Social Housing Speed Read – New prescribed forms and increased court fees
11th April, 2016
The last month has seen a number of regulatory changes and court fee increases that affect the housing sector.
- New prescribed section 8 Notice Seeking Possession
- New prescribed section 13 Notice for statutory rent increases
- Increased Court fees
Section 8 Notice Seeking Possession
The Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) Regulations 2016 came into force on 6 April 2016, introducing a new prescribed notice for use when seeking possession of a property on any of the grounds at Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988.
You can find the form by clicking here.
Any section 8 notice served after 6 April 2016 must use this prescribed form or risk being invalid.
Section 13 Notice for statutory rent increases
The above Regulations also introduce a new prescribed form for use when proposing a new rent under an assured periodic tenancy.
The requisite notice period remains the same: one month for a periodic tenancy where the period is less than a month, six months for an annual tenancy and in other cases, a period equal to the length of period of the tenancy.
You can find the form by clicking here.
Court fees
On 21 March 2016, Court fees increased again, with notable increases for the housing sector including:
- Possession claims: up from £280 to £355
- Possession claim online (PCOL): up from £250 to £325
- Application fees: up from £155 to £255
What this means for you
Ensure that your precedent forms are up to date and that all section 8 and 13 notices used from 6 April 2016 are the newly amended forms.
Be aware of the new court fees and ensure the correct fee is included with your court papers when issuing claims to avoid delay.
If you have any questions on the new prescribed forms and increased Court fees and how they will affect social housing providers, or any other questions as a social housing provider, please do not hesitate to contact John Murray or a member of our expert Social Housing Team.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
This page may contain links that direct you to third party websites. We have no control over and are not responsible for the content, use by you or availability of those third party websites, for any products or services you buy through those sites or for the treatment of any personal information you provide to the third party.
