EFIS 78, September 2015 : Landlord & Tenant

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The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 prescribe a new form for practitioners, landlords and letting agents to use under section 21(1) and section 21(4) of the Housing Act 1988 in England when seeking "no fault" possession of accommodation let under an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) when the AST is created on or after 1st October in England.

The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 will come into force on 30th September in England under statutory changes which the Deregulation Act 2015 will introduce.

These regulations correct errors in the official Form 6A which was originally contained in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 and which will come into force on 1st October.

The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 also amend the wording of HA32 to reflect the introduction of this new procedure under section 21 of the Housing Act when an AST is created in England on or after 1st October.

Although this new HA21SR form replaces Oyez's existing non prescribed forms for recovering possession of a fixed term AST by using HA21 (under section 21(1)(b)) and HA21A (under section 21(4)(a)) of the 1988 Housing Act for ASTs created on or after 1st October, practitioners should note that HA21 and HA21A may still be used for ASTs created before 1st October.

This is because the new HA21SR form states that "...there is no obligation to use this new form (i.e. HA21SR) for ASTs created prior to 1st October. However, it may still be used for all ASTs."

Practitioners should note that regulation 1(4) of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 states that these Regulations do not apply in relation to an AST that came into being under section 5(2) of the Housing Act 1988 on or after 1st October or on the coming to an end of an AST that was granted before 1st October.

However, Oyez strongly recommends that practitioners should read the 2015 Regulations referred to above for more detailed information regarding these changes.

The new form HA21SR cannot be used in situations where:-

1. the tenant has lived at the property for less than 4 months;

2. the landlord is prevented from retaliatory eviction under section 33 of the Deregulation Act 2015;

3. the landlord has not provided the tenant with a gas certificate, energy performance certificate and a copy of the Department for Communities and Local Government's publication "How to Rent: the Checklist for Renting in England";

4. the landlord has not protected the tenant's deposit under one of the Government's three approved Tenancy Deposit schemes.

The new HA21SR form should not be served in England before 1st October.

The amended HA32 and HA32_Flexi forms should be used in England on or after 1st October.

Also, please find available L&T35A and L&T35B which have received minor field amendments.

Finally, L&T50_Flexi is a new form added to the range as per customer's requests.

Forms affected

HA32_Flexi	Notice Seeking Possession of a Property Let on an Assured Tenancy or an Assured Agricultural Occupancy - [LTA3] Section 8 Notice	New/Amended
L&T50_Flexi	Notice of Tenant's Claim to Acquire the Freehold or an Extended Lease	New/Amended
HA32	Notice Seeking Possession of a Property Let on an Assured Tenancy or an Assured Agricultural Occupancy - [LTA3] Section 8 Notice	New/Amended
L&T35A	Declaration by Tenant that Sections 24 to 28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 are Not to Apply to a Business Tenancy - [LTBT2]	New/Amended
L&T35B	Statutory Declaration by Tenant that Sections 24 to 28 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 are Not to Apply to a Business Tenancy - [LTBT3]	New/Amended
HA21SR	Notice Seeking Possession of a Property Let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy	New/Amended

Crown copyright forms are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of the Stationery Office. Law Society forms are reproduced with the permission of the Law Society. Legal Aid Forms are produced with the permission of the LSC.