
Dementia currently affects 1 in 14 people in the UK. Many people will either know someone with dementia, have had to support and care for someone with dementia or have been diagnosed themselves.
After a year’s grace, The Act now amends the current implied “fitness obligations” under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, so it will apply to all new and existing periodic or secure tenancies as from 20 March 2020.
What does that mean for you as a Registered Provider and/or a local authority landlord?
The new Section 9A(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires you to let properties that are “fit for human habitation”. You must ensure that all dwellings let under an assured (shorthold) or secure tenancy are:
This covenant will also apply to all parts of the building that you hold an interest or estate in, e.g. common parts or retained parts (the outside walls, windows and roof). Should you fail to comply, then your tenants will have a right to take action.
There are of course exceptions and/or potential defences that you can rely on which include the following:
What does “fit for habitation” cover?
The amended Section 10 comprises of a list of conditions that could make a property “unfit for human habitation” and that list includes:
We expect to see the volume of claims for compensation being brought by tenant’s solicitors to increase rapidly which will impact on your budgets and capacity to carry out works.
Consequently, we have already seen a revised version of The Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims by Social Landlords. The renaming of the protocol is arguably the most obvious change. The protocol has now been renamed, the “Pre- Action Protocol for Housing Condition Cases (England)”. In addition, all references to ‘housing disrepair’ have been replaced by “housing conditions” throughout.
Apart from some very minor wording tweaks in Annex A and B, the protocol remains the same. It is also important to note that the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing disrepair in Wales has remained the same.
For more information do contact Baljit Basra.
Dementia currently affects 1 in 14 people in the UK. Many people will either know someone with dementia, have had to support and care for someone with dementia or have been diagnosed themselves.
The 2022 Code replaces the NHF Code of Conduct 2012 (the 2012 Code) and sets out the baseline standards that the NHF expects of its member registered providers (RPs).
The High Court has dismissed a challenge by the Police Superintendents’ Association to the closure of legacy public sector pension schemes.
In my recent blog, I said that we would be issuing a series of ebriefings and blogs highlighting issues with the Procurement Bill. This is the first of these.
Contractors and delivery partners are facing a ‘perfect storm’ in many cases with a number of factors directly impacting upon the profitability of their work.
Worker status, like Piers Morgan, is one of those things that we think has gone away and then it pops up again!
We are seeing a steady trickle of decisions focused around the issue of flexible working requests or employer requirements for changes to working patterns (both pre and post the pandemic).
For those of us who have endured a choppy cross channel journey, the mention of P&O Ferries will invoke some nauseous memories.
Successive generations have witnessed seismic shifts in the workplace; post-war it was the return of the soldiers and the impact on working women who had to work in their place.
In this podcast, Puja Desai interviews Kimberley Foster and discusses her experience with counselling. This is a really helpful podcast for anyone who has thought about counselling.