Rent Act 1977

New basis for administration of rent officer serviceE+W

64B

(1)If, with respect to registration areas generally or any particular registration area or areas, it appears to the Secretary of State that it is no longer appropriate for the appointment, remuneration and administration of rent officers to be a function of local authorities, he may by order—

(a)provide that no scheme under section 63 above shall be made for the area or areas specified in the order; and

(b)make, with respect to the area or areas so specified, such provision as appears to him to be appropriate with respect to the appointment, remuneration and administration of rent officers and the payment of pensions, allowances or gratuities to or in respect of them.

(2)An order under this section shall make provision for any expenditure attributable to the provisions of the order to be met by the Secretary of State in such manner as may be specified in the order (whether by way of grant, reimbursement or otherwise); and any expenditure incurred by the Secretary of State by virtue of this subsection shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

(3)An order under this section—

(a)may contain such incidental, transitional and supplementary provisions as appear to the Secretary of State to be appropriate, including provisions amending this Part of this Act; and

(b)shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

65 Rent assessment committees.E+W

Rent assessment committees [F1for Wales] shall be constituted in accordance with Schedule 10 to this Act.

[F265A.Right of appeal from a rent assessment committeeE+W

(1)An appeal on any point of law from a decision of a rent assessment committee constituted under Schedule 10 to this Act may be made to the Upper Tribunal.

(2)Subsection (1) does not apply where the rent assessment committee is exercising functions of a leasehold valuation tribunal or a residential property tribunal.]

66 Register of rents.E

[F3(1)For each registration area, a register for the purposes of this Part of this Act shall be prepared and kept up to date by the rent officer.

(1A)The rent officer shall make the register available for inspection in such place or places and in such manner–

(a)if the area is not specified in an order made under section 64B of this Act, as may be provided by the scheme made for the area under section 63 of this Act;

(b)if the area is so specified, as the Secretary of State may direct.]

(2)The register shall contain, in addition to the rent payable under a regulated tenancy of a dwelling-house—

(a)the prescribed particulars with regard to the tenancy; and

(b)a specification of the dwelling-house.

(3)A copy of an entry in the register certified under the hand of the rent officer or any person duly authorised by him shall be receivable in evidence in any court and in any proceedings.

(4)A person requiring such a certified copy shall be entitled to obtain it on payment of the prescribed fee.

66 Register of rents.W

(1)The rent officer for any area shall prepare and keep up to date a register for the purposes of this Part of this Act and shall make the register available for inspection in such place or places and in such manner as may be provided by the scheme made for the area under section 63 of this Act.

(2)The register shall contain, in addition to the rent payable under a regulated tenancy of a dwelling-house—

(a)the prescribed particulars with regard to the tenancy; and

(b)a specification of the dwelling-house.

(3)A copy of an entry in the register certified under the hand of the rent officer or any person duly authorised by him shall be receivable in evidence in any court and in any proceedings.

(4)A person requiring such a certified copy shall be entitled to obtain it on payment of the prescribed fee.

67 Application for registration of rent.E+W

(1)An application for the registration of a rent for a dwelling-house may be made to the rent officer by the landlord or the tenant, or jointly by the landlord and the tenant, under a regulated tenancy of the dwelling-house.

[F4(2) Any such application must be in the prescribed form and must—

(a)specify the rent which it is sought to register;

(b)where the rent includes any sum payable by the tenant to the landlord for services and the aplication is made by the landlord, specify that sum and be accompanied by details of the expenditure incurred by the landlord in providing those services; and

(c)contain such other particulars as may be prescribed.]

(3)Subject to subsection (4) below [F5and sections 67A and 70A of this Act], where a rent for a dwelling-house has been registered under this Part of this Act, no application by the tenant alone or by the landlord alone for the registration of a different rent for that dwelling-house shall be entertained before the expiry of [F62 years] from the relevant date (as defined in subsection (5) below) except on the ground that, since that date, there has been such a change in—

(a)the condition of the dwelling-house (including the making of any improvement therein),

(b)the terms of the tenancy,

(c)the quantity, quality or condition of any furniture provided for use under the tenancy (deterioration by fair wear and tear excluded), or

(d)any other circumstances taken into consideration when the rent was registered or confirmed,

as to make the registered rent no longer a fair rent.

[F7(3A)If the dwelling-house forms part of a hereditament in respect of which the landlord or a superior landlord is, or was on the relevant date, liable under Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 to pay council tax, then, in determining for the purposes of subsection (3) above whether since the relevant date there has been such a change falling within paragraph (d) of that subsection as to make the registered rent no longer a fair rent, any change in the amount of council tax payable in respect of the hereditament shall be disregarded unless it is attributable to—

(a)the fact that the hereditament has become, or has ceased to be, an exempt dwelling,

(b)an alteration in accordance with regulations under section 24 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 of the valuation band shown in a valuation list as applicable to the hereditament, or

(c)the compilation of a new valuation list in consequence of an order of the Secretary of State under section 5(4)(b) of that Act.

