Reminder to landlords and tenants – new laws from 1 October
Birmingham City Council is reminding landlords and tenants that new legislation affecting the private rented sector comes into force on Thursday 1 October.
Amongst the raft of new measures are new regulations requiring landlords to install adequate smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, the introduction of a new notice to quit form (Section 21) and new rules about the information landlords must give tenants at the start of their tenancy.
From 1 October, all landlords must install working smoke alarms on every storey of the property used for living accommodation and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room used as living accommodation where solid fuel is used. Landlords who don’t do this can be fined up to £5,000.
For new tenancies starting on or after 1 October –
- Landlords must give tenants a new information booklet – ‘How to rent: the checklist for renting in England’ – along with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and Gas Safety Certificate at the start of their tenancy.
- Landlords must use a new prescribed notice form for Section 21 notices (eviction notices for shorthold tenancies) and cannot serve the notice within the first four months of tenancy.
- A Section 21 Notice will only be valid for six months from the date it is given and cannot be validly served if a tenant was not given the booklet, EPC certificate and Gas Safety Certificate at the start of the tenancy.
- Tenants have additional protection to stop retaliatory eviction, i.e. evictions following complaints about the state of repair of the property.
For support and advice from Birmingham City Council’s Private Rented Sector Team contact – 303 5070 or email prs@birmingham.gov.uk
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For further media information contact Press and PR Officer Debbie Harrison on 303 4476
