A new prescribed form for terminating an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988) is to come into force on the 1st June 2019 to reflect the Tenant Fees Act 2019 (TFA 2019).
The TFA 2019 comes into force on the 1st June 2019 and will immediately apply to the grant of all AST’s entered into on or after the 1st June 2019, but it will not apply to statutory periodic tenancies arising after the 1st June 2019 until the 1st June 2020.
What does the TFA do?
The TFA introduces protections on residential Tenants in the private rented sector and restricts the amount and type of payment the Landlord can request from the Tenant. Landlords will find that the amount they can take as a Tenancy Deposit will be capped at five weeks rent where the annual rent is less than £50,000.00, and six weeks rent where the annual rent is more than £50,000.00.
Landlords will be prohibited from requiring a Tenant to make a payment unless it is a ‘permitted payment’. Prohibited payments include tenancy-set up fees, viewing fees, credit check fees, inventory check fees, check-out fees and fees for professional cleaning services.
How does the TFA 2019 relate to serving a section 21 Notice under the HA 1988?
A Landlord will not be able to serve a section 21 Notice on the Tenant if all or part of the prohibited payment or holding deposit has not been repaid to the relevant person, unless part or all of the payment or deposit, with the consent of the relevant person has been applied towards (a) payment of the rent under the tenancy, (b) the tenancy deposit in respect of the tenancy, or (c) some of the payment or deposit has been applied as mentioned in paragraph (a) and the rest has been applied as mentioned in paragraph (b).
If you would like advice concerning the determination of an AST, or you are buying a Property subject to an AST please contact Colman Coyle on +44 (0)20 7354 3000.