(3B)In subsection (3A) above “hereditament” means a dwelling within the meaning of Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and, subject to that, expressions used in subsection (3A) and in Part I of that Act have the same meaning in that subsection as in that Part.]

(4)Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3) above, an application such as is mentioned in that subsection which is made by the landlord alone and is so made within the last 3 months of the period of [F62 years] referred to in that subsection may be entertained notwithstanding that that period has not expired.

[F8(5)In this section F9... “relevant date”, in relation to a rent which has been registered under this Part of this Act, means the date from which the registration took effect or, in the case of a registered rent which has been confirmed, the date from which the confirmation (or, where there have been two or more successive confirmations, the last of them) took effect [F10but for the purposes of this subsection any registration or confirmation by virtue of section 70A of this Act shall be disregarded.]]

F11(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7)F9... The provisions of Part I of Schedule 11 to this Act [F12as modified by the Regulated Tenancies (Procedure) Regulations 1980] [F13and by the Rent Assessment Committees (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 1981] shall have effect with respect to the procedure to be followed on applications for the registration of rents.

[F1467AApplication before 1st April 1994 for interim increase of rent in certain cases where landlord liable for council taxE+W

(1)Subject to subsection (4) below, an application under this section for the registration under section 70A of this Act of an increased rent for a dwelling-house may be made by the landlord or the tenant, or jointly by the landlord and the tenant, under a regulated tenancy of the dwelling-house in any case where—

(a)under Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 the landlord or a superior landlord is liable to pay council tax in respect of a dwelling (within the meaning of that Part of that Act) which includes the dwelling-house,

(b)under the terms of the tenancy (or an agreement collateral to the tenancy) the tenant is liable to make payments to the landlord in respect of council tax,

(c)the case falls within subsection (2) or subsection (3) below, and

(d)no previous application has been made under this section in relation to the dwelling-house.

(2)The case falls within this subsection if—

(a)a rent has been registered under this Part of this Act before 1st April 1993,

(b)the period of two years from the relevant date has not yet expired, and

(c)since the relevant date there has been no such change in circumstances of a kind mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 67(3) of this Act (other than circumstances relating to council tax) as to make the registered rent no longer a fair rent.

(3)The case falls within this subsection if an application under section 67 of this Act has been made before 1st April 1993 but has not been disposed of before that date.

(4)No application may be made under this section after 31st March 1994.

(5)Any such application must be in the prescribed form and must—

(a)specify the rent which it is sought to register to take into account the tenant’s liability to make payments to the landlord in respect of council tax; and

(b)contain such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(6)The provisions of Part I of Schedule 11 to this Act (as modified by the Regulated Tenancies (Procedure) Regulations 1980 and by the Rent Assessment Committees (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 1981) shall have effect with respect to the procedure to be followed on applications for the registration of rents.

(7)In this section “relevant date”, in relation to a rent which has been registered under this Part of this Act, has the same meaning as in section 67 of this Act.]

68, 69.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15E+W

70 Determination of fair rent.E+W

(1)In determining, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, what rent is or would be a fair rent under a regulated tenancy of a dwelling-house, regard shall be had to all the circumstances (other than personal circumstances) and in particular to—

(a)the age, character, locality and state of repair of the dwelling-house, . . . F16

(b)if any furniture is provided for use under the tenancy, the quantity, quality and condition of the furniture [F17, and]

[F17(c)any premium, or sum in the nature of a premium, which has been or may be lawfully required or received on the grant, renewal, continuance or assignment of the tenancy.]

(2)For the purposes of the determination it shall be assumed that the number of persons seeking to become tenants of similar dwelling-houses in the locality on the terms (other than those relating to rent) of the regulated tenancy is not substantially greater than the number of such dwelling-houses in the locality which are available for letting on such terms.

(3)There shall be disregarded—

(a)any disrepair or other defect attributable to a failure by the tenant under the regulated tenancy or any predecessor in title of his to comply with any terms thereof;

(b)any improvement carried out, otherwise than in pursuance of the terms of the tenancy, by the tenant under the regulated tenancy or any predecessor in title of his;

(c)(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F18

(e)if any furniture is provided for use under the regulated tenancy, any improvement to the furniture by the tenant under the regulated tenancy or any predecessor in title of his or, as the case may be, any deterioration in the condition of the furniture due to any ill-treatment by the tenant, any person residing or lodging with him, or any sub-tenant of his.

