Tenancies (Reform) Bill (HC Bill 19)

A

BILL

TO

Protect tenants against retaliatory evictions; to amend the law on notices
requiring possession relating to assured shorthold tenancies; and for
connected purposes.

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Preventing retaliatory evictions

(1) A section 21 notice may not be given in relation to an assured shorthold
tenancy of a dwelling-house in England within six months beginning with the
day of service of a relevant notice in relation to the dwelling-house.

(2) 5A section 21 notice given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a
dwelling-house in England is invalid if—

(a) before the section 21 notice was given, the tenant made a relevant
complaint in relation to the dwelling-house to the landlord or the
relevant local housing authority, and

(b) 10since the section 21 notice was given, the relevant local housing
authority has served a relevant notice in relation to the dwelling-house.

(3) It is a defence to proceedings for an order under section 21 of the Housing Act
1988 in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in
England that—

(a) 15before the section 21 notice was given, the tenant made a relevant
complaint in relation to the dwelling-house to the landlord or the
relevant local housing authority, and

(b) subsection 4 applies.

(4) This subsection applies if—

(a) 20the relevant local housing authority has not decided whether to inspect
the dwelling-house or the common parts,

(b) the relevant local housing authority has decided to inspect the
dwelling-house or the common parts but has not conducted an
inspection,

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(c) the relevant local housing authority has conducted an inspection of the
dwelling-house or the common parts but has not decided whether
to serve a relevant notice, or

(d) the relevant local housing authority has decided to serve a relevant
5notice in relation to the dwelling-house but the relevant notice has not
been served.

(5) Subsection (1) does not apply where—

(a) the relevant notice has been wholly revoked under section 16 of
the Housing Act 2004 as a result of the notice having been served in
10error,

(b) the relevant notice has been quashed under paragraph 15 of Schedule 1
to that Act,

(c) a decision of the relevant local housing authority to refuse to revoke
the relevant notice has been reversed under paragraph 18 of Schedule
151 to that Act,

(d) a decision of the relevant local housing authority to take the action to
which the relevant notice relates has been reversed under section 45 of
that Act, or

(e) the relevant notice has been made subject to an order under section
2029 of the Senior Courts Act 1981.

(6) References in this section and section 2 to a relevant notice served, or relevant
complaint made, in relation to a dwelling-house include a relevant notice
served, or complaint made, in relation to any common parts of the building of
which the dwelling-house forms a part.

(7) 25But subsection (6) applies only if—

(a) the landlord has an estate or interest in the common parts in question,
and

(b) the condition of those common parts is such as to affect the
tenant‘s enjoyment of the dwelling-house or of any common parts
30which the tenant is entitled to use.

(8) In this section and section 2 a reference to a complaint to a landlord includes a
complaint made to a person acting on behalf of the landlord in relation to
the tenancy.

(9) In this section and section 2—

  • 35“assured shorthold tenancy” means a tenancy within section 19A or 20 of
    the Housing Act 1988;

  • “common parts”, in relation to a building, includes—

    (a)

    the structure and exterior of the building, and

    (b)

    common facilities provided (whether or not in the building) for
    40persons who include one or more of the occupiers of the
    building;

  • “dwelling-house” has the meaning given by section 45 of the Housing
    Act1988;

  • “relevant complaint”, in relation to a dwelling-house, means a complaint
    45made—

    (a)

    to a landlord in writing, or

    (b)

    to a relevant local housing authority,

    regarding the condition of the dwelling-house at the time of the
    complaint;

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  • “relevant local housing authority”, in relation to a dwelling-house, means
    the local housing authority as defined in section 261(2) and (3) of
    the Housing Act 2004 within whose area the dwelling-house is located;

  • “relevant notice” means—

    (a)

    5a notice served under section 11 of the Housing Act 2004
    (improvement notices relating to category 1 hazards),

    (b)

    a notice served under section 12 of that Act (improvement
    notices relating to category 2 hazards),

    (c)

    a notice served under section 28 of that Act (hazard awareness
    10notices relating to category 1 hazards),

    (d)

    a notice served under section 29 of that Act (hazard awareness
    notices relating to category 2 hazards), or

    (e)

    a notice served under section 40(7) of that Act (emergency
    remedial action);

  • 15“section 21 notice” means a notice served under section 21(1)(b) or (4)(a)
    of the Housing Act 1988 (recovery of possession on termination of
    shorthold tenancy).

2 Further exemptions to section 1

(1) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 1 do not apply where the condition of the
20dwelling-house or common parts that gave rise to the service of the relevant
notice, or consideration of whether to serve a relevant notice, is due to a breach
by the tenant of—

(a) the duty to use the dwelling-house in a tenant-like manner, or

(b) an express term of the tenancy to the same effect.

(2) 25Subsection (3) of section 1 does not apply if the court considers that the relevant
complaint is totally without merit.

(3) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 1 do not apply where the dwelling-house is
genuinely on the market for sale.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a dwelling-house is not genuinely on the
30market for sale if, in particular, the landlord intends to sell the landlord‘s
interest in the dwelling-house to—

(a) a person associated with the landlord,

(b) a business partner of the landlord,

(c) a person associated with a business partner of the landlord, or

(d) 35a business partner of a person associated with the landlord.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), references to a person who is associated
with another person are to be read in accordance with section 178 of the
Housing Act 1996.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (4), a business partner of a landlord includes a
40person who is—

(a) a director, secretary or other officer of a company of which the landlord
is also a director, secretary or other officer, or

(b) a partner of a partnership of which the landlord is also a partner.

