Housing Act 1996

Assured shorthold tenancies

96Tenancies which are assured shorthold tenancies

(1)In Chapter II of Part I of the [1988 c. 50.] Housing Act 1988 (assured shorthold tenancies) there shall be inserted at the beginning—

“19AAssured shorthold tenancies: post-Housing Act 1996 tenancies

An assured tenancy which—

(a)is entered into on or after the day on which section 96 of the Housing Act 1996 comes into force (otherwise than pursuant to a contract made before that day), or

(b)comes into being by virtue of section 5 above on the coming to an end of an assured tenancy within paragraph (a) above,

is an assured shorthold tenancy unless it falls within any paragraph in Schedule 2A to this Act.”

(2)After Schedule 2 to that Act there shall be inserted the Schedule set out in Schedule 7 to this Act.

97Duty of landlord to provide statement of terms of assured shorthold tenancy

After section 20 of the Housing Act 1988 there shall be inserted—

“20APost-Housing Act 1996 tenancies: duty of landlord to provide statement as to terms of tenancy

(1)Subject to subsection (3) below, a tenant under an assured shorthold tenancy to which section 19A above applies may, by notice in writing, require the landlord under that tenancy to provide him with a written statement of any term of the tenancy which—

(a)falls within subsection (2) below, and

(b)is not evidenced in writing.

(2)The following terms of a tenancy fall within this subsection, namely—

(a)the date on which the tenancy began or, if it is a statutory periodic tenancy or a tenancy to which section 39(7) below applies, the date on which the tenancy came into being,

(b)the rent payable under the tenancy and the dates on which that rent is payable,

(c)any term providing for a review of the rent payable under the tenancy, and

(d)in the case of a fixed term tenancy, the length of the fixed term.

(3)No notice may be given under subsection (1) above in relation to a term of the tenancy if—

(a)the landlord under the tenancy has provided a statement of that term in response to an earlier notice under that subsection given by the tenant under the tenancy, and

(b)the term has not been varied since the provision of the statement referred to in paragraph (a) above.

(4)A landlord who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a notice under subsection (1) above within the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which he received the notice is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

(5)A statement provided for the purposes of subsection (1) above shall not be regarded as conclusive evidence of what was agreed by the parties to the tenancy in question.

(6)Where—

(a)a term of a statutory periodic tenancy is one which has effect by virtue of section 5(3)(e) above, or

(b)a term of a tenancy to which subsection (7) of section 39 below applies is one which has effect by virtue of subsection (6)(e) of that section,

subsection (1) above shall have effect in relation to it as if paragraph (b) related to the term of the tenancy from which it derives.

(7)In subsections (1) and (3) above—

(a)references to the tenant under the tenancy shall, in the case of joint tenants, be taken to be references to any of the tenants, and

(b)references to the landlord under the tenancy shall, in the case of joint landlords, be taken to be references to any of the landlords.”

98Form of notices under s. 21 of the Housing Act 1988

(1)Section 21 of the [1988 c. 50.] Housing Act 1988 (recovery of possession on expiry or termination of assured shorthold tenancy) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (1)(b) (which requires the landlord under a fixed term tenancy to give two months' notice to recover possession), after “notice” there shall be inserted “in writing”.

(3)In subsection (4)(a) (corresponding provision for periodic tenancies), after “notice”, where it first occurs, there shall be inserted “in writing”.

99Restriction on recovery of possession on expiry or termination

In section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 there shall be inserted at the end—

“(5)Where an order for possession under subsection (1) or (4) above is made in relation to a dwelling-house let on a tenancy to which section 19A above applies, the order may not be made so as to take effect earlier than—

(a)in the case of a tenancy which is not a replacement tenancy, six months after the beginning of the tenancy, and

(b)in the case of a replacement tenancy, six months after the beginning of the original tenancy.

(6)In subsection (5)(b) above, the reference to the original tenancy is—

(a)where the replacement tenancy came into being on the coming to an end of a tenancy which was not a replacement tenancy, to the immediately preceding tenancy, and

(b)where there have been successive replacement tenancies, to the tenancy immediately preceding the first in the succession of replacement tenancies.

(7)For the purposes of this section, a replacement tenancy is a tenancy—

(a)which comes into being on the coming to an end of an assured shorthold tenancy, and

(b)under which, on its coming into being—

(i)the landlord and tenant are the same as under the earlier tenancy as at its coming to an end, and

(ii)the premises let are the same or substantially the same as those let under the earlier tenancy as at that time.”

100Applications for determination of rent: time limit

(1)Section 22 of the [1988 c. 50.] Housing Act 1988 (reference of excessive rents to rent assessment committee) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (2) (circumstances in which no application under the section may be made) after paragraph (a) there shall be inserted—

“(aa)the tenancy is one to which section 19A above applies and more than six months have elapsed since the beginning of the tenancy or, in the case of a replacement tenancy, since the beginning of the original tenancy; or”

(3)At the end there shall be inserted—

“(6)In subsection (2)(aa) above, the references to the original tenancy and to a replacement tenancy shall be construed in accordance with subsections (6) and (7) respectively of section 21 above.”