F19[(3A)In any case where under Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 the landlord or a superior landlord is liable to pay council tax in respect of a hereditament (“the relevant hereditament”) of which the dwelling-house forms part, regard shall also be had to the amount of council tax which, as at the date on which the application to the rent officer was made, was set by the billing authority—

(a)for the financial year in which that application was made, and

(b)for the category of dwellings within which the relevant hereditament fell on that date,

but any discount or other reduction affecting the amount of council tax payable shall be disregarded.

(3B)In subsection (3A) above—

(a)“hereditament” means a dwelling within the meaning of Part I of the Local Government Finance Act 1992,

(b)“billing authority” has the same meaning as in that Part of that Act, and

(c)“category of dwellings” has the same meaning as in section 30(1) and (2) of that Act.]

(4)In this section “improvement” includes the replacement of any fixture or fitting.

[F20(4A)In this section “premium” has the same meaning as in Part IX of this Act, and “sum in the nature of a premium” means—

(a)any such loan as is mentioned in section 119 or 120 of this Act,

(b)any such excess over the reasonable price of furniture as is mentioned in section 123 of this Act, and

(c)any such advance payment of rent as is mentioned in section 126 of this Act.]

(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F21

[F2270AInterim determination of fair rent on application under section 67AE+W

(1)Where an application is made under section 67A of this Act—

(a)the rent officer shall determine the amount by which, having regard to the provisions of section 70(3A) of this Act, the existing registered rent might reasonably be increased to take account of the tenant’s liability to make payments to the landlord in respect of council tax; and

(b)the amount to be registered as the rent of the dwelling-house shall be the existing registered rent plus the amount referred to in paragraph (a) above.

(2)Where in a case falling within section 67A(3) of this Act a rent officer has before him at the same time an application under section 67 and an application under section 67A of this Act and the rent officer proposes to entertain the two applications together, the rent officer shall make a determination in relation to the application under section 67 before making his determination in relation to the application under section 67A; and the reference in subsection (1)(a) above to the existing registered rent shall have effect as a reference to the rent determined on the application under section 67.]

71 Amount to be registered as rent.E+W

(1)The amount to be registered as the rent of any dwelling-house shall include any sums payable by the tenant to the landlord [F23in respect of council tax or]for the use of furniture or for services, whether or not those sums are separate from the sums payable for the occupation of the dwelling-house or are payable under separate agreements.

(2)Where any rates in respect of a dwelling-house are borne by the landlord or a superior landlord, the amount to be registered under this Part of this Act as the rent of the dwelling-house shall be the same as if the rates were not so borne; but the fact that they are so borne shall be noted on the register.

(3)Where subsection (2) above applies, the amount of the rates for any rental period, ascertained in accordance with Schedule 5 to this Act—

(a)shall, subject to paragraphs 1(4) and 4(3) of Schedule 9 to this Act, be added to the limit imposed by section 44(1) of this Act . . . F24; and

(b)if the rental period is a statutory period, as defined in section 61 of this Act, shall be recoverable, without service of any notice of increase, in addition to the sums recoverable from the tenant apart from this subsection.

(4)Where, under a regulated tenancy, the sums payable by the tenant to the landlord include any sums varying according to the cost from time to time of—

(a)any services provided by the landlord or a superior landlord, or

(b)any works of maintenance or repair carried out by the landlord or a superior landlord,

the amount to be registered under this Part of this Act as rent may, if the rent officer is satisfied or, as the case may be, the [F25appropriate tribunal] are satisfied, that the terms as to the variation are reasonable, be entered as an amount variable in accordance with those terms.

[F2672 Effect of registration of rent.E+W

(1)The registration of a rent for a dwelling-house takes effect—

(a)if the rent is determined by the rent officer, from the date when it is registered, and

[F27(b)if the rent is determined by the appropriate tribunal, from the date when the tribunal make their decision.]

(2)If the rent for the time being registered is confirmed, the confirmation takes effect—

(a)if it is made by the rent officer, from the date when it is noted in the register, and

[F28(b)if it is made by the appropriate tribunal, from the date when the tribunal make their decision.]

(3)If (by virtue of section 67(4) of this Act) an application for registration of a rent is made before the expiry of the period mentioned in section 67(3) and the resulting registration of a rent for the dwelling-house, or confirmation of the rent for the time being registered, would, but for this subsection, take effect before the expiry of that period it shall take effect on the expiry of that period.

(4)The date from which the registration or confirmation of a rent takes effect shall be entered in the register.

(5)As from the date on which the registration of a rent takes effect any previous registration of a rent for the dwelling-house ceases to have effect.

