The Deregulation Act 2015 brought in new legislation relating to ‘retaliatory’ or ‘revenge’ evictions, which has made it into the news recently.
For all assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) that start after 1 October 2015 a landlord cannot rely on a section 21 notice they have served if the tenant has made a complaint in writing about the condition of the property before the section 21 notice was given, and the landlord has either failed to respond or their response is inadequate.
If the tenant receives a section 21 notice having made a written complaint to their landlord, the tenant can contact their local housing authority which has the power to serve enforcement notices on the landlord. If they do so the section 21 notice is no longer valid and cannot be relied upon by the landlord to try to recover possession.
So called ‘retaliatory’, or ‘revenge’ eviction has made it into the news recently as the BBC gathered figures through Freedom of Information requests that reveal that over half of local councils across England have not used these powers since the legislation came into force.
There is speculation as to whether this is because tenants simply don’t know about the new provisions in the Deregulation Act 2015 or whether the councils are failing to exercise their powers on behalf of tenants. Whatever the reason, landlords should be aware of the possible sanctions for failing to respond properly to written complaints from their tenants if they then want to try to recover possession by serving a section 21 notice.