If my video hasn't induced vomit over landlord and tenant issues, https://www.breakinglaw.co.uk, stay with me and hear of some rare good news for landlords of lettings in England.
There are all sorts of tricks that a residential landlord has to perform in order to ensure that any notice they give to their assured shorthold tenant seeking possession under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is legally effective. One of them is to ensure that the tenant has previously been provided with an energy performance certificate.
There was no doubt that this obligation applied to tenancies granted on or after 01 October 2015. But what about tenancies granted before that date? Judges have been divided on the issue. But the Court of Appeal has just settled it. In a case called Minister v Hathaway and another [2021] EWCA Civ 936, it has ruled that tenancies granted before that date are not caught by the energy performance certificate requirement. There was power to catch them but it has not been exercised. I reckon that the prospects of the power being exercised are as great as me being appointed the mascot for the England football team. My knees are too knobbly.
