Been going through the transitional guidance again (third time lucky..) and I’m still not 100% clear on one thing.
I have a tenant in Newcastle who has been on a contractual periodic tenancy since 2019. No fixed term, just rolls monthly. Under the RRA from May, fixed term tenancies are abolished and everything becomes periodic. But mine already IS periodic.. so does anything change at all for me??
The guidance seems to suggest that existing periodic tenancies simply continue under the new regime, but with the new grounds for possession applying instead of s21. Fine. But my solicitor raised a question about whether the tenancy is “deemed” to have started afresh on the commencement date for the purposes of the new rules, which would affect notice periods.
My Scottish properties are under completely different legislation (obviously) so not worried about those.
Anyone else in this position or has anyone had proper legal advice on it?? Cheers & thanks in advance..
From recollection the transitional guidance says that existing contractual periodic tenancies are converted into statutory periodic tenancies on commencement day, so 1 May. The practical effect for someone already on a rolling monthly is minimal. Your tenant stays on the same rent, same terms, but the tenancy is now classified as statutory rather than contractual. The main change is that the grounds for possession shift to the new regime, so you lose section 21 and gain the expanded section 8 grounds including the new mandatory ground for repeated rent arrears. Whether that matters to you depends on the tenant. The guidance is not brilliantly drafted on this point, I will say that. There is a paragraph that seems to suggest a fresh tenancy is created rather than a conversion, which would have implications for deposit protection re-registration, but I think that is just sloppy wording rather than legislative intent. Worth keeping an eye on whether any of the landlord bodies publish updated guidance before 1 May.
@GrumpyLandlord47 cheers for that, helpful as always. The deposit point is exactly what’s been nagging at me.. I actually rang the DPS last week and asked them straight out whether existing periodic tenancies being converted on 1 May would require fresh deposit protection. The woman I spoke to said “we haven’t received any guidance on that yet.” Two weeks before implementation!! I then tried the TDS and got a slightly different answer, they said they believed existing protections would carry over but couldn’t confirm it in writing.
So we have two deposit schemes giving different answers and the government guidance is ambiguous at best. Wonderful.
I’ve got three tenants across two properties on periodic already and I’m not about to re-protect three deposits just because somebody in Whitehall couldn’t draft a clean paragraph. If anyone spots a definitive DLUHC clarification before 1 May I’d be grateful for a link..
Cheers!
@GrumpyLandlord47 been re-reading the transitional provisions again this morning (sad Sunday, I know..) and something else has caught my eye.
Once my Newcastle tenant’s contractual periodic converts to a statutory periodic on 1 May, do the new extended notice periods under Ground 1 apply immediately?? Under the current rules I could serve a section 21 with two months notice. Under the RRA that disappears and I’d need to use section 8, but the new Ground 1 for selling requires four months notice AND the tenant has to have been in occupation for at least twelve months.
My tenant has been there since 2022 so the twelve month bit is fine.. but if I ever wanted to sell that flat I’m now looking at four months minimum where before it was two. That’s a meaningful difference when you’re trying to get a sale over the line.
Has anyone actually mapped out the full timeline for recovering possession under the new grounds?? Cheers!
Yes the new notice periods apply from commencement. Thats the whole point of the transitional provisions converting everything on day one. Four months is four months regardless of when the tenancy originally started.
This has been known since the bill was published. Anyone who didnt factor longer notice periods into their exit planning has had over a year to sort it out.
@rb471956 yes, four months is four months, understood.. but here’s the thing that’s still bugging me. Under the current AST regime I can serve a section 21 giving two months notice and that’s that. After 1 May that disappears and I need to use one of the new grounds. My Newcastle tenant has been there six years, pays on time, no issues.. I have absolutely no reason to evict them and no intention of doing so. But hypothetically if I wanted to sell that property in, say, 2027, I now need to use Ground 1A (intention to sell) with four months notice AND the tenant can challenge it at tribunal.
Has anyone actually seen the detail on what evidence a tribunal would want for Ground 1A?? Do I need an estate agent valuation, a solicitor’s letter, proof of marketing?? The guidance is frustratingly vague on this..
Cheers & thanks in advance..