Lettings Update: October 2021

Sun 31 Oct 2021

A lot has been going on in the world of lettings, so we wanted to give a lettings update for landlords, who may not be aware of some of the changes to their obligations.

New forms for eviction notices

If you’ve been keeping up-to-speed with changes in legislation and requirements over the last two years, it may feel a bit overwhelming. 

From 1st October 2021, there are now new property possession forms for eviction notices that fall under both Section 8 and Section 21 evictions. 

As well as the new forms, from 1st October 2021, eviction notice periods have returned to their pre-pandemic levels. This means that for Section 21 notices two months notice is required, and for Section 8 the notice period is two weeks on rent arrears grounds.

Any notice served prior to the 1st October 2021 will still be subject to the notice periods as set out by the emergency legislation put in place to protect tenants during the pandemic.

Delay to section 21 ban

Section 21 evictions allow landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason, if they give two months’ notice.

The Renters Reform Bill, originally introduced back in 2019, has been delayed until 2022, which means landlords won’t have to find a way of adapting to the ban of Section 21 evictions until then.

A white paper was due to be published this month, which as well as the ban of Section 21 evictions also includes proposals such as the introduction of lifetime tenant deposits. 

The delay is due to the government requiring more time to produce a ‘balanced package of reforms’, and allow them to take into consideration findings of the National Audit Office in their review of regulating the sector.

Longer to pay Capital Gains tax

And finally in our lettings update, in the autumn budget there wasn’t a lot to set the property industry on fire. However, budget documents confirmed that landlords will have twice as long to pay Capital Gains Tax, with the window for payment increasing from 30 days to 60 days. 

This change has come into immediate effect, applying to both UK and non-UK residents who sell property.

This is to overcome the problem of there not being enough time to register, work our how much was due, and then pay the tax. 

Previously this could all be reported in a self-assessment tax return in the same tax year that the property was sold, but this was replaced by the 30-day rule in 2020.