What does the new Trecarrel House vs Rouncefield decision mean for landlords?

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The Supreme Court’s decision means that the interpretation of the law accepted by Court of Appeal’s in June 2020 remains binding on District Judges who deal with possession claims.

The Court of Appeal’s decision was greeted as a good outcome for landlords.

It has meant that where a landlord has failed to provide a new tenant with the last gas safety certificate before occupation they are able to remedy this by providing the certificate late.

That was a welcome relief to the many responsible landlords fearful that accidental mistakes in providing tenants with certificates could result in them permanently losing the ability to serve a section 21 notice.

Furthermore, a failure to complete a subsequent annual check on time will not bar the landlord from serving a section 21 notice provided the certificate is given to the tenant prior to serving the section 21 notice.

Again, this will be reassuring to landlords, particularly in recent circumstances where arranging gas safety inspections has been a challenge.

The Court of Appeal’s decision, however, did not resolve all the issues that have arisen since gas safety was linked to the section 21 procedure in 2015.

There are still difficult questions left unresolved. For example, what does this mean for a landlord who has failed to carry out a gas safety check at all before the tenant goes into occupation?

Are they able to rectify this breach and serve a valid s21 notice? While the Court of Appeal determined that late provision of the initial gas safety certificate is remediable, they do not go so far as to say that all historic gas safety breaches, including failing to actually have a certificate before the commencement of the tenancy, are capable of remedy.

In addition, the gas safety regulations only require landlords to retain the gas safety certificate for two years from the date of the check which means even where a check has been carried out before the start of the tenancy, landlords may face difficulties remedying the breach later or proving that they have done so.

Author bio: Robin Stewart is a senior associate at legal firm Anthony Gold.

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NEWSFLASH: Judges reject appeal against Trecarrell vs Rouncefield decision

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Landlords have been given some good news today after the Supreme Court refused a further appeal in the landmark gas safety certificate Section 21 eviction case.

Known as the Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield case, it centred on whether a tenant can be evicted via a Section 21 notice if a gas safety certificate had been served after the tenancy has begun.

In June 2020 the Court of Appeal ruled in a 2-to-1 majority decision that late service of a gas safety certificate does not prevent a landlord from serving a section 21 notice on their tenant, provided the certificate has been given to the tenant before service of the section 21 notice.

The tenant in the Trecarrell v Rouncefield case had sought to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Supreme Court.

A panel from the Supreme Court consisting of Lord Briggs, Lord Stephens and Lady Rose have now rejected the tenant’s application on the basis that the application does not raise a point of general public importance.

The panel made the decision on the basis of written submissions from both parties’ lawyers, according to legal firm Anthony Gold, which acted for the landlord together with barristers Justin Bates and Brooke Lyne of Landmark Chambers.

NRLA support

The landlord’s successful appeal to the Court of Appeal was supported by the National Residential Landlords Association.

“The Court’s decision will be welcomed by private sector landlords who feared that a failure to provide the gas safety certificate before occupation permanently prevented them from recovering possession of their properties,” says senior associate solicitor at Anthony Gold, Sarah Cummins (pictured).

“It has been nearly two years since the Court of Appeal’s judgment and the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse to hear the tenant’s appeal now brings some certainty to this difficult area of law.

“There is no requirement for the Supreme Court to explain its reasons, but it may be that the promised abolition of section 21 notices played some role in the court’s decision to refuse permission to appeal.”

Main Pic: Trecarrel House in St Ives, Cornwall, the property involved in the case.

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BREAKING: Judges reject appeal against Trecarrell vs Rouncefield decision

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Landlords have been given some good news today after the Supreme Court refused a further appeal in the landmark gas safety certificate Section 21 eviction case.

Known as the Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield case, it centred on whether a tenant can be evicted via a Section 21 notice if a gas safety certificate had been served after the tenancy has begun.

In June 2020 the Court of Appeal ruled in a 2-to-1 majority decision that late service of a gas safety certificate does not prevent a landlord from serving a section 21 notice on their tenant, provided the certificate has been given to the tenant before service of the section 21 notice.

The tenant in the Trecarrell v Rouncefield case had sought to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision in the Supreme Court.

A panel from the Supreme Court consisting of Lord Briggs, Lord Stephens and Lady Rose have now rejected the tenant’s application on the basis that the application does not raise a point of general public importance.

The panel made the decision on the basis of written submissions from both parties’ lawyers, according to legal firm Anthony Gold, which acted for the landlord together with barristers Justin Bates and Brooke Lyne of Landmark Chambers.

NRLA support

The landlord’s successful appeal to the Court of Appeal was supported by the National Residential Landlords Association.

“The Court’s decision will be welcomed by private sector landlords who feared that a failure to provide the gas safety certificate before occupation permanently prevented them from recovering possession of their properties,” says senior associate solicitor at Anthony Gold, Sarah Cummins (pictured).

“It has been nearly two years since the Court of Appeal’s judgment and the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse to hear the tenant’s appeal now brings some certainty to this difficult area of law.

