Retrospective Right to Rent Checks no Longer Required
The Home Office has announced that landlords & letting agents are no longer required to carry out retrospective Right to Rent checks on tenants who were right to rent checked by digital methods between 30 March 2020 and 16 May 2021.
As a result of the first and subsequent lockdowns, letting agents and landlords have been permitted to carry out Right to Rent checks through over digital platforms such as Skype, Zoom or FaceTime. However, Home Office guidance stated that lettings agents and landlords would need to go back and carry out retrospective checks within eight weeks of the Home Office announcing that restrictions were lifted. Clearly, the restrictions have been semi-lifted and then reinstated, creating a back log in retrospective face-to-face checks that would have to take place.
Letting agents are relieved that the temporary adjustments to right to rent checks due to COVID-19 are ending.
From 17 May 2021 landlords and letting agents must either:
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check the applicant’s right to rent online, if the applicant has provided their share code and date of birth
Life without Pets
A country of animal lovers. Cats, dogs, furry rodents, birds and reptiles, they form part of a family unit, they are important additions to daily life, providing comfort and joy.
However, since the Government announced the publication of a new tenancy agreement to help tenants who have well-behaved pets. This has caused some confusion in the housing sector, with many tenants believing that they have a statutory right to rent a property accompanied by their furry friends.
The Importance of Privacy
What is privacy?
Privacy is the right to protect one’s own information from others or personal history from others. After 12 months of living our lives online, privacy is more important than ever.
Every time we sign up for online services such as emails, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, we are putting a snapshot of our lives and personal information online for the world to see. This is why it is essential to have the right to have your information kept securely when signing up to these platforms, otherwise this kind of security, everyone would have access to your life.
The Data Protection Act of 2018 establishes strict rules, data protection principles, that have to be followed. For example, that data is used fairly, lawfully and transparently. Furthermore, this enables people to have the rights to be:
· Informed how data is being used
· How personal data is being access
· How the data is erased
· How to stop or restrict the processing of your data etc.
Guidance to Understanding the Possession Action Process - Coronavirus Act 2021
The impact of the Pandemic has been devastating for so many different sectors of society including the rental market, both private and social. Little under a year ago, the Government made changes to the notices periods required for the service of the 2 most important notices used in housing along with significant amendments to possessions proceedings, in particular, delaying evictions throughout the most of 2020 and into 2021.
As the country looks towards relaxing Lockdown restrictions, the Government has published a new guide for landlords and tenants in England and Wales and is focused on landlords letting to tenants on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or an Assured Tenancy.
The guide will help you to understand what rights and responsibilities of the landlord when needing to use the courts to take possession of a rental property.
Before taking steps to recover possession of a rental property, the landlord or letting agent should consider discussing any underlying problems with the tenant, either directly or through a mediation service, and try to resolve these without recourse to court action.