Residential Tenancies - The Rules 1

Residential Tenancies -- Know the Rules!

Letting residential properties in the UK requires that the landlord grant the tenant a legal right to reside at the property in question. In UK law this is achieved by raising a tenancy agreement - a legally binding contract between the landlord and tenant (in case of sub-letting, the tenant and sub-tenants) to outline the terms under which the tenant is permitted to occupy the property.

For the majority of private lettings there are three types of tenancy agreement in use. These are:

1) Assured Shorthold Tenancy

2) Assured Tenancy

3) Protected (Rent Act) Tenancy

Assured Short-hold Tenancy

The Assured Short-hold Tenancy (AST) was introduced as part of the 1988 Housing Act - and later, in February 1997, became the default agreement for all new tenancy creations. As its name suggests it is an agreement geared to short-term rentals of six months and more. The terms of the agreement tend to favour the landlord more than the tenant - the landlord is guaranteed the right to regain possession of the property at the expiry of the agreement, so long as 2-months notice is given and Notice is served after the first six months.

Assured Tenancy

An assured tenancy (also known as an ordinary assured tenancy) is widely used for long-term / open-ended rental agreements. Compared with ASTs it affords tenants more security of tenure. The right to remain in the property is firmly with the tenant - meaning that the landlord can only serve notice of repossession in controlled circumstances, such as if the tenant continually defaults on their rental payments, or if the landlord wishes to move back into the property and use it as their home.

But although an assured tenancy might seem to weigh more in favour of the tenant, this can be good for the landlord too. A happy and settled tenant who doesn't want to move provides the landlord with security of income - the building block of a profitable investment strategy.

Protected Rent Act Tenancy

Prior to the introduction of Assured Tenancies under the 1988 Housing Act, one of the primary vehicles for rental tenancies was the protected rent act tenancy. Introduced in 1977 it awards tenants with the right to a fair rent and long-term security of tenure through to the expiry of the agreement. Upon expiry the tenant gains a statutory right to remain in the property on the same terms, indefinitely.

This type of tenancy agreement is no longer issued. However, for landlords taking on properties with sitting tenants, any protected rent act tenancies already in place must be observed - and can be very uneconomical to run!

Know the rules

Residential tenancy agreements are rarely that easy to comprehend. To help you navigate a path through their legal minefields I have assembled below some base rules that you will need to observe, both as landlord and as tenant.

As Landlord

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  Creating a tenancy agreement is absolute. It cannot be changed for another type of agreement upon renewal.

  
  

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  Never attempt to force a tenant out of the property. If they won't leave in accordance with the tenancy agreement you have in place you will need to obtain a court possession order.

  
  

• 
  

  All occupants of legal age in the property must sign the tenancy agreement.

  
  

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  Should you be worried about the financial viability of a tenant, obtain a surety / rent guarantee from a third party, such as a parent or guardian.

  
  

As Tenant

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  Tenancy agreements protect the rights of the tenant AND the landlord. Should the landlord invoke a clause in the agreement that requires you to leave the property, then you MUST leave.

  
  

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  If your tenancy agreement is an AST, and you feel that your rent demand is too high, you may apply to a rent assessment committee to have it reduced so that it is in line with rents for similar properties in the area.

  
  

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  Should you breach the terms of your tenancy agreement - for example, if you default on rental payments for several successive months - the landlord has the right to start repossession proceedings against you. 

  
  

 

Notices

When a landlord requires a tenant to leave his property, he must serve the correct notice at the correct time in accordance with the tenancy agreement in operation. One of three formal types of notice are used - Section 21a Notice, Section 21b Notice or a Section 8 Notice.

 

Section 21a Notice: This is used to terminate a periodic tenancy that is outside of a fixed term tenancy agreement. So, for example, if a 2-year fixed term tenancy agreement expires without formal renewal, the tenant remains in the property on a periodic tenancy - the period being the gap between rental payments made to the landlord. Once a Section 21a Notice is served on the tenant a minimum of 2 months must pass before the landlord is entitled to regain possession of the property.

