Landlords – take action to avoid a £7,000 fine

The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk is publicising this change as it is a ‘strict liability’ offence, which means it is up to landlords and their agents to make sure they know their new responsibilities. The Council has no discretion under the Act for people who were not aware of the offences.

Under the provisions of the new Renters’ Rights Act, from 1 May landlords must also give new tenants details of their tenancy in writing before they move in. Existing tenants must receive these details in writing if they do not already have a written tenancy agreement. Whether they have a written agreement or not, they must still be given a copy of the Government information sheet.

The tenancy details required include information such as the date the tenancy started, the amount of the rent and any bills that are included.

Cllr Jo Rust, the Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for People and Communities, said:

“The Renters’ Rights Act has created major changes in the relationship between tenants and landlords.

Many good landlords already do a lot of the actions that the Act requires; the aim of the Act is to protect tenants from those who do not.

The Act makes it clear that strong action will be taken against landlords who don’t look after their tenants and in this case, it’s an automatic fine of up to £7,000. For more serious offences under the new Act, fines can go up to £40,000.”

As well as certain basic information about the property and the tenancy terms, landlords must now tell tenants that the tenancy is rolling and no longer fixed for a specified period, and how they will serve notice to increase rent or end the tenancy.  

They must state that they are required to undertake repairs and confirm in writing that gas and electric installations have been tested by properly-qualified professionals – and they must also give tenants an information pack with copies of the certificates.

Requests to have a pet should normally be allowed unless there is a good reason to refuse permission, in which case the reason must be included in the information for tenants. The landlord must also set out information about tenants’ rights to make improvements or adaptations for accessibility reasons in most circumstances.

This is part of a range of new tenant protections and landlords can be fined separately for every offence in the Act.

There is a lot of information available to landlords about the Act and their new responsibilities. General information about the Renters’ Right Act can be found on the council’s website at www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/rra and the Government’s Renting is Changing campaign has all the information that landlords need at https://housinghub.campaign.gov.uk/.