A new How to Rent guide will come out on Friday (17^th March) which landlords in England must serve at the start of any new tenancy or renewal.

The new guide forms part of the prescribed information landlords must issue, and if they don’t, they would lose the right to repossess using Section 21 - which ironically is due to be abolished later this year.

Last updated in December 2020, it has been updated again to reflect some recent legal changes including the requirement for carbon monoxide alarms to be fitted in every room with a fixed fuel burning appliance, and that an electrical installation condition report must be provided to tenants.

Smart meters

It also contains information on fitting smart meters and there is a section in the guide on ensuring the property is suitable for tenants with a disability.

According to Propertymark, where agents or landlords have issued the existing version in advance of the tenancy start date, they should follow up by issuing the new version as soon as it becomes available, keeping evidence that this has been issued - preferably using a system that also shows that it has been delivered and opened.

Rules were brought in eight years ago making it mandatory for landlords to provide the latest version to their tenants when the first tenancy starts, and on renewal if there has been an update to the contents of the guide.

The government says new versions of the How to Rent and How to Let guides will be available on the gov.uk website, this Friday while the NRLA has promised to update its resource centre with links to the new guides.