 

Section 21b Notice: Formally terminates a fixed term tenancy agreement when that agreement comes to the end of its life and is not to be renewed. Again, a minimum two months notice is required, so should the landlord require possession of the property on the very same day that the fixed term tenancy expires, he should serve the notice exactly 2 months from the end of the agreement - or serve the notice earlier but extend it to coincide with the final day.

 

Section 8 Notice: Should the tenant breach the terms of a fixed tenancy agreement, the landlord has the right to bring the tenancy to a premature close. This they can do by serving a Section 8 notice. Section 8 notices may be served at any time during the tenancy, but should only be served if there is proof that the tenant has breached one or more terms of the agreement. Landlords must serve a Section 8 notice before applying to the court for possession.

 

All notices are available as template forms and can be sourced over the Internet or through stationery outlets on the high street. 

Fire in the Wall

Fire in the Wall  by Tony Dawe

As you switch on the lights, plug in the TV or turn on the computer, do you ever give a thought to the wires carrying electricity to these fittings? You should:

• Almost half of all homes are at least 50 years old and often fall short of today's electrical safety standards.

• Older homes were not designed to cope with the number of electrical appliances owned by today's families.

• Electrical work in homes in England and Wales is still not protected by building regulations (unlike in Scotland).

Fixed wiring in new homes and any appliances permanently connected to the power supply—ovens, immersion heaters, showers—used to be checked by electricity companies before they switched on the supply. But since privatisation, this is happening less and less. A recent study found that 89 per cent of house buyers wrongly assume a property survey covers electrics.

Here's how to take stock of your home's potential hot spots:

If fuses continuously blow, circuit breakers keep tripping, lights flicker, or appliances stop and start for no reason, it's a sign that the wiring is faulty or the circuit's overloaded. It may be something as simple as the wrong size fuse in a plug or an unsuitable connector in a fuse in the fuse box.

The common response to a shortage of sockets for today's electrical equipment is to use double adaptors or trailing sockets.

Nearly 40 per cent of Britain's homes were built pre-1945. Old wiring doesn't necessarily mean trouble. But be alert for a smell like that of rotting fish. This could indicate that insulation protecting wiring is damaged and that the wires are overheating. There is a simple way for a qualified electrician to check: unscrew sockets or light switches and take a careful look inside. Cracked or crumbling in-sulation is a sure sign of dangerous wiring.

Lighting circuits installed before 1960 were often not earthed, creating a real risk of shocks in older homes if metal light fittings have recently been installed. Electrical fires can also result from arcing, in which a spark "jumps" between two ends of a broken wire or a loose connection. Arcs can heat nearby insulation, which could burst into flames.

House wiring should be checked every ten years. And if you're moving and your prospective property does not have the appropriate electrical certification, get an electrical survey. 

 

 

 

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Safe Cold Water Storage

Safe Cold Water Storage

Regular readers of this column may recall our article on Gegionnaire’s Disease, which appeared many moons ago.  In the article below we are going to concentrate on a particular aspect of this issue and how to go about safeguarding your tenants' health.

 

Water Tank Covers

Cold water storage is a vital part of a house's plumbing system. Whilst the kitchen cold water tap (and normally any outside tap) is supplied by a direct feed from the water main, other taps, both upstairs and downstairs, are supplied through an indirect gravity feed from the cold water tank or cistern, located in the loft space. The cold water tank itself is supplied by a rising water main from the public water system. Water is held in the tank on a temporary basis until taps are turned on and toilets are flushed. The ball cock system in the tank controls the replacement volume of water from the rising main.

Typically households use bathroom cold taps for brushing teeth as well as for drinking water. These potable uses make it imperative that water fed through to those taps from the cold water tank is clean. But if the tank is uncovered or if the cover is ill-fitting, broken or made from an unsuitable material, the water from the tank may be anything but suitable for consumption!

