Assured Shorthold Tenancies – Changes to Regulations

27th September 2018
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What You Need to Know About Changes to Assured Shorthold Tenancies Regulations

The Deregulation Act 2015 (DA 2015) introduced changes in respect of all assured shorthold tenancies (AST’s) granted after 1 October 2015. These changes did not have retrospective effect and so did not apply to AST’s in existence before that date.

From 1 October 2018, these changes are applicable to all AST’s in England regardless of the date on which the AST was granted.

It will no longer be possible for a landlord to serve a valid section 21 notice (the prescribed form of notice required as a precursor to obtaining possession of the property) unless it has first provided certain documentation to its tenant including:-

1) a valid gas safety certificate;

2) an energy performance certificate (EPC) (from 1 April 2018 this must be an E rating or above);

3) the current version of the Government’s guidance booklet How to rent: The Checklist for renting in England (this can be found on the https://www.gov.uk website).

If you are a landlord and are in any doubt as to your legal obligations or you want to recover possession of a property from a tenant please contact us for advice.

Alina De Heer – 01273 249297 / adh@deanwilson.co.uk

Alice Stuart-Miller – 01273 249227 / asm@deanwilson.co.uk