170 Pieces of Legislation You Need To Know

Did you know that there are 170 pieces of different legislation you must adhere to as a landlord?

If you’d like to learn more about the laws and regulations that apply to you, read on.

Here at Concentric Sales and Lettings, we are dedicated to getting you the latest information on legislation updates as well as providing the guidance you need to be successful, safe and compliant as a landlord. 

In this blog we’re going to discuss some of the most important pieces of legislation that you should be aware of as a landlord. This is by no means an exhaustive list but is intended as something of a primer to the laws governing our industry.

 

The Housing Act of 1988

In 1988, the Housing Act came into being and completely revolutionised the private rented industry in the UK. The new law gave greater opportunities to landlords and drove the private rented sector into an economic boom. For the first time, private landlords were able to secure possession of their property in a legally protected manner. Before 1988, this was simply not possible. It was also thanks to this law the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) was born.

This is the same AST we all know and use for so many of our lettings. The Housing Act gave landlords 17 grounds for gaining possession of their property, giving unprecedented levels of opportunity for landlords to evict should the need arise. The law also made it possible for you to secure possession of your property without waiting after two successions of your property to family members. 

Overall, the Housing Act of 1988 dramatically changed the letting world as we knew it. Not only did landlords receive easier access to evict tenants that were not paying their rent, but Section 21 was introduced. This law created a non-default notice that gave landlords the opportunity to serve notice on their tenants, giving them a fixed period of notice before they needed to give up possession of the property.

 

Laws To Keep You And Your Tenants Safe

The Housing Act is not the only piece of legislation governing the private rented sector, but it is one of the most important. Other important pieces of legislation include gas safety laws, deposit registration laws, smoke and carbon monoxide detector requirements, the Accommodations Agencies Act, the Consumer Protection Act of 1987; the list truly is endless. As we stated previously, there are over 170 pieces of legislation that you need to be aware of so that you remain in compliance.

Abiding by these rules and regulations also keeps you and your tenants safe. For example, Section 11 of the Landlords and Tenant Act of 1985 details your repairing obligations as a landlord. You may have also heard of HHSRS, which is a piece of legislation describing 29 different hazards that you need to be aware of and assess. The central purpose of these laws is to answer the question, is your property fit for human habitation?

The Homes (Fitness for Huan Habitation) act 2018 was passed into law in 2019 and was yet another important piece of legislation surrounding the safety and condition of your property.

 

Crucial Procedural Laws

These laws have impacted the way we, as landlords, do our job. For instance, the Housing Act of 2004 is a landlord law that created new rules regarding how we as landlords handle our tenant’s deposits. HMOs are a legally recognized entity with a whole body of laws that you need to be aware of if you are involved in one. The Immigration Act of 2016 is another very important law. Landlords, did you know that you have to check if your potential tenant has the right to rent in the UK before renting your property to them? The law requires that you be able to prove that you carried out these checks. Sections 47 and 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985 are two pieces of landlord legislation that require you, as the landlord, to provide your address to your tenants. There are also Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, abbreviated to MEES, that are in place. These require all of your properties currently rented to be operating at an “E” rating or above in order to be compliant.

 

How To Be Compliant As A Landlord

In order to be compliant with all legislation impacting landlords, the best thing to do is to know the laws. Take some time to do your research and get to know the laws in your community. We have only scratched the surface of the rules and regulations you have to abide by as a landlord. Additionally, certain properties will be impacted by specific, local rules that you’ll also have to be aware of.

Sometimes, it can seem like the list of pieces of legislation is endless, but we hope you’ve found this content informative and helpful. If you did, please check out more of our content here on our blog, and feel free to visit our social media channels. If you’d like to learn more, we host a quarterly online seminar that you can join to get the latest updates on the regulations and legislations that matter to you.

Register your space on the next page.

Gas Appliances: As a landlord, what are your responsibilities?

Twenty one percent of privately-rented accommodation has been found to contain unsafe gas appliances, meaning that over 2.7 million tenants could be in danger. Landlords hold the legal responsibility to ensure that appliances are in safe working order. Unfortunately, over a third of landlords are unaware of this responsibility, and worryingly, tenants are also oblivious to the fact that their boiler needs to be safety checked annually.

There are a few worrying facts to consider. For example, despite it being the legal requirement of landlords to make sure that all gas appliances are checked every year by a Gas Safe engineer, a third don’t know this, and fifteen percent think it’s the responsibility of their local council. This lack of knowledge is dangerous when it concerns the health check of gas appliances, as mismanagement could result in injury or even death.

Studies have highlighted that there has been a higher number of unsafe gas appliances in rented property than privately owned. It’s vital that landlords carry out their duty, which covers checking fittings and chimneys/flues, as well as gas appliances, by a registered Gas Safe engineer.

So what is your responsibility?

Outlined in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, here are your responsibilities summed up:

  1. Maintenance - appliances, chimneys/flues and pipework need to be maintained, and gas appliances need to be serviced once a year.

  2. Gas Safety Checks - These need to carried out annually by a Gas Safety Engineer.

  3. Record - Keep a record of your checks and present them to new tenants at the beginning of their tenancy, and your current tenants within 28 days of completion.

If you fail to do so, you could find yourself fined, or even with a custodial sentence issued to the landlord or letting agent who is responsible for managing the property.

Tenancy agreements will allow for landlords to access rental properties in order to carry out a Gas Safety Check. ‘All reasonable steps’ need to be carried out to ensure that the check is completed. If difficult tenants do not allow entry, then landlords can contact an environmental officer for advice. As long as proof can be shown to indicate that all sensible measures have been taken to carry out the inspection, then penalties should not be enforced.

Here at Concentric Sales and Lettings we’d love to take the stress off your hands. We make it our mission to keep up-to-date with the latest legislation and changes to ensure we’re offering our landlords the most professional service. If you’d to consider handing the time-consuming headache over to us, we’ll ensure that your properties are a legally safe haven for your tenants. Simply visit our site to discover more, and take that first step to freeing up your time to focus on what you want to be doing.