Case Law & Prescribed Information
Siddeeq v Alaian. K00BF465 County Court at Mayor’s and City of London County Court. HHJ Hellman. 9 August 2024 (unreported).
A County Court Circuit Judge appeal from a possession claim at Brentford County Court, on the validity of a section 21 notice due to arguments over the deposit prescribed information. The key question was whether information given by the landlord could be ‘prescribed information’ in relation to the deposit if it was given to the tenant before the deposit was paid.
The tenancy agreement on this AST was signed on 12 November 2021. The tenancy agreement, as is common, had a section setting out various items of the ‘tenancy deposit prescribed information’ and stated the deposit value. The end statement of the agreement said that the signature was the landlord’s certification of the information, and the tenant’s confirmation of its accuracy to the best of their knowledge. A Mydeposits scheme leaflet was provided with the tenancy agreement.
The deposit was paid by the tenant on 13 November 2021. The deposit was protected on about 19 November 2021 and the deposit protection certificate provided to the tenant, although not signed by either.
So the only signature as to the accuracy of the prescribed information where those of the landlord and the tenant on the tenancy agreement, signed before the deposit was paid.
The landlord served a section 21 notice on 3 November 2022 and a possession claim via the accelerated procedure issued on 24 April 2023. A defence was served. At first instance trial the District Judge held that the prescribed information could be given before the deposit was paid. The tenant sought permission to appeal, which was granted by HHJ Luba KC.
New Case Law on Service of Gas Safety Certificates, EPC and How to Rent Guide
The valid service of the accompanying documents - Gas Safety Certificates, EPC and How to Rent guide as per the Deregulation Act 2015, for the purpose of serving a valid Section 21 notice was considered in the case of D’Aubigny v Khan & Anor.
Background
Ms D’Aubigny was the tenant under an assured shorthold tenancy (AST).
The landlords (The Khans) served a Section 21 notice.
The tenant challenged the validity of the Section 21 notice, claiming that she had not received the accompanying documents.
The landlords had served all documents by post to the tenant.
Issue
The tenant argued that not only had she not received the prescribed documents, but there was also no clause in the tenancy agreement which permits service of notices and documents by post.
The landlords argued that the tenancy agreement included a clause which allowed service of the prescribed documents by post but in any event Section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (“the Act”) applied, which permits service by post.
Michael Gove confirms “No-fault evictions will be "outlawed".
This morning, Housing Secretary Michael Gove told Laura Kuenssberg of the BBC that ‘No Fault Evictions’ will be banned by the next general election.
It’s difficult to watch this play out in a “Ground Hog” kind of way because since the announcement was made in 2019 that Section 21 (Form 6A) notice would be abolished, nothing much has really changed.
Of course, the Renters Reform Bill which will serve as the vehicle to abolish the Section 21 notice, is currently at the Report Stage, but the government has clearly stated that a ban of the notice cannot be enacted until the court system is improved, something confirmed by Michael Gove last year.
When asked by Laura Kuenssberg if he could guarantee that ‘unlawful evictions’ would end by the time of the next general election, Mr Gove responded that: "We will have outlawed it and we will have put the money into the courts in order to ensure that they can enforce that." A woolly response that is most definitely not possible because reforming the courts will not be a quick fix.
What next for the Renters Reform Bill?
A lot of chatter has appeared in the trade press over the last 24 hours regarding the Renters Reform Bill and the intentions of the Labour Party if they win a general election. A lot of the discussion circulates around the abolition of Section 21 (Form 6A), so much so that landlords are constantly having a ‘knee jerk’ reaction every time the trade press, national press, TV reports, a blog make reference to the notice disappearing. This has lead to many landlords selling up and exiting the letting sector.
With the greatest of respect to all those who report on the Renters Reform Bill, it’s irresponsible to mislead landlords in this way; landlords who in 2019 reacted to the initial proposal of abolishing the Section 21 notice were unfortunately mislead into thinking that firstly the notice would be abolished imminently. But let’s also think about tenants and the impact this ‘misinformation’ has affected them. Many tenants could have avoided having notice served on them and worse still, facing accelerated possession through the courts and possibly eviction. It has not and will not be abolished for a while.