A Landlord has very recently been ordered to pay a fine of £45,000 and costs of £5,000 for failing to have a HMO Licence. A lot of Clients are aware of the need to have a HMO Licence, but many of our Clients have breached the law but were unaware that they had. An example is, one Client asked a friend of his to look after his rental property in Newport, but the 'friend' allowed other occupiers to live in the property and did not tell the Landlord.  The Landlord was not just fined, but also had his assets frozen under the 'Proceeds of Crime Act' Legislation.   Another example is a Client who was living abroad and allowed his Agent to handle all the regulatory aspects of his property rental.  The Agent had allowed the property to be occupied by over 3 family units, and the landlord faced a fine in excess of £30,000.00. It is important that when you rent a property you have good lines of communication between you and your tenants; that you inspect the property (lawfully of course), and you are always aware of the changes in legislation because ignorance is sadly no defence to breaching the law. If you have an Agent who has caused you to suffer a loss and/or you have breached a regulation whilst they are managing your property, then you will have a claim for negligence against them. If you have an issue with a HMO, if you want to watch one of our VLOGS, then please get in touch.  We firmly believe that creative thinking leads to positive results.

The BBC reports that evictions have now returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Figures are showing that 9,410 possession hearings were listed by private landlords in the final quarter of 2021 compared with 9,676 in the same period in 2019.

The Government has created a £65 million Rent Arears fund to support tenants struggling financially, but we are told there are some delays with the payment out to tenants.

The Government is also ending no fault evictions in England in the coming year.

No fault evictions, although they do not provide security to tenants, they do provide security for Landlords.  It is possible that Landlords will be put off from renting properties once this change comes into force.

NewBold Solicitors will shortly be preparing a vlog on the changes to the law, and if you would like to be notified of it, so you can watch without charge, then please complete the contact form below and we will be in touch.

Are you a landlord buying a property with a sitting tenant?

If a landlord purchases a property with a sitting tenant, it is essential that they serve the tenant with two important notices: (1) Section 3 (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) Notice and (2) Section 48 (Landlord and Tenant Act 1987) Notice. We take a look at both in turn: Section 3 Notice Section 3 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (hereafter referred to as LTA 1985) refers to a landlord’s duty to notify the tenant that they are the new landlord, having taken over from the previous landlord, usually through purchase of the property. In addition, Section 3 of the LTA 1985 places an obligation on the new landlord to provide their address. It is important to note that this must be the landlord’s actual address and not just an address for service of documents. It is necessary to provide such information “not later than the next day on which rent is payable under the tenancy or, if that is within two months of the assignment, the end of that period of two months” (Section 3(1) LTA 1985) If a Section 3 Notice is not served, both the old and new landlord can be held jointly and severally liable for any breaches of the tenancy agreement, such as disrepair. The old landlord can protect themselves by providing their own Notice (of which would detail the new landlord’s name and address). Section 3(3) LTA 1985 provides that failure to adhere to the obligations contained in Section 3, the new landlord commits a summary offence and liable on conviction to a fine up to £2500. In summary, failure to provide a Section 3 Notice to your tenants can have criminal and civil implications. Section 48 Notice Section 48 LTA 1987 provides that a tenant must, by notice, be provided with an address where notices may be served on the landlord. The address must be in England and Wales. Normally, this is clarified and provided in the tenancy agreement. However, a Section 48 Notice may be necessary if a landlord has purchased a property with a sitting tenant or a landlord has changed addresses during the tenancy. Additionally, a tenant can refuse to sign a new tenancy agreement and therefore a Section 48 Notice may be necessary. In contrast to a Section 3 Notice, a Section 48 Notice does not need to contain the landlord’s own address but simply an address where notices can be served – often this is a managing agent’s address. A landlord cannot demand rent from a Tenant if the landlord has failed to provide such information; however, note all rent becomes lawfully due immediately after service of a Section 48 Notice. This can have implications if a landlord pursues possession proceedings. If a Section 48 notice has not been served, the proceedings may fail (which, in effect, is an additional cost to the landlord). It is important that both a Section 3 Notice and a Section 48 Notice are provided to the tenant as soon as possible. Serving notice is relatively straightforward and can prevent big implications in the future (as indicated throughout); we can assist with drafting such notice for a fixed fee. At NewBold Solicitors, we offer a free 15-minute telephone consultation to discuss your matter in more detail. If you would like to discuss your case with us. Please call our dedicated team on 0330 123 1131 or visit our Landlord or Tenant Services pages for further information.   Jake Wesson - Graduate Solicitor

Serving Notices

If your Tenant is breaching their tenancy now is the time to serve your notices.   If a notice is served correctly, then the process is relatively straightforward, but any issues, regardless of how tiny they may appear, will result in your case being dismissed.

If dismissed not only, will you suffer months and months of unpaid rent (lost rental income), but you could end up paying your tenants costs.

What if your Lettings Agent drafts the notices, it will save you the cost right and we all want to save legal costs? 80% of the notices forwarded to us were originally served by lettings agents, and the vast majority were faulty is some way.

Agents are not able to serve legal documents, sign on your behalf or attend hearings, as they have no rights of audience.

Does it matter? Yes, because they will not have insurance, they will not know the case law to rely on, and the case will often be dismissed.  It sounds a good idea to let your Agent complete the process, but check they have the insurance to cover any faulty notices.  The vast majority do not, because they cannot give legal advice.

What if they don’t have insurance? Then you suffer the loss as the Landlord.

What if they have got away with it before? It just takes that one time to cost you many thousands of pounds in lost revenue and legal fees, and don’t forget that judgment on your credit file.

With our fees of £50.00 + VAT* (*by quoting NEWB13 for October and November 21), it simply does not make this risk commercially viable.  Please phone us on 0330 123 1131 or complete our contact form, to ask our advice, and get it right first time.

For more information on our eviction service please visit our Evictions & Serving Notice page

Cardiff Legal Walk 2021

We are proud to take part in the Cardiff Legal Walk 2021 and raise money for the Reaching Justice Wales (local arm of the Access to Justice Foundation) which funds local advice services. Advice agencies do a fantastic job in preventing homelessness, resolving debt problems, gaining care for the elderly and disabled and fighting exploitation for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.   Our walkers are: David Coleman Maria Henson Jake Wesson Jerry Honeyball Natasha Wright Liane Elms Lizzie Tarling Katie Prosser   The money we raise will help to keep local agencies operating and giving access to justice try to as many people as possible. Please support our walkers as generously as you are able. If you would like to donate, you can do so via the link below. Donate Here