Landlords face eviction hurdles over Gas Safety certificates, says law firm

A law firm is warning landlords that they could face difficulties in evicting tenants if they fail to provide Gas Safety certificates before the start of the tenancy.

Nelsons points to a recent County Court case, Byrne v Harwood-Delgado, which could offer more protection to tenants who have been served a Section 21 notice.

According to the law firm, Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988, introduced by the Deregulation Act 2015, requires landlords to comply with certain conditions before they can use a Section 21 – one of these conditions is to give the tenant a Gas Safety certificate, where applicable before the tenancy begins.

‘Extremely persuasive and being applied by the courts’

Paula Haverkamp, a senior associate and litigation executive at Nelsons, said: “Although, this case is not binding as it is a County Court case, however, it is extremely persuasive and being applied by the courts, it could provide more protection for tenants and improve their ability to be successful in defending Section 21 possession proceedings.

“Tenants may not need this type of protection if the plans to abolish no-fault Section 21 evictions are enforced, however, in the meantime, it’s certainly positive news for tenants as it gives them and their representatives extra defences against Section 21 possession proceedings.”

Landlords could still issue a valid Section 21 notice

The firm says that a previous Court of Appeal case, Trecarrell House Limited v Patricia Rouncefield, had ruled that landlords could still issue a valid Section 21 notice if they gave the tenant a Gas Safety certificate before serving the notice, even if they had not done so before the tenancy started.

However, in the Byrne case, the judge, HHJ Bloom, found that the landlord could not use a Section 21 notice at all if they had not given the tenant a Gas Safety certificate before the tenancy began and that this could not be fixed later.

Landlord had not obtained a Gas Safety certificate

In this case, the landlord had not obtained a Gas Safety certificate at the start of the tenancy but had given one to the tenant after six months.

The judge said that this case was different from Trecarrell House as there had been a clear failure on the landlord’s part.

She also said that the landlord’s failure to provide a Gas Safety certificate before the tenancy could not be remedied by giving one to the tenant after the tenancy had started.

Nelsons is advising landlords to ensure that they comply with all the requirements of Section 21A of the Housing Act 1988, and to seek legal advice if they are unsure of their obligations.

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