Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield Gas Safety Case - Court of Appeal rules in favour of Landlord

The Court of Appeal has yesterday  handed down its judgment in the case of Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield. The Court of Appeal Judges ruled that late service of a gas safety certificate does not prevent a landlord from serving a section 21 notice on their tenant provided the certificate has been given to the tenant before service of the section 21 notice. This decision will be welcomed by landlords.

It was due to the Caridon Property v Monty Schooltz, in which HHJ Luba QC concluded that a failure to provide the gas safety certificate to the tenant before occupation was a breach that could not be remedied late. The effect of the judges’ interpretation of the law was that a landlord who had failed to provide the gas safety certificate before the tenant took occupation.

The Court’s decision is an excellent outcome for landlords. It means that where a landlord has failed to provide a new tenant with the last gas safety certificate before occupation they are able to remedy this by providing the certificate late.

Furthermore, a failure to complete a subsequent annual check on time will not bar the landlord from serving a section 21 notice provided the certificate is given to the tenant prior to serving the section 21 notice. Again, this will be reassuring to landlords particularly in present circumstances where arranging gas safety inspections has been a challenge.

The Court’s decision, however, does not resolve all the issues since the section 21 procedure in 2015. What does this mean for a landlord who has failed to carry out a gas safety check at all before the tenant goes into occupation? Are they able to rectify this breach and serve a valid s21 notice? While the Court has determined that late provision of the initial gas safety certificate can be remedied, including historic gas safety breaches.

Anthony Gold Solicitors represented the landlord in this case.