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Relevant Landlord Legislation
Landlords must, by law, put the tenants deposit into a government backed tenancy deposit scheme if you rent your house on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). At iBay Homes, we place the deposit into the DPS (Deposit Protection Scheme).
The scheme will ensure that the tenant gets their deposit back if:
- They meet the terms of the tenancy agreement
- The tenant doesn’t damage the property
- The tenant pays the rent and the bills
The landlord or managing agent must put the deposit into a scheme within 30 days of receiving the monies.
At the end of the tenancy the landlord or managing agent must return the deposit within ten days of agreeing how much of the deposit is owed back. If there is a dispute with the landlord, then your deposit is protected in the scheme until the issue is sorted out.
If a deposit is not protected Landlords and Letting Agents may have to pay their Tenant back three times the deposit.
HHSRS
‘The Housing Health and Safety Rating System’ (HHSRS) is a risk based evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. It was introduced under the Housing Act 2004 and came into effect on 6 April 2006 and applies to residential properties in England. Councils are empowered to ensure properties in the private rented sector comply with HSSRS. They do this assessing whether properties have housing hazards of which are 29 different classifications. These are arranged in four main groups reflecting the basic health requirements. The four groups are subdivided according to the nature of the hazards.’
The risks are assessed in four sections:
- Physiological Requirements
- Psychological Requirements
- Protection against Infection
- Protection against Accidents
For the Landlord, HHSRS can be an expensive situation. If the council inspectors are coming out to the property, they will look in depth in all areas of the property covering the 29 different classifications. The councils can then make a charge for the cost of the inspection and can claim the costs of the works (if they are obliged to carry them out themselves).
Electrics, equipment and appliance safety
Under the ‘Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994‘, any electrical equipment and products which are supplied to the Tenant in a property have to be safe unlike the Gas Safety Regulations where it is a mandatory requirement for the gas equipment to go through safety testing.
The furniture and furnishings (fire safety) regulations 1988
‘The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989 and 1993) are UK law and are designed to ensure that upholstery components and composites used for furniture supplied in the UK meet specified ignition resistance levels and are suitably labeled.
There are six main elements contained within the Regulations:
- Filling materials must meet specified ignition requirements
- Upholstery composites must be cigarette resistant
- Covers must be match resistant (with certain exceptions as outlined in Section 8.2 and Appendix A5)
- A permanent label must be fitted to every item of new furniture (with the exception of mattresses and bed-bases)
- A display label must be fitted to every item of new furniture at the point of sale (with the exception of mattresses, bed-bases, pillows, scatter cushions, seat pads, loose covers sold separately from the furniture and stretch covers)
- The first supplier of domestic upholstered furniture in the UK must maintain records for five years to prove compliance. The requirements regarding testing and labeling of items are detailed in Schedules 1-7 of the Regulations. Schedules 1-5 provide detailed information regarding the testing requirements for foam and non-foam fillings, composites, interliner’s and covers. Schedules 6-7 provide detailed information regarding the display and permanent labeling of the final item.