“There is no requirement for the Supreme Court to explain its reasons, but it may be that the promised abolition of section 21 notices played some role in the court’s decision to refuse permission to appeal.”

Main Pic: Trecarrel House in St Ives, Cornwall, the property involved in the case.

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BREAKING: Major house builders forced to pay £2bn towards cladding costs

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Thirty five of the UK’s leading housebuilders have agreed to pay for the remediation of cladding on any building over 11 metres tall that they have developed over the past 30 years.

The package, brokered by Michael Gove, will initially be worth some £2 billion with an extension to the Building Safety Levy due to raise a further £3 billion.

This new agreement will be legally enforceable rather than being a ‘promise’, and builders who fail to sign up to the scheme will ‘face consequences’ says Gove.

For a list of the housebuilders involved so far, click here.

Also, Gove’s department is to introduce new powers that will enable enforcement on any companies who fail to sign up, as well as those that breach the agreement they have signed up to.

These new powers would allow the Secretary of State to block those who refuse to make and deliver on their commitments from building and selling new homes. 

As set out in January, a new government scheme will also see industry pay to fix buildings where those responsible cannot be identified or forced to in law.

Loans scrapped

This follows previous confirmation that plans for a 30-year loan scheme paid for by leaseholders would be scrapped. 
The new scheme will be funded through an extension to the Building Safety Levy that will be chargeable on all new residential buildings in England and raise £3 billion.

“Today marks a significant step towards protecting innocent leaseholders and ensuring those responsible pay to solve the crisis they helped to cause,” says Gove (pictured).

“I welcome the move by many of the largest developers to do the right thing.

“But this is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to hold industry to account, and under our new measures there will be nowhere to hide.”

But the proposals have not been without disappointment for landlords. After initially saying ‘qualifying leaseholders’ would not include landlords, the government recently relented and, after lobbying from the NRLA, included ‘accidental’ landlords with no more than three properties in total – i.e. excluding ‘professional’ landlords with multiple property portfolios.

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BREAKING: MPs slam DLUHC over ‘piecemeal’ regulation of the private rented sector

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A committee of MPs has criticised the Government’s ‘piecemeal’ approach to regulation of the private rented sector which, they say, has only made matters worse for tenants, landlords and local authorities in the sector.

Launching the report, the Public Accounts Committee’s chair Dame Meg Hillier (main picture) says “unsafe conditions, overcrowding, harassment, discrimination, and dodgy evictions are still a huge issue in the PRS”.

“Renters with a problem are faced with a complex and costly redress system which is not fit for purpose and many tenants give up at the first hurdle.

“We need to see a change in balance. We expect DLUHC to produce the promised White Paper in a timely and effective fashion and start to turn around its record on addressing the desperate housing crisis in this country.”

The report concludes that Ministers must commit to properly funding local authorities to police the sector; that tenants should be better informed of their rights; and that proper redress should be ushered in – one of the Government’s proposals within its looming White Paper.

Ministers are also urged in the report to make it easier for councils to bring in landlord licensing schemes, and get a grip on what’s happening on the ground with proper housing data to end the ‘postcode lottery’ of local enforcement.

Pitiful

“Tenants and responsible landlords are being let down by the pitiful lack of enforcement action by councils using the array of powers available to clamp down on bad practice in the sector,” says Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA.

Beadle (pictured) adds: “Too often reforms have been piecemeal, based on insufficient information to understand their true impact or how workable they are.

“Such a strategy needs to include assessing the impact of reforms on the supply of homes for rent at a time when demand for them is soaring.”

Seah Hooker (pictured), Head of Redress at the PRS says: “Whilst redress for letting agents has been effective in identifying the shortcoming and gaps in the standards of properties, an educated and accountable agent sector, that abides by a set of rules and regulations is needed. 

“Landlords who experience the poor quality of some agents go it alone and this is often when mistakes and non-compliance with the law occurs. 

“If property standards are to improve a professional agent sector will be an essential part of the equation. 

“This with landlord redress and a register of rental properties, that have be inspected and are safe, fit for habitation and energy-efficient, would provide a robust regime for a first-class rental sector.”

Rotten deal

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, says: “Private renters are getting a rotten deal from a broken system where the odds are stacked against them.

“The PAC report backs up what we see through our services all the time – that renters live in fear of being evicted for challenging poor conditions or bad landlord behaviour.”

Read the full report.

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£5 billion agreement with major developers to fund building safety repairs

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Michael Gove have revealed an agreement that will see industry contribute £5 billion to address the building safety scandal.

Michael Gove has agreed a solution with the housing industry that will see developers commit a minimum of £2 billion to fix their own buildings.

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Agents insisting on their own AST?

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Do you have to use an Agents own AST for a tenant find service?

For a tenant find service it is normal to reference the applicant you select and prepare the tenancy, arrange signing, collect deposit and lodge with the DPS as well as serving all compliance documentation.

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