Case Law & Prescribed Information
Siddeeq v Alaian. K00BF465 County Court at Mayor’s and City of London County Court. HHJ Hellman. 9 August 2024 (unreported).
A County Court Circuit Judge appeal from a possession claim at Brentford County Court, on the validity of a section 21 notice due to arguments over the deposit prescribed information. The key question was whether information given by the landlord could be ‘prescribed information’ in relation to the deposit if it was given to the tenant before the deposit was paid.
The tenancy agreement on this AST was signed on 12 November 2021. The tenancy agreement, as is common, had a section setting out various items of the ‘tenancy deposit prescribed information’ and stated the deposit value. The end statement of the agreement said that the signature was the landlord’s certification of the information, and the tenant’s confirmation of its accuracy to the best of their knowledge. A Mydeposits scheme leaflet was provided with the tenancy agreement.
The deposit was paid by the tenant on 13 November 2021. The deposit was protected on about 19 November 2021 and the deposit protection certificate provided to the tenant, although not signed by either.
So the only signature as to the accuracy of the prescribed information where those of the landlord and the tenant on the tenancy agreement, signed before the deposit was paid.
The landlord served a section 21 notice on 3 November 2022 and a possession claim via the accelerated procedure issued on 24 April 2023. A defence was served. At first instance trial the District Judge held that the prescribed information could be given before the deposit was paid. The tenant sought permission to appeal, which was granted by HHJ Luba KC.
Reporting around Rent Controls
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) in the Media is run by the Press Office.
It has been reported in the media that the Government is planning to give the Mayor of London powers to impose rent controls.
This is not true. Fixing Britain’s housing crisis is one of our top priorities, and giving struggling renters more rights and security is an important issue for this Government, but there have been no conversations with the Mayor of London about introducing rent controls.
In the King’s Speech, the Prime Minister announced our Renters’ Rights Bill, that will put an end to rental bidding wars. This will stop renters being pitted against each other and forced to pay more than the original asking price of the property when trying to secure a home.
The Implied Covenant for Quiet Enjoyment and How it Impacts Tenancies
Under common law, there is an implied obligation on a landlord to give the tenant “quiet enjoyment” of the property. This means that the tenant will have possession of the property without interference or interruption from the landlord or any landlord representative. This means that a tenant should be permitted to reside at the property without being disturbed, harassed or prevented from enjoying their home. It is for this reason that landlords are required to provide tenants with a minimum of 24 hours notice in writing should they wish to gain access to the property.
Landlords are often presented with obstacles when trying to gain access for reasons that will assist the landlord to maintain and repair the property. Under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985, tenants are required to grant access in order to allow the landlord to inspect the property or carry out repairs, again without disturbing the tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the property.
Keep Learning
I had the pleasure of speaking briefly to Stephen Brown on Friday - I say briefly, because it was literally no less than a minute. He asked me a question and I replied. My response was something I gave a great deal of thought. Should I respond with a thought provoking piece of wisdom from my parents or a quote from the Greek philosophers. But I stuck to what I know, breathe and am extremely passionate about. Learning. No matter who you are, what you think you know or whether you feel a certain amount of ignorance on any given topic, there is always something new to learn, some new piece of information to discover, some detail that causes us to react with an "Ah or Oh or Ooh" ! That light-bulb moment when the penny drops and our understanding of a complex topic falls into place.