Landlords Beware - Tenants Fees Act 2019

The full impact of the legislation is yet to be seen, but it is likely to further balance the law in favour of tenants, and create more hurdles for landlords to be aware of when seeking to evict a tenant.

In particular:-

• It means that landlords cannot seek "excessive" deposits from tenants, these are now limited to a maximum of an equivalent to 5 weeks rent for annual rents under £50,000.
• Landlords can no longer charge a "fine" for early termination of a tenancy agreement, unless they can demonstrate loss.
• Landlords are limited to charging a maximum of £50 to assign or novate a tenancy.
• If a landlord has taken a prohibited payment from a tenant then they must return that sum before attempting to terminate a tenancy agreement oir evict a tenant.

Many of our landlord clients will need to change the way they administer their tenancy agreements in light of these changes.  If you are concerned about the validity of payments you are taking from your tenants, or have a tenant you would like to evict, please call Aimee Herbert on 0121 355 0011.