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Painsmith Landlord & Tenant Blog
A landlord has been fined £2000 for failing to obtain a Gas Safety Certificate. In January 2011 the gas boiler broke down, upon the landlord failing to repair it the tenant and her partner complained to HSE. Following an initial investigation the HSE served the landlord with an improvement notice requiring him to produce the [...]
The above question is one which we get frequently asked by agents on the PainSmith helpline. It is often the case that tenants will vacate a property and leave their personal possessions behind which can pose a real problem for landlords. The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 requires a landlord to take care of [...]
All very frustrating, but what are the options?!
Painsmith has recently encountered the Kafkaesque world of the tenancy deposit protection schemes, specifically the DPS and its new rules relating to the release of the deposit following a court hearing. DPS is currently refusing to release deposits where the courts have not specifically ordered it and they have changed their rules to reflect the [...]
Appointment of a Manager instead of RTM
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 introduced the new none fault Right to Manage legislation. The idea was that if you had not less than 50% of the Qualifying Tenants interested they could form an RTM company and then take over the day to day management. This was seen as an alternative to enfranchisement [...]
It’s not the lawyers! It really isn’t!
Delays in possession hearings are not common in our experience but they can happen. In the case of Benesco Charity Ltd v Kanj and Unknown Persons the occupiers of a property were granted permission to appeal a possession order thus delaying the execution of the bailiff warrant for possession. Benesco granted Speedway Tyres a 10 [...]
Painsmith draws your attention to this news item published by Bristol City Council which has prosecuted some of its landlords for serious breaches of the Housing Act 2004. The landlords of one Bristol property have been fined more than £30,000 and ordered to pay over £5,000 in costs after being found guilty of serious breaches [...]
To all our readers and followers. Well the Christmas break is now over and we look ahead to another year. We expect there to be changes in the rules governing Tenants Deposits both statutory and the rules of the individual schemes. This year may also see the Energy Act secondary provisions being enacted but we [...]
A survey of tenants experience……
A survey of tenants experience…… Resolution Foundation, an organisation that works to highlight the experiences of low-to-middle earners (LMEs) through its research has published a report on its survey of tenants experience in the private rented sector. Resolution Foundation conducted I mystery shopping exercise of 25 letting agents and also spoke to tenants about their [...]
It has come to our attention that some companies claiming to be experts in the field of Landlord and Tenant law are advising agents not to serve section 8 notices until tenants are into their third month of arrears because some judges insist that to serve a notice during the second month is “no longer [...]
What should I think about before I buy my freehold? The Cons.
For many Leaseholders getting together with fellow Leaseholders to buy the freehold of the building they occupy is seen as the end of problems with freeholders and controlling their own destiny. Whilst this is of course true before going down this major step leaseholders should consider if and why this is the right route for [...]