Smart Meter Awareness Week
Spearheaded by Smart Energy GB, the UK Government-backed campaign body, the campaign is set to run from 18 to 22 October 2021, with the aim of increasing awareness and the number of smart meter installations across the private rented sector (PRS).
Data from the English Housing Survey shows that privately rented households are less likely to have smart meters installed. Local authority renters reported the highest proportion of smart meters 35 per cent followed by housing association 32 per cent, owner-occupiers 30 per cent, and private renters 21 per cent.
Smart meters are a part of UK Government plans for a smart energy system that will facilitate carbon emissions reductions.
In June 2020, the UK Government confirmed the policy framework for energy suppliers to deliver a market-wide rollout of smart meters as soon as practical in the period after 2020.
This included considering policy measures to proactively support the uptake of smart meters in the private rented sector, such as measures to help ensure that landlords do not unreasonably refuse a tenant’s request to install a smart meter where the tenant is the energy customer, and whether to add smart meters to the mix of measures that may be implemented to meet minimum energy efficiency requirements in the private rented sector.
Research conducted ahead of Smart Meter Awareness Week into attitudes towards smart meters amongst landlords and letting agents in the private rented sector uncovered confusion about whose responsibility it is to install a smart meter.
The research also found a lack of awareness of the benefits to landlords and letting agents:
- 40 per cent of landlords believe that it is their responsibility to install a smart meter and 39 per cent of landlords believe it is the tenant’s responsibility
- 38 per cent of letting agents believe it is the responsibility of the landlord and 51 per cent believe it is the tenants
To help ease confusion and raise awareness of the benefits of, and to bust the myths about smart meters in the private rented sector, Smart Energy GB has launched the first Smart Meter Awareness Week.
The UK Government has required energy suppliers in England, Scotland and Wales to provide smart meters to customers, which can be installed free of cost once requested.
According to Ofgem, it is the billpayer’s right to install a smart meter and that the landlord shouldn’t unreasonably prevent the installation.
Smart meters measure how much gas and electricity is being used, as well as what it’s costing and show this on a handy in-home display.
The smart meter checking tool provided by Citizens Advice allows customers to check what smart meter they have and whether it is working in “smart mode” and what type of smart meter it is.
Smart Energy GB has launched a dedicated page on their website for Smart Meter Awareness Week with information about smart meters for the private rented sector, including resources for private landlords, letting agents and tenants.
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Right to Rent checks continue remotely
The Home Office has today announced that Adjusted arrangements allowing Right to Rent checks to be conducted by video call, will continue through to 5 April 2022. These were due to revert to pre-Covid arrangements on 1 September 2021.
The Home Office are monitoring instances of enforcement which lead back to fraudulent checks, in order to understand whether adjusted arrangements are having any negative impact on meeting objectives.
The Home Office are working on a new digital solution for UK and Irish citizens who do not have access to the Home Office online checking service. This 2020 development allows those with an immigration status to provide a digital share code and date of birth to evidence their status, removing the need for agents and landlords to see hard copy documents.
Meanwhile some agents have returned to in-person Right to Rent checks where Covid safety allows, regardless of the adjusted arrangements.
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Right to Rent checks continue remotely
The Home Office has today announced that Adjusted arrangements allowing Right to Rent checks to be conducted by video call, will continue through to 5 April 2022.
Requirements for Right to Rent checks for new tenancies in England, were due to revert to pre-Covid arrangements on 1 September 2021. .
The Home Office are working on a new digital solution for UK and Irish citizens who do not have access to the Home Office online checking service. This 2020 development allows those with an immigration status to provide a digital share code and date of birth to evidence their status, removing the need for agents and landlords to see hard copy documents.
Meanwhile some agents have returned to in-person Right to Rent checks where Covid safety allows, regardless of the adjusted arrangements.
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New forms for serving notice
New regulations come into force on 1 October 2021 that will return notice periods for Section 21 and Section 8 notices to their pre-pandemic levels. The notice period required for Section 21 notices will be two months and Section 8 notices will revert back to only two weeks, based on rent arrears grounds 8, 10 and 11.
Any notices served before 1 October 2021 will still need to comply with the current rules so will typically require four months’ notice.
The new legislation introduces new versions of Section 8 and Section 21 Notices for landlords and letting agents to use from 1 October 2021.
Both the Form 6a (Section 21) and the Form 3 (Section 8) are prescribed forms so the correct version must be used.
It’s important for agents to remember that, as per deemed service rules, this can mean that where current forms are not deemed as served until 1 October 2021 the form will be wrong and the notice will be invalid.
The notes from Form 3 will be moved onto a separate document which will be uploaded alongside Form 3 (as has already been done for Form 6A) and include information for the tenant at the start of the forms. These should be available to download from gov.uk on 1 October 2021.
