Legal Advice for Tenants
When you rent, it can feel as if you are living and working to pay your landlord’s mortgage.
Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors explain tenant rights and UK landlord obligations. In this blog, we also touch on your obligations as a tenant as that’s also a reason why legal advice is sought by tenants.
Online and London-based legal advice for tenants
For advice on tenant rights and obligations call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form. Appointments are available for phone, Zoom or Skype consultations or at our offices in London.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi.
Your rights as a tenant
As a tenant, you have some basic legal rights. Depending on what is in your tenancy agreement you may have additional rights.
As Landlord and Tenant Solicitors, we are often told by tenants that it doesn’t matter what their legal rights are because their landlord has all the power in the relationship as they can end the tenancy. The law on Section 21 notices is changing but, until it does, it's important to understand tenant rights and how to use them effectively through taking expert legal advice when you need it.
As a tenant of a private rental property, you have the following rights:
- To live in a property that is safe and in a reasonable state of repair
- To know who your landlord is
- Your tenancy agreement must be fair and comply with the law
- To not be asked for an excessive deposit and to have your deposit returned when the tenancy ends unless your actions have forfeited that right
- Depending on your type of tenancy agreement, to have your deposit protected in one of the three prescribed tenancy deposit schemes
- To live in your property undisturbed by your landlord or their agents
- If your tenancy is an assured shorthold tenancy, you should be given a copy of the government-produced How to Rent Guide at the start of your tenancy agreement
- To be given an energy performance certificate and other relevant paperwork, such as a gas safety certificate if there is a gas supply to the property
- To be protected from landlord harassment, unfair rent and illegal eviction
- To have a written tenancy agreement if you have a fixed-term tenancy of more than three years
Some people think they have no rights and are not tenants because they do not have a tenancy agreement. The law says you can be a tenant with an oral or verbal tenancy agreement with your landlord. Our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors can advise on whether you are classed as a tenant or a licensee.
Other renters assume they have no rights as they have stayed in a property after the end of their fixed-term tenancy agreement. These renters still have rights and the original tenancy may have become a rolling or periodic tenancy.
Even if you have stayed in your rental property after the departure date on a Section 21 notice you still have tenant rights. For example, your landlord cannot force their way into the property and evict you or harass you. They must start possession proceedings and get a possession order and an eviction order.
UK landlord obligations on tenant safety
There is already a lot of legislative protection for tenants but tenants either aren’t aware of it or are worried that even asking their landlord to meet basic safety laws could result in a Section 21 notice.
Here is a recap on UK landlord obligations on tenant safety:
- Gas safety – landlords must ensure any gas and gas-operated items are installed and maintained by gas safe registered engineers. In addition, landlords must obtain a yearly gas safety certificate to cover every gas appliance at the rental property. Tenants are entitled to a copy of the certificate before they move in and to a copy of the certificate within 28 days of its annual completion
- Electrical safety – while there is no requirement for annual electrical safety tests, a landlord must ensure that the electrics are safe and that any electrical appliances supplied by them are safe
- Fire safety – the fire safety rules will depend on the type of property you are renting, such as a fourth-floor flat, a three-storey house or a room in a house in multiple occupation (HMO). Landlords must all follow safety regulations by providing a smoke alarm on each storey and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a solid fuel burning appliance, keeping fire exit routes clear and ensuring that any furnishings supplied as part of the tenancy agreement are fire-safe
- Staying safe and repairs – a landlord is responsible for repairs to the property, such as pipe or drainage issues or lack of hot water. If you are unsure about the extent of your landlord’s obligations the first place to look is the tenancy agreement. There are some repairs a landlord is not responsible for. For example, damage caused by you or resulting from your accident. If you have caused accidental damage, you should not carry out repairs without your landlord’s agreement.
Legal advice for tenants from OTS Solicitors
Rent increases are an area where tenants are seeking legal advice because they want to challenge the frequency of rises or a steep jump in rent. Tenants rightly say that they are impacted by the cost-of-living issues whilst landlords say that if the mortgage interest rate goes up, they have no option other than to increase the rent. Rent advice is being sought across the South East, particularly in London.
The general rule around rent increases is that a landlord must get a tenant’s agreement to an increase if it is higher than the agreed method of rent review and any rise must be in line with local market rents.
The first point that your Landlord and Tenant Solicitors will check is whether your landlord is proposing a rent increase in accordance with the provisions in the tenancy agreement.
A landlord normally needs to give a month’s notice of a rent increase and either increase the rent at the end of a fixed-term tenancy or serve notice so the rent can be increased when the tenancy ends or reach an agreement on the increase.
With a rolling monthly tenancy, a landlord normally can't increase the rent more than once per year without your agreement. If the tenancy is still part of an initial fixed term, then normally the rent can only be increased by agreement.
The Renters' Rights Bill includes provisions on rent increases but Landlord and Tenant Lawyers acknowledge it’s a tricky one as mortgage rates, insurance premiums and repair bills are going up but tenants often struggle to pay the extra rental demands. Restricting the right of landlords to increase rents can force more landlords out of the rental market and that then creates a vicious circle of reduced rental housing stock and landlords able to charge more for the available properties.
As well as disputes over rent increases our Landlord and Tenant Solicitors protect tenant rights by advising on:
- Reviewing tenancy agreements and advising on what should go in them
- Resolving deposit disputes
- How to resolve repair disputes, including damp and mould
- How to respond to a Section 8 notice or Section 21 notice
- Representation in possession proceedings and eviction applications
- Advice on urgent disrepair claims including damp and mould in rental property
- Tenant legal action for property maintenance
- Allegations of anti-social tenant behaviour
- Disrepair compensation when landlords have breached landlord repair obligations
- Letters before action to try to quickly sort out disputes between landlords and tenants
- Specific tenant rights advice. For example, on regulated tenancies
- Landlord harassment claims
Whether you need disrepair lawyers in London or advice from UK possession solicitors, our experts on all things landlord and tenant-related can help.
Online and London-based legal advice for tenants
For advice on tenant rights and obligations call OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form. Appointments are available for phone, Zoom or Skype consultations or at our offices in London.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi.
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