Dear colleague,

As you know, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 came into force today, Monday 1 June 2020. The regulations will apply to new private rented sector tenancies from 1 July and then to existing private rented sector tenancies from 1 April 2021.

To accompany the Regulations coming into force, the Government has today published specific guidance on the Regulations for landlords, as well as guidance for tenants and local authorities. This guidance is available here.

The Government has said that they are very aware that landlords may be concerned about their ability to comply with these regulations during the period affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Today they have also published revised guidance to landlords and tenants which gives specific detail about complying with safety and standards requirements during this difficult time (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities).

The Government continues to advise that local authorities take a common-sense, pragmatic and risk-based approach to enforcement. This will complement the guidance to the new Electrical Safety Standards, which also covers what landlords, tenants and local authorities should do if it is not possible to access a property.

Regards
Isobel Thomson
Chief Executive

Blog Post from Safe Agent

See details of our Guaranteed Rent Scheme here