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Government updates Covid-19 and renting guidance
The latest update from the UK Government provides new details on the following:
- ventilation and carrying out repairs and maintenance work
- clinically extremely vulnerable people and repairs and maintenance work
- reducing the risk of infection in shared accommodation, accommodation with shared facilities and overcrowded accommodation
The new guidance encourages parties to show flexibility in relation to rent payments and rent payment plans. Landlords and tenants are also encouraged to pursue mediation where disputes over rent or other matters persist.
As part of the measures implemented following the stay on evictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government is also funding a mediation pilot integrated into the court process, which has been free for landlords and tenants to use since February 2021.
Currently, in cases where mediation has been unsuccessful landlords must provide tenants with a notice period of at least four months in most circumstances, including in cases where there are less than 4 months of unpaid rent. There are exemptions for the most serious cases including anti-social behaviour, no Right to Rent and fraud.
Notice periods for cases where there are less than four months of unpaid rent, will reduce to a notice period of two months from 1 August 2021.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) is in place until the end of September 2021, where employees will continue to receive 80 per cent of wages for hours not worked.
Where a landlord is concerned about their financial situation, they should discuss this directly with their lender.
The government guidance can be viewed by clicking here.
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Changes to right to rent checks from 1st July 2021
A draft revised Right to Rent Code of Practice has been issued by The Home Office in readiness for changes to checks in England. The changes have come as a result of the UK leaving the European Union (EU) and the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 ending free movement law in the UK on 31 December 2020.
From 1st July 2021, if someone is an EEA, EU, or Swiss national, evidence will need to be provided of their UK immigration status rather than their national identification.
The majority of EEA citizens resident in the UK will have made an application to the EU Settlement Scheme and will have been provided with digital evidence of their UK immigration status. They will evidence their Right to Rent by sharing their immigration status digitally, using the Home Office online Right to Rent service on Gov.UK.
The applicant provides a share code and their date of birth, which is inputted to reveal a status of unlimited or time limited status to remain.
There will still be some EEA citizens who have another form of leave in the UK, which is held in a physical document, e.g. an endorsement in a passport or visa. Those documents are included in the prescribed document lists, providing landlords with a statutory excuse against liability for a civil penalty. For more information, see the Right to Rent document checks, a user guide.
Digital status checks can be conducted by video call permanently while hard copy checks will still need to be conducted in person. Existing rules remain in place for all new tenancies and renewals up to 30 June 2021.
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Changes to notice periods for evictions
From 1st June 2021, the UK government has announced that notice periods in England that are currently six months will be reduced to four months.
As an emergency measure during lockdown the government put a ban on bailiff-enforced evictions. This will end on 31 May. The government is taking a phased approach through steps 3 and 4 of the roadmap and notice periods are being reduced except for the most serious cases which remain lower still as follows:
- anti-social behaviour (immediate to 4 weeks’ notice)
- domestic abuse in the social sector (2–4 weeks’ notice)
- false statement (2–4 weeks’ notice)
- over four months’ accumulated rent arrears (4 weeks’ notice)
- breach of immigration rules ‘Right to Rent (2 weeks’ notice)
- death of a tenant (2 months’ notice)
Where there is less than four months’ unpaid rent, the notice period will reduce to two months’ from 1st August 2021.
It is proposed that notice periods will return to pre-pandemic levels from 1st October 2021.
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Covid-19 guidance remains
From Monday 29 March, the UK Government started to ease lockdown restrictions on social contact, business and activities, and travel in England.
The main changes to social restrictions include permission for outdoor gatherings of either six people (rule of six) or two households; the opening of outdoor sports facilities; and the end of the ‘stay at home’ rule in England, although people will still be encouraged to work from home where possible and minimise the number of journeys they make.
As there will be no change to safety guidance affecting the property sector, here at Green Door we will continue to ensure the safety of our employees, tenants and landlords. This will involve continuing to wear masks, maintaining social distancing and using hand sanitiser or wearing disposable gloves. We will continue to work from home as necessary.
We are still contactable by telephone, email and appointments by prior arrangement.
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Renting with pets
Since the government announced they had changed their model Tenancy Agreement, there has been some confusion over whether landlords can still choose to accept pets in their property.
If the UK government’s new model Tenancy Agreement is used, landlords will have to seek consent for pets as the default position. They will have to object in writing within 28 days of a written pet request from a tenant and provide a good reason to decline this.
To clarify, use of the new model Tenancy Agreement is voluntary and there has been no change in the law regarding the keeping of pets.
Tenancy deposits remain capped under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, but rent can be increased for applicants with pets as long as it is advertised correctly.
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Extension on eviction ban
The Housing Secretary has announced a further extension to the ban on bailiff evictions to 31st March 2021. This is to “continue to support renters during the ongoing national lockdown restrictions”. The measures will be kept under review in line with public health advice.
There are exemptions for the most serious circumstances which include:
- Illegal occupation
- False statement
- Anti social behaviour
- Where a property is unoccupied following the death of a tenant
- Extreme rent arrears
Landlords are required to give 6 months notice to tenants before starting possession proceedings, except in the most serious circumstances.
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