(6)Where a valid notice of increase under any provision of Part Ill of this Act has been served on a tenant and, in consequence of the registration of a rent, part but not the whole of the increase specified in the notice becomes irrecoverable from the tenant, the registration shall not invalidate the notice, but the notice shall, as from the date from which the registration takes effect, have effect as if it specified such part only of the increase as has not become irrecoverable.]

[F2972A Amounts attributable to services.E+W

In order to assist authorities to give effect to the housing benefit scheme under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 [F30or to assist the Secretary of State in the administration of universal credit] , where a rent is registered, there shall be noted on the register the amount (if any) of the registered rent which, in the opinion of the rent officer or [F31appropriate tribunal] , is fairly attributable to the provision of services, except any amount which is negligible in the opinion of the officer or, as the case may be, the [F32tribunal] .]

73 Cancellation of registration of rent.E+W

(1)An application may be made in accordance with this section for the cancellation of the registration of a rent for a dwelling-house where—

(a)a rent agreement as respects the dwelling-house takes effect, or is to take effect, after the expiration of a period of [F333 years] beginning with the relevant date (as defined in section 67(5) of this Act), and

(b)the period for which the tenancy has effect cannot end, or be brought to an end by the landlord (except for non-payment of rent or a breach of the terms of the tenancy), earlier than 12 months after the date of the application, and

(c)the application is made jointly by the landlord and the tenant under the agreement.

[F34(1A)Such an application may also be made where—

(a)not less than two years have elapsed since the relevant date (as defined in section 67(5) of this Act); and

(b)the dwelling-house is not for the time being subject to a regulated tenancy; and

(c)the application is made by the person who would be the landlord if the dwelling-house were let on such a tenancy.]

(2)The rent agreement may be one providing that the agreement does not take effect unless the application for cancellation of registration is granted.

[F35(3)An application under this section must—

(a)be in the form prescribed for the application concerned and contain the prescribed particulars; and

(b)be accompanied, in the case of an application under subsection (1) above, by a copy of the rent agreement.]

(4)If [F36the application is made under subsection (1) above and] the rent officer is satisfied that the rent, or the highest rent, payable under the rent agreement does not exceed a fair rent for the dwelling-house, he shall cancel the registration [F37and he shall also cancel the registration if the application is made under subsection (1A) above].

(5)Where [F38the application is made under subsection (1) above and] under the terms of the rent agreement the sums payable by the tenant to the landlord include any sums varying according to the cost from time to time of any services provided by the landlord or a superior landlord, or of any works of maintenance or repair carried out by the landlord or a superior landlord, the rent officer shall not cancel the registration unless he is satisfied that those terms are reasonable.

(6)[F39A cancellation made in pursuance of an application under subsection (1) above] shall not take effect until the date when the agreement takes effect; and if the cancellation is registered before that date, the date on which it is to take effect shall be noted on the register.

(7)The cancellation of the registration shall be without prejudice to a further registration of a rent at any time after cancellation.

(8)The rent officer shall notify the applicants of his decision to grant, or to refuse, any application under this section.

(9)In this section “rent agreement” means—

(a)an agreement increasing the rent payable under a protected tenancy which is a regulated tenancy, or

(b)where a regulated tenancy is terminated, and a new regulated tenancy is granted at a rent exceeding the rent under the previous tenancy, the grant of the new tenancy.

74 Regulations.E+W

(1)The Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a)prescribing the form of any notice, application, register or other document to be given, made or used in pursuance of this Part of this Act;

(b)regulating the procedure to be followed

F40[(i)by rent officers under this Act; and

(ii)by rent assessment committees whether under this Act or otherwise; and]

(c)prescribing anything required or authorised to be prescribed by this Part of this Act.

(2)Regulations under subsection (1)(b) above may contain provisions modifying the following provisions of this Act:—

(a)Section 67, . . . F41 or 72;

(b)Part I . . . F41 of Schedule 11;

(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F42

but no regulations containing such provisions shall have effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(3)Regulations made under this section shall be made by statutory instrument which, except in a case falling within subsection (2) above, shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

75 Interpretation of Part IV.E+W

(1)In this Part of this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

• [F43“appropriate tribunal” means—

  (a)

  in relation to a dwelling-house in England, the First-tier Tribunal or, where determined by or under Tribunal Procedure Rules, the Upper Tribunal; and

  (b)

  in relation to a dwelling-house in Wales, a rent assessment committee.]

• “improvement” includes structural alteration, extension or addition and the provision of additional fixtures or fittings, but does not include anything done by way of decoration or repair;

• “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations under section 74 of this Act, and references to a prescribed form include references to a form substantially to the same effect as the prescribed form.

(2)References in this Part of this Act to rates, in respect of a dwelling-house, include references to such proportion of any rates in respect of a hereditament of which the dwelling-house forms part as may be agreed in writing between the landlord and the tenant or determined by the county court.