When do you have to provide a prospective tenant with the front page of the EPC?

It’s a bit of a trick question – the answer is never! The whole Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) must be made available to a prospective tenant and not just the front page. The most recent legislation on this is The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 which took effect on 9 January 2013 and this is what it has to say on the matter…

Prospective tenant

As before, an EPC is to be made available to a prospective tenant.

A person becomes a prospective tenant in relation to a building when he or she –

• requests any information about the building from the relevant person or the relevant person’s agent for the purpose of deciding whether to buy or rent the building;
• makes a request to view the building for the purpose of deciding whether to buy or rent the building; or
• makes an offer, whether oral or written, to buy or rent the building.

When to make available the EPC

The making available and giving of the EPC requirements has been slightly re-worded and simplified.

The prospective landlord must make available free of charge a valid energy performance certificate to any prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity and in any event no later than whichever is the earlier of:

• The first time the prospective landlord makes available to a prospective tenant any written information (such as Lettings particulars for example) about the building to the person; or
• At the time which the prospective tenant views the building.

The landlord must ensure that a valid energy performance certificate has been given free of charge to the person who ultimately becomes the tenant.

As before, there is no requirement to make available an EPC if the prospective landlord believes on reasonable grounds that the prospective tenant

• is unlikely to have sufficient means to rent the building;
• is not genuinely interested in renting a building of a general description which applies to the building; or
• is not a person to whom the prospective landlord is likely to be prepared to rent out the building.

T1 & T2 sign a tenancy agreement for a joint tenancy and T1 decides to leave what should you as the landlord do?

If the tenancy is still in the fixed term you cannot unilaterally do anything. You cannot delete one of the names from tenancy agreement. You can however either:

a. allow a formal legal assignment (by deed) of the existing tenancy, from T1+T2 to T2; or

b. agree a surrender of old tenancy (by both T1 & T2 to you) in exchange for a new one which you grant to T2 alone.

The tenants undertook joint and several liability so each are jointly and severally liable for the terms of the tenancy. This binds both T1 & T2 for the rest of the tenancy unless you agree to the assignment or surrender as above. If the fixed term has ended or ending soon, you could grant a new tenancy to T2. It is worth noting that this would be a ‘new’ tenancy and not a ‘replacement’ tenancy.

Before you allow any assignment or surrender consider any financial implications particularly the affordability of the rent for the remaining tenant.

What should T1 do if they want to leave?

If the tenancy is still in the fixed term get agreement from T2 to the assignment or surrender of the tenancy and inform your landlord when you have done so. The landlord is under no obligation to release you but if you have the agreement of T2 and the landlord is satisfied T2 can meet the conditions of the tenancy such as being able to afford the rent, he might consider your request.

If the fixed term has ended or ending soon, give the landlord the contractual or statutory notice you intend to leave and surrender the tenancy (hand back the keys). The landlord would then need to decide whether he wanted to grant a new tenancy to T2.

Have you experienced problems with a tenant leaving a joint tenancy?

If the appliances are the tenants then the simple answer is the tenant.

For appliances provided by the landlord the answer is a bit more complicated…

When discussing repairing obligations reference is often made to Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 but Section 11 (1)(b) of this legislation makes it clear the landlord (lessor) is not responsible for keeping in repair and proper working order appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity. There is no statutory obligation for landlords to keep appliances that make use of the supply of water, gas or electricity in repair or working order. But landlords do have a statutory obligation to ensure appliances they provide are safe (see 1 & 2 below) for any potential occupier or visitors – so provided that washing machine the landlord placed in the property that no longer works is not unsafe, the landlord has not failed in his statutory duties!

To avoid any misunderstanding, the responsibility for repairing electrical appliances provided by the landlord is best defined in the Tenancy Agreement. This should be discussed and agreed with the prospective tenant at the earliest opportunity (and before any contract is signed) to give the tenant a timely opportunity to consider the implications and whether they are willing to take on the responsibility for the repairs or if they would rather have the appliances removed before the start of the tenancy.

Finally to ensure the appliances are safe they should be periodically inspected and tested. More on this here

1. The Housing Act 2004 (England and Wales) Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) has been developed to assess all hazards that may be present in a residential property and ‘provide a safe and healthy environment for any potential occupiers or visitors’. From an electrical perspective this includes consideration of portable electrical equipment.

2. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 – the landlord is required to take reasonable steps to ensure that appliances provided as part of the tenancy agreement are safe.