There has been an ongoing review of the Private Rented Sector for some time now and submissions were requested a few weeks ago from the Department of Communities in relation to this. Here's what the document contained...
Notice to Quit
The recommendations on the Draft Legislation is to increase the minimum Notice to Quit period to 8 weeks with the ability to increase this in the future. The current Housing Minister has stated on several occasions that she is keen to see the Notice to Quit period extended to 6 months.
Deposit
Maximum Deposit of one month’s rent – The Landlords Association for Northern Ireland pointed out that the proposal to place a restriction of one month’s rent for a Deposit would cause issues for foreign students or foreign workers who are sometimes able to rent a property with a higher deposit being tendered in lieu of a Guarantor.
Energy Performance
Minimum standards to be set for Energy Performance Certificates with the provision of increasing the acceptable level in the future
Other Issues
Other areas including longer time limits for provision of the information and protection of Deposits on the Tenants Deposit scheme and other Safety measures were only outlined with details to follow.
LANI provided a submission to ensure that landlords views were taken into account and highlighting difficulties that could arise should some of the suggested changes proceed. They will be involved in future stakeholder engagements and have asked for a face to face meeting as soon as possible and certainly while the Bill is still in its very early stages.
