On 1 November 2017 the Government introduced the Draft Tenant Fees Bill to parliament. The Government have proposed to ban letting agent fees for landlords in England. This means lettings agents and landlords will only be able to charge a refundable holding deposit of no more than a week’s rent. The holding deposit only becomes non-refundable if the tenant, withdraws from the rental property or defaults through referencing, fails a right to rent check or provides misleading information.
As from the 1st April 2018 there will be a new requirement for any properties that are currently rented to have a minimum energy performance rating of E. The regulations will come into force for new lets and renewals of tenancies coming into place from 1st April 2018 and for all existing tenancies on 1st April 2020. It will be unlawful to rent a property which fall below the minimum E rating, unless there is an applicable exemption such as, listed buildings. A civil penalty of up to £4,000 will be imposed for breaches.
Where applicable most landlords this will mean that they will no longer be able to rent out a property with a rating of F or G after April 1st 2018. As such landlords with properties in this EPC bracket should begin preparing now for April 1st.
This is a new regulation which comes into place on the 25th May 2018 and will replace the existing Data Protection Act. The new act is an update and a new way of handling individual personal data.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to any organisation that handles personal date across the EU. Even though the UK is leaving the EU we are to comply with the regulation until such time. The new regulation now means controls are to be put in place for how data is collected and used.
Data that is collected and shared between the company must be on the consent given by the client, data is described as information that can identify an individual person. The new guidelines outline the client needs a clear understanding of where and who will have access to their details at all times. In due course all of our clients will be sent a request outlining specifically how their data will be shared the client and with whom. Further updates will be given as and when they become clear.