Understanding the law

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 is an important piece of legislation that all landlords and letting agents need to be aware of.

Navigating through the legislation and all the regulations is never an easy task so we have compiled this simple guide to help you find the information you need. It is split into two parts: Part 1 – Legislation & Part 2 – Guidance.

Whilst it is not an exhaustive list, we have tried to collate main issues you need to be aware of. If you notice something missing or in need of updating, please drop us a line (here).

Part 1 – Legislation

Housing and Planning Act 2016
There are 200+ pages covering a wealth of topics including a national database of rogue landlords, landlord and agent banning orders, civil penalties, changes to rent repayment orders and giving councils access to tenancy deposit scheme data. It also gave the government power to implement changes to electrical safety standards and make client money protection compulsory for agents holding client money.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Commencement No. 5, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Regulations 2017
These regulations enable local authorities to implement new rent repayment order and civil penalty notice procedures from 6 April 2017. They also enable local authorities to ask for certain information from the tenancy deposit protection schemes. 

The Rent Repayment Orders and Financial Penalties (Amounts Recovered) (England) Regulations 2017
These regulations enable local authorities in England to keep any money paid to them under a rent repayment order or civil penalty notice and use it to fund their housing enforcement activity. 

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6) Regulations 2017
These regulations bring into force certain provisions under the Act in relation to banning orders and the rogue landlord database.

The Housing (Management Orders and Financial Penalties)(Amounts Recovered)(England) Regulations 2018
The regulations set out how local authorities can spend surplus income recovered under a management order on a property let in breach of a banning order, or a financial penalty for breach of a banning order.

The Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Banning Order Offences) Regulations 2018
These regulations set out the criminal offences for which landlords and agents can be banned from operating in the private rented sector in England.

The Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Approval and Designation of Schemes) Regulations 2018
These regulations enable to the Secretary of State to approve client money protection schemes that agents must join if they hold client money.

The Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019
These regulations set out the requirements for agents to belong to a client money protection scheme and display copies of the CMP certificate. They also introduce a civil penalty enforcement mechanism. The regulations have since been amended by the Tenant Fees Act 2019. 

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
These regulations set new electrical safety regulations that apply to all private rented homes not covered by one of the statutory exemptions. The regulations were made on 1 June 2020.

Part 2 – Guidance

Rent Repayment Orders under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – DCLG Guidance for Local Housing Authorities, April 2017 
This is the statutory guidance that local authorities must follow when considering whether to apply for a rent repayment order. These powers are now available to deal with a much wider range of issues (read here) 

Obtaining and using Tenancy Deposit Information – DCLG Explanatory Booklet for Local Housing Authorities, April 2017 
This guidance explains the process whereby local authorities can request certain information from the tenancy deposit protection schemes. This includes the address of the rented property, the address of the landlord and agent and the number of deposits held. This provision came into force on 6 April 2017. 

Civil Penalties under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – DCLG Guidance for Local Housing Authorities, April 2018
This is the statutory guidance that local authorities must follow when considering whether to impose a civil penalty of up to £30,000 for certain housing offences.

Banning Order Offences under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – MHCLG Guidance for Local Housing Authorities, April 2018
This non-statutory guidance is designed to help local housing authorities understand and use their powers to seek a banning order against a landlord or property agent in the private rented sector.

Database of rogue landlords and property agents under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 – MHCLG Statutory guidance for Local Housing Authorities, April 2018 
This is statutory guidance that local housing authorities must have regard to when deciding whether to make an entry in the database of rogue landlords and agent.

Mandatory client money protection for property agents – MHCLG statutory guidance for local authorities, May 2019
This is statutory guidance that local authorities must have regard to when enforcing the client money protection requirements for agents that hold client money.

Electrical safety standards in the private rented sector – MHCLG guidance for landlords, tenants and local authorities, June 2020
This is guidance that explains the new electrical safety regulations that were made on 1 June 2020.

If you need further advice and guidance on any of these issues, please drop us a line to see if we can help.

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