(7) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 1 do not apply where the landlord is a private
45registered provider of social housing.

(8) Subsections (1) to (3) of section 1 do not apply where—

Tenancies (Reform) BillPage 4

(a) the dwelling-house is subject to a mortgage granted before the
beginning of the tenancy,

(b) the mortgagee is entitled to exercise a power of sale conferred on the
mortgagee by the mortgage or by section 101 of the Law of Property Act
51925, and

(c) the mortgagee requires possession of the dwelling-house for the
purpose of disposing of it with vacant possession in exercise of that
power.

(9) In subsection (8)—

(a) 10“mortgage” includes a charge, and

(b) “mortgagee” includes a receiver appointed by the mortgagee under
the terms of the mortgage or in accordance with the Law of Property
Act 1925.

3 Notice to be provided in relation to periodic assured shorthold tenancies

15In section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (recovery of possession on termination of
shorthold tenancy), after subsection (4) insert—

(4ZA) In the case of a dwelling-house in England, subsection (4)(a) above has
effect with the omission of the requirement for the date specified in the
notice to be the last day of a period of the tenancy.

4 20Time limits in relation to section 21 notices and proceedings

(1) Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (4) insert—

(4B) A notice under subsection (1) or (4) may not be given in relation to an
assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England—

(a) 25in the case of a tenancy which is not a replacement tenancy,
within the period of four months beginning with the day on
which the tenancy began, and

(b) in the case of a replacement tenancy, with the period of four
months beginning with the day on which the tenancy began.

(4C) 30Subsection (4B) does not apply where the tenancy has arisen due to
section 5(2).

(4D) Proceedings for an order for possession under this section in relation to
a dwelling-house in England may not be begun after the end of the
period of six months beginning with the date on which the notice was
35given under subsection (1) or (4).

(3) In subsection (6), for “subsection” substitute “subsections (4B)(b) and”.

5 Compliance with prescribed legal requirements

In section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, after subsection (7) insert—

(8) A notice under subsection (1) or (4) may not be given in relation to an
40assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England at a time
when the landlord is in breach of a prescribed requirement.

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(9) The requirements that may be prescribed are requirements imposed on
landlords which relate to—

(a) the condition of dwelling-houses or their common parts,

(b) the health and safety of occupiers of dwelling-houses, or

(c) 5the energy performance of dwelling-houses.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (9)(a), “common parts” has the same
meaning as in Ground 13 in Part 2 of Schedule 2.

6 Prescribed form of section 21 notices

In section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, after subsection (10) insert—

(11) 10The Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory
instrument prescribe the form of a notice under subsection (1) or (4)
given in relation to an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house
in England.

7 Regulations made under section 21

15In section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, after subsection (11) insert—

(12) A statutory instrument containing regulations made under subsection
(8) or (11) is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either
House of Parliament.

8 Apportionment of rent where tenancy ends before end of a period

20After section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 insert—

21A Apportionment of rent where tenancy ends before end of a period

(1) A tenant under an assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in
England is entitled to an apportionment of rent from the landlord
where—

(a) 25as a result of an order for possession under section 21 the
tenancy is brought to an end before the end of a period of the
tenancy,

(b) the tenant has paid rent in advance for that period, and

(c) the tenant was not in occupation of the dwelling-house for one
30or more whole days of that period.

(2) The apportionment under subsection (1) is to be calculated in
accordance with the following formula—


where—

  • 35R is the rent paid for the final period;

  • D is the number of whole days of the final period for which
    the tenant was not in occupation of the dwelling-house; and

  • P is the number of whole days in that period.

(3) If the payment of the apportionment of rent described in subsections (1)
40and (2) has not been made when the court considers whether to make

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an order for possession under section 21, the court must order the
landlord to pay the apportionment of rent to which the tenant is
entitled.

(4) Nothing in this section affects any other right of the tenant to an
5apportionment of rent from the landlord.

9 Application

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a provision of this Act applies only to an
assured shorthold tenancy of a dwelling-house in England granted on or after
the day on which the provision comes into force.

(2) 10Subject to subsection (3), a provision of this Act does not apply to an assured
shorthold tenancy that came into being under section 5(2) of the Housing Act
1988 after the commencement of that provision and on the coming to an end of
an assured shorthold tenancy that was granted before the commencement of
that provision.

(3) 15At the end of the period of three years beginning with the coming into force
of a provision of this Act, that provision also applies to any assured shorthold
tenancy of a dwelling-house in England—

(a) which is in existence at that time, and

(b) to which that provision does not otherwise apply by virtue of
20subsection (1) or (2).

10 Extent, commencement and short title

(1) This Act extends to England and Wales only.

(2) This Act, other than this section, comes into force on such day or days as the
Secretary of State may by regulations made by statutory instrument appoint.

(3) 25Regulations under subsection (2) may appoint different days for different
purposes.

(4) Regulations under subsection (2) may make such transitory, transitional or
saving provision in connection with the coming into force of this Act as
the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(5) 30This section comes into force on the day on which this Act is passed.

(6) This Act may be cited as the Tenancies (Reform) Act 2015.