Dangers of an uncovered tank

Your cold water tank needs to be covered for two reasons. The first is to prevent insects and vermin from entering the water system. Unwelcome visitors might include anything from mice and birds to wasps, spiders and numerous smaller insects. All can cause the water to become contaminated - especially if the creatures die and decompose in the tank!

The second reason your tank must be covered is to prevent too much light from falling onto the water. Stored water may become susceptible to algae growth and to the cultivation of other waterborne bacteria should the water remain stagnant for too long and be exposed to light. By covering the tank with a dense material the water is isolated from light sources, staving off any such issues.

Getting the right covering

Across the nation cold water tanks in lofts are covered by a variety of materials, from standard close-fitting covers that comply with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 to improvised covers made from wooden boards, mesh and even curtaining fabric! Some coverings are clearly unsuitable, while others are adequate but might benefit from being 'upgraded' to comply with government legislation.

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 apply to all premises with cold water tanks / cisterns. It replaced the Water Bylaws in July 1999, and requires that properties connected to the public water supply have appropriate storage tanks installed and that they are maintained accordingly to prevent contamination. Included in the regulations are guidelines for tank coverings. These should be close-fitting to the tank - but not airtight - and should be of an opaque material that will not cause contamination in the tank when water condenses on its underside.

Coverings that comply with the regulations are available from good DIY stores and from plumbing centres. Some coverings are known as Bylaw 30 kits. This is in reference to the pre-1999 bylaws on safe cold water storage. Is it about time you checked the suitability of your cold water tank covering?

 

Revised version sent 11-08-2008

 

Water Tank Covers - Safe Cold Water Storage

 

Cold water storage is a vital part of a house's plumbing system. Whilst the kitchen cold water tap (and normally any outside tap) is supplied by a direct feed from the water main, other taps, both upstairs and downstairs, are supplied through an indirect gravity feed from the cold water tank or cistern, located in the loft space. The cold water tank itself is supplied by a rising water main from the public water system. Water is held in the tank on a temporary basis until taps are turned on and toilets are flushed. The floating ball cock system in the tank controls the replacement volume of water from the rising main.

 

Typically households use bathroom cold taps for brushing teeth and bedroom sinks for washing the hands or for a cup of water. These potable (drinking-quality water) uses make it imperative that water fed through to those taps from the cold water tank is clean. But if the tank is uncovered or if the cover is ill-fitting, broken or made from an unsuitable material, the water from the tank may be anything but suitable for consumption!

 

Dangers of an uncovered tank

Your cold water tank needs to be covered for two reasons. The first is to prevent insects and vermin from entering the water system. Unwelcome visitors might include anything from mice and birds to wasps, spiders and numerous smaller insects. All can cause the water to become contaminated - especially if the creatures die and decompose in the tank!  Recent cases of bird droppings causing water poisoning have been reported with potential very dangerous consequences.

 

The second reason your tank must be covered is to prevent too much light from falling onto the water. Stored water may become susceptible to algae (organisms) growth and to the cultivation of other waterborne bacteria should the water remain stagnant for too long and be exposed to light. By covering the tank with a dense material the water is isolated from light sources, staving off any such issues.

 

Getting the right covering

Across the nation cold water tanks in lofts are covered by a variety of materials, from standard close-fitting covers that comply with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 to improvised covers made from wooden boards, mesh and even curtaining fabric! Some coverings are clearly unsuitable, while others are adequate but might benefit from being 'upgraded' to comply with current government legislation, for example, ideally, the temperature is not to exceed 20^° C.

 

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 apply to all premises with cold water tanks / cisterns. It replaced the Water Bylaws in July 1999, and requires that properties connected to the public water supply have appropriate storage tanks installed – approved by the Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS), and that they are maintained accordingly to prevent contamination. Included in the regulations are guidelines for tank coverings. These should be close-fitting to the tank - but not airtight - and should prevent contamination in the tank.

 

Coverings that comply with the regulations are available from good DIY stores and from plumbing centres. Some coverings are known as Bylaw 30 kits. This is in reference to the pre-1999 bylaws on safe cold water storage. Is it about time you checked the suitability of your cold water tank covering?