This is a question to the blog clinic from Kathy (not her real name) who is a tenant in England.

We’ve signed an AST that rolled into a contractual periodic tenancy (CPT). The notice period is 2 months for the landlord and tenant.

We didn’t realise that it would turn into a CPT and assumed that the legislation applied, that is, that it becomes an automatic statutory periodic tenancy (SPT) on a monthly basis where notice is 1 month.

We’ve been with the landlord for several years and gave 1 months’ notice, but she’s referred us to the clause.

Upon reviewing the situation, the notice period for the landlord is 2 months as required by the legislation, but double for us as tenants. Do we have grounds to argue it’s an unfair term and unenforceable? Thank you in advance.

Answer

The significance of the notice period is not whether or not the landlord can force you to stay in the property – she cannot physically stop you from moving out. The significance is your liability for rent after giving notice.

Or, if you move out without giving notice, how much rent you are liable for in lieu of notice.

If you are able to give two months’ notice, then it is best to do that as it avoids problems. However, if this is not possible and you need to vacate on the date given in your notice, then the landlord can either:

• Accept the situation
• Require you to pay the additional month’s rent – and deduct this from your deposit or
• Say that your notice was defective and that no proper notice was given, meaning that you need to pay two months’ rent in lieu of notice when you vacate. Your deposit will not be sufficient to cover this, but she will start by making a deposit deduction.

So, this will probably boil down to what she deducts from your deposit.

What to do if a deduction is made from your deposit

If you vacate on the date given in your notice and the landlord deducts a further month’s rent from your deposit money (or more), then you should challenge this and ask for the deduction to be referred to adjudication.

All the deposit schemes have a free adjudication service. You can find out more about it on your scheme website. Note that there are time limits so make sure you deal with this promptly.

You will need to object on the basis that the landlord is unfairly claiming an additional month’s notice, more than you would be liable for if the tenancy were a statutory periodic tenancy. Which means that the clause is unfair under Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

It will then be down to the adjudicator and whether they agree with you or not. I suspect that they will agree.

And finally

Note that this post will be redundant after the Renters Rights Bill becomes law, as all tenancies will become statutory periodics.

The post Can a contractual periodic tenancy require a tenant to give two months’ notice? appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.

I write this while the Renters Rights Bill is making its way through Parliament.

It has reached the House of Lords, and we are currently waiting for the date for the committee state to be announced.

It is at the committee states in both the Lords and the Commons that most amendments to bills are made.

However there is a difference between an amendment being proposed and actually making it and becoming part of the bill.

Government and Members’ amendments

It is open to any MP to submit a draft amendment to be considered for a bill. That amendment can either be accepted or rejected.  However, for it to be a part of the final bill it has to have been agreed by both houses.  The government will also usually have their own amendments – these are far more likely to reach the statute book!

Where the government has a big majority, as is the case at the moment, any amendment which is not a government amendment is unlikely to be voted through.

Amendments in the House of Lords

Then there is the ‘Salisbury Doctrine’.   This is a convention which ensures that major government bills will get through the Lords if it is putting into effect a government manifesto commitment.

The Renters Rights Bill was an important part of the Labour Party manifesto in 2024, and so is certain to become law.

This is what the manifesto said:

Security also means having a secure roof over your head. That is not the case for too many renting their homes privately. Labour will legislate where the Conservatives have failed, overhauling the regulation of the private rented sector. We will immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases, and take steps to decisively raise standards, including extending ‘Awaab’s Law to the private sector.

So, none of those issues can be blocked by the Lords.

Ping pong

This is when amendments go back and forth between the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the final stages of the bill’s progress through Parliament until a form of wording is agreed.

However, as the current government has such a large majority, it will inevitably get the bill in the form that it wants.

And finally

This means that when reading proposed amendments to a bill you need to look and see whether it is a member amendment or a government amendment.

If it is a government amendment, it will almost certainly be voted through. If it is a member amendment, almost certainly not, unless it is accepted by the government.

The post Amendments to government bills going through Parliament appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.

Welcome to our first Newsround for March, let’s see what has been in the housing news this week.

Tenants complain less about their landlords than people think

A new tenant survey by Leaders Romans Group has found that in reality fewer tenants are unhappy with their landlords than you would think from reading the media.

The survey found:

• 55% of tenants believe their landlord provides quality housing
• Only 12% view their landlord negatively
• 75% of tenants reported that maintenance requests are addressed within a week,
• 41% reported receiving responses in as little as 48 hours

However

• 50% wanted better communication
• 34% believed there needed to be greater understanding of the pressures faced by both tenants and landlords
• 39% of tenants calling for clearer tenant rights,
• 23% also wanted greater transparency around landlord responsibilities

As regards regulation:

• Only 17% believed it would improve relationships,
• Just 16% feel that an independent ombudsman would help
• 13% of tenants felt no changes were needed

The problem is that tenant organisations and also MPs in their surgeries see a steady stream of tenants who experience awful problems with nightmare landlords and get to think that this is the majority.  Whereas in fact, it is not.  The vast majority of landlords are good landlords.

It remains to be seen whether the good landlords will remain after the new regulations come on board.

Council launches tenant-landlord partnership

A new charter has been launched by North Herts council, known as the ‘Tenants’ Charter’ that is designed to help tenant-landlord relationships and ensure that landlords deal with their responsibilities quickly and keep their rented properties up to standard.

The council pledges to act as a mediator to help tenants who are not getting quick enough responses from their landlords and it will help them with compiling correspondence in order to help their complaints. Landlords must deal with tenants’ issues within two weeks, with complaints to be dealt with within three working days, and rectify any issues promptly.

Landlords must also adhere to all of the housing regulations. The council will also not hesitate to use enforcement measures if necessary.

The council will offer advice to tenants to help them manage their rental payments along with other household expenses.

This charter if for both social housing and private rental tenants.

New EPC changes echo concerns for all landlords

Concerns are growing on the impact that the new EPC regulations will have on landlords who need to prepare for the up and coming changes. An MP this week has voiced in the House of Commons concerns from his landlord constituents asking if the government will be supporting landlords in upgrading their rental properties.

He added that those landlords with just one or two properties are considering selling up, which would remove those properties from the rental market permanently.

Rushanara Ali, under-secretary of the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government said that they would support landlords to meet the new standards but would not commit to any more details. It is this vagueness and lack of any financial grants that is worrying for all landlords.

Early resolution is key for Property Redress cases

Property Redress, who are an independent impartial mediation and resolution company claim that despite a 20% rise in complaints last year they still managed to resolve 50% of their cases through early resolution. Their awards totalled £194,878 in 2024 which was 45% less than in 2023.

Their complaints on average, were completed in 40 days with holding deposits, poor service and tenancy payments being the top three complaints.

Sean Hooker, head of the Redress Scheme, said

As we strive to support, educate, and improve industry standards while continuing to clamp down on some of the poor practices that ensue, our adoption of innovative approaches like mediation and early resolution has yielded positive outcomes, fostering greater satisfaction among stakeholders.

And we end the Newsround this week on a bit of good news.

Council decides against plan for selective licensing scheme

Blackburn and Darwen Council are so concerned that landlords are quitting and that they will not have enough affordable rental homes, have dropped their plans for a selective licensing scheme.

Both landlords and tenants were opposed to the scheme in an area which already has a high tenant turnover. Quesir Mahmood from the council said there were concerns that the license fee would only encourage landlords to increase their rents or that landlords would sell up.

They had calculated that if just 10% of landlords sold up then that would result in 115 tenants needing alternative accommodation or even worse, facing homelessness.

The council will be offering advice and support to landlords to encourage retention whilst targeting rogue landlords with legal action.

Snippets

Landlord couple told to pay £8748 back to five tenants
Risk to rental sector in Wales as taxes raised, Propertmark warns
Experts wants heat pumps are too expensive for many homes to meet net zero targets
The areas where landlords face the most challenges with deposits are revealed
London ebike fire: landlords of ‘grossly overcrowded’ flat fined almost £100,000

See also our Quick News Updates on Landlord Law

Newsround will be back again next week

The post Landlord Law Newsround #378 appeared first on The Landlord Law Blog.