Landlord to Landlord Sales Blog

On the 14th June 2013 the Lord Justice Lloyd handled the appeal on the Superstrike v Rodriguez case. The outcome of this appeal has put the lettings world in turmoil for private landlords and letting agents, as well as all the Deposit Schemes who are still seeking legal advice. Online property forums are in full discussion as well as landlord governing bodies.

This particular case is because a tenant entered an Assured Shorthold Tenancy(AST) prior to April 2007, which meant the deposit did not have to be protected. The tenancy was for twelve months and expired in January 2008, it then proceeded into a statutory periodic tenancy(SPT). Now up to this point, this has been the procedure we have all been advised to do, the rules stated that only when you entered a new AST did you need to protect the deposit.

The case however, brings up rightly that when a tenancy is allowed to go into a SPT this is deemed as a new distinct tenancy and not a continuation and therefore the deposit should have been protected. And, because of this when the landlords took the tenants to court on a Section 21 notice, the court refused to recognise it.

The majority of landlords will have tenants in AST’s that started after April 2007, but if you have a tenant prior to this date and thought there was no need to protect, then my advice is to protect it now, as it would show your good intentions.

However, the dilemma now falls with periodic tenancies now being classed as new distinct tenancies and this is where problems may arise and why the deposit schemes are seeking legal advice because their own website clearly say you do not need to protect a deposit again if in a monthly rollover. And if each new month is a new distinct tenancy are we to renew monthly? What about guarantors who were on the original tenancy, do they not continue?

This is likely to go to the Supreme Court, so you can watch this space or put your tenants in a new tenancy and be covered.

As of 1st January 2013, all rented properties that have a gas central heating boiler flue that has either been fitted hidden in the ceiling space or fitted away from an external wall must now be fitted with an inspection hatch. If your boiler is situated on an outside wall it is unlikely that you have this type of flue and if you can see the entire flue it will not affect you, your gas engineer will be able to tell you.

All gas engineers must now be able to inspect the whole length of the flue, in line with industry guidance. If they are unable to fully inspect the flue it must be deemed at ‘At Risk’ (recommending to not use)and the engineer will ask for consent to turn it off. You are within your rights to refuse permission for it to be turned off; however you will be asked to sign paperwork to confirm you accept responsibility for those defects identified in the system – which would be the possible leak of carbon monoxide escaping unnoticed from the concealed flue into the property.

You may be able to go back to the builder if it is less than two years and look to the home warrantee if less than 10 years.

What it does mean is the gas engineer will not be able to provide a Gas Safety Certificate until an inspection hatch has been fitted and they have inspected the whole flue and as a landlord you must by law have a Gas Safety Certificate in place to rent a property out and this must be renewed every year.

Landlords and Letting Agents are being advised to look at the electrical products in their properties after a number of fires have been attributed to white goods. Only last week, Dorset fire and rescue were called to a serious house fire caused by the tumble dryer.

Appliances to look out for are fridge freezers, cookers, tumble dryers and washing machines (existing or recently new)

The warning comes after a continuing spate of safety alerts and product recalls. However, despite this, a large number are not registered with the manufacturer when bought by the landlords (or their agent, if they are buying on their behalf), so cannot be contacted.

The fact is that electricity is a major cause of fires in UK homes, and that includes rental properties. In one recent insurance claim, a landlord suffered over £100,000 worth of damage to his property and loss of rent following a fire from a faulty fridge freezer.

One manufacturer, Beko, has been repeatedly at the centre of stories about domestic fires caused by their appliances, with fire brigade claims that they have caused at least 20 blazes at homes since 2010.

You can find out further information by going to the following sites;

Electrical Safety Council (ESC): www.esc.org.uk/recall. You will need to enter a model number, brand name or description of a particular item. If the product has been recalled, the website will advise on your next steps.

Recall UK is the primary product recall site that lists all UK product recalls, for all product types, announced in the last few weeks: www.recalluk.com/default.aspx