Deregulation Act 2015 – EPC prior to 1st October 2015?
David Smith wrote an excellent article https://news.rla.org.uk/blog-section-21-after-1-october-2018/ in August 2018 about the Deregulation Act 2015. David raises the issue of whether you are required to serve an EPC prior to serving a section 21 notice if the tenancy started before 1 October 2015.
I have researched this deeper, but I cannot find any further clarification on this point. Has there been any further regulation or test cases of note?
Having not found anything, I decided to use Giles Peaker’s section 21 flow chart https://431bj62hscf91kqmgj258yg6-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/s21updatedSept2019v2.pdf as this would surly answer this question.
Having gone through this in detail, it confirms the section 21 is valid, but I am still left a little unsure as I have not seen anything definitive.
Giles, I wonder if the flow chart might need expanding to cover this point, unless of course an EPC is not required prior to 1 October 2015, in which case the flow chart would be correct.
Many thanks
Michael
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Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3514 - Articles: 5
4:05 PM, 1st September 2020, About 6 years ago
as I understand it UNLESS there has been a ruling/case that has been thrown out as a result of an EPC NOT being issued before a S21, then I believe an EPC is not needed as all legal requirements have been fulfilled at the point of S21 issue.
Member Since September 2016 - Comments: 127
1:26 PM, 2nd September 2020, About 6 years ago
There is no requirement to provide an EPC before serving a s.21 if the tenancy began before 1 October 2015 and there have been no subsequent new tenancies (renewal or replacement tenancies) on or after 1 October 2015. Any renewal tenancy on or after 1 October 2015 would be treated as a new tenancy, so all the requirements would apply.
There is no case law on this because the legal position is (relatively) clear. An EPC should have been provided anyway, but there is no s.21 penalty.
Member Since October 2016 - Comments: 155
8:28 PM, 2nd September 2020, About 6 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Giles Peaker at 02/09/2020 – 13:26
Giles, thank you for your concise response.
I’ll engage your team this week to progress further.