Understanding the Variation in Converted Contracts
Now the 31st May deadline has passed, landlords now need to be aware that there was a new law that came in on the 1st June.
The new laws (which are variations to Schedule 12) were passed on 18th May and came into force on the 1st June. These variations impact two specific scenarios and may affect some of your converted contracts.
The specific scenarios are:
- a new contract-holder has joined an existing converted contract since 1st December
- A new contract has been given to the contract-holder since 1st December (whether for a fixed term or a periodic monthly rolling contract)
Issuing a Written Statement of Variation
Where something changes in a contract, landlords and agents have to notify the contract-holders of the change taking place. This can be done with a Written Statement of Variation, or by issuing an updated Written Statement.
Written Statements of Variation are probably a term we are going to have to get used to over the next few years because we’re probably going to be sending a lot of them! When the law is updated, or is something changes like there is a rent increase or someone joins or leaves a contract (and those are just a few examples), we have to inform the contract-holders of this in writing.
As you may recall from your update training, ALL written statements must be provided within 14 days. We all need to get used to what the new language means in terms of how we implement the new laws!
Do I need to do this?
The advice we have been given is to issue a Written Statement of Variation for ALL converted tenancies (i.e, everyone who you’ve already served the ‘written statement’ to) even if neither of the above situations apply. This is because they could affect the contract in the future.
The Landlord Community are providing a Written Statement of Variation to all landlords who have purchased our Universal Written Statement Course for free. To access this, please log into our account on our website and download the form from there. You have until 14th June 2023 to issue it.
Key Points to Remember:
- The variation only affects converted contracts, i.e., those with a right of occupancy before December 1st.
- New contract-holders and new occupation contracts (renewals) have until 14th June 2023 to receive the Variation or the updated statement.
- If either of the scenarios above happen after June 1st, then the statement must be provided within 14 days
- Joint contract-holders can receive a single copy of the Variation, covering all individuals involved.
- The Variation can be provided to all converted contract-holders, irrespective of their current situation to avoid any potential changes in the future.
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