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Tessa’s Ten Top Tips on Consumer Law

  1. A tenancy is almost always a consumer contract.  The landlord is treated as being a business (even if the landlord only has one property) and the tenant is treated as a consumer – so the consumer legislation will apply to protect the tenant.  In Wales, all Occupation Contracts will be subject to the consumer rules.
  2. The consumer legislation will also usually apply to protect landlords in their dealings with letting agents, where the landlord is not a ‘professional’ landlord.
  3. A limited company cannot qualify as a consumer, so company tenants cannot claim the consumer protection available to individual tenants.
  4. Neither will landlords who own the property via a limited company be able to take advantage of the consumer laws that will protect landlords who own rented property in their own name (eg against onerous clauses in agency agreements).  Landlords should take this into account when deciding whether or not to own