123 Estate Agent Bromley advise landlords to keep up with new legislations when letting your property.
Five-year safety checks will be mandatory for landlords for all new tenancies from July 1 this year.
This will be rolled out to all existing tenancies from April 2021.
The new regulations were tabled today (MON), requiring pre-tenancy and five-yearly checks of all fixed appliances and wiring.
Landlords failing to comply with the new rules will face fines of up to £30,000.
The RLA welcomes moves to make rental homes safer for tenants but does have some concerns of the timescale – with landlords having just five months to comply.
Once the electrical installation has been tested, the landlord needs to receive a written report from the inspector, with the results and next inspection date. They must then
- Give a copy of the report to tenants within 28 days
- Give a copy to the local authority, if it asks for one, within seven days
- Keep a copy and give it to the person carrying out the next inspection.
For new tenancies, the landlord must:
Give the tenant a copy of the most recent report before they move in
Give a copy of the most recent report to any prospective new tenant who asks for it in writing, within 28 days
What happens next?
If improvement work is needed it must be carried out within 28 days, or a timeframe recommended by the inspector – which could be shorter.
The landlord must then get written confirmation the work has been done, a copy of which needs to be given to each tenant – along with the original report.
What happens if you don’t comply?
If the landlord breaches the requirements – and where the work is not urgent the council will serve a ‘remedial notice’ on the landlord.
Once this is served the landlord will have 28 days to make the improvements or will be given 21 days to object.
If the landlord doesn’t make the necessary improvements, the local authority can access the property with the tenants’ permission to do the work – although landlords can appeal.
The local authority must tell the landlord – but will be able to recover their costs from them. They can also do this where urgent works are needed but have not been carried out.
Access
If the tenants of the property refuse access, the landlord will not be considered to have breached this duty.This article is based on the governments web site and is a guide only. government electrical safety rules
123 Estate Agents offer transparent fees, saving our clients money for sales, lettings and property management. Click to see how much you can save We are proud of our reviews Click to see our reviews
123 Estate Agents are in Bromley, Beckenham, Hayes, West Wickham, Chislehurst, Orpington, Welling and Dartford post codes.