tenant has no grounds to remain in the property if there is a sale by the mortgagee. The mandatory rent arrears ground is kept as in the existing section 8 except that the notice seeking possession is now expanded to a longer notice period to the tenant from two weeks to 4 weeks.
We have come across in practice many cases where landlords have struggled with the rules of giving notices correctly and serving notices correctly and also concerning existing section 21 cases by not attaching all the necessary statuary documents or by, for example, not protecting the tenancy deposit.
Under the current law, all these failures can mean that the landlord may face a delay in securing possession of their property if they have failed to serve the correct Notices and statutory documents. However, under the new proposed Law, landlords still need to be properly advised on how to secure possession of their property.
We have many years of experience assisting landlords in this situation and if you wish any further information or advice, contact the office.
