Anyone familiar with residential tenancies will know of the onerous duties placed on landlords to protect deposits taken from tenants. Once the initial window for compliance has passed, you cannot serve a valid Section 21 Notice and are automatically liable for a claim for a minimum of one and maximum of three times the value of the deposit. This is the case even if breach is only a failure to provide prescribed information about the protection scheme.

As if landlords didn’t have enough paperwork to worry about, as of the 1st April 2018, things got even more complicated. The minimum ratings for Energy Performance Certificates (which have been mandatory for some time) got a lot tougher, and now any rental property must achieve at least an ‘E’ rating for it to be rented out. Whereas before this only applied to new tenancies, now, it covers existing rental agreements too.

A common issue facing landlords is one tenant in a joint tenancy wanting to leave whilst the other wants to stay. A landlord facing this situation needs to know the rights and obligations of both tenants.

Easements and rights of way – Get off my land! Who can access your property if you have a footpath or right of way running through it If you have an easement running through your property, you may be wondering who has access to your land.

If you are a landlord of  an assured shorthold tenancy created after 6 April 2007 you must put your tenants deposit in a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme (TDP) within 30 days of receiving it and within 30 days of placing in the scheme provide the tenant with the prescribed information of the TDP.