Page 9 - John Payne Letting Guide

RIGHT TO RENT
Under the Immigration Act 2014 agents and landlords have to ensure that all occupiers have a Right to Rent which is verified by a single document or a combination of documents that have been listed by the Home Office. Where the occupier has a limited right to remain in the UK, the Right to Rent check has to be carried out again at the expiry of the right to remain or 12 months from the last check whichever date is the later. If the agent
or landlord has any concerns, the Home Office has a checking system where an answer should be provided within two working days.
TENANT FEES ACT 2019
Schedule 1 of the Act identifies payments that are permitted to be paid by the tenant for some lettings. Any other payments are prohibited and requiring or taking a prohibited payment may lead to penalty of up to £5,000 for a first offence and a more severe penalty of up to £30,000 for a second offence.
A second offence alternatively may lead to a criminal prosecution, unlimited fine and possibly a banning order. We will take into account the guidance offered by Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and ensure that, as far as possible and until the courts provide decisions, our tenancy process is compliant.
UTILITIES & COUNCIL TAX
DEPOSITS SCHEMES
A deposit is paid by the tenant at the start of a tenancy to safeguard against damage. Since April 2007, all new Assured Shorthold Tenancies must be registered with
a government-backed tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme within 30 days of receipt of the deposit. We normally collect a security deposit from the tenant. For agreements covered by the Tenant Fees Act 2019 the amount of a deposit is limited to a maximum of five weeks’ rent (or six weeks’ rent where the annual rent is £50,000 or above per annum).
John Payne Estate Agents is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and for Gold & Platinum clients we will register the deposit on your behalf and liaise with their dispute service should the need arise at the end of
a tenancy. We will also provide your tenant with the name and contact details of the Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme and its dispute resolution service, which is a legal requirement.
Bronze & Silver clients would need to register the deposit themselves or we can do this at an additional cost. Landlords should be aware that there are significant penalties for failing to comply with deposit protection requirements.
KEYS
You should provide at least one set of keys for each tenant. Where we will be managing the property for you, we will also require in case of emergency a full set which will be coded for security purposes. We can arrange to have duplicates cut.
Our inventory provides a definite record in case of any claim against
a tenant’s deposit
at the end of a tenancy
Usually, it is the tenant’s responsibility to pay utility bills and council tax. We can organise all meter readings and arrange the transfer of water rates, gas, electricity and Council Tax accounts to the tenant.
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