Assured Shorthold Tenancies – Changes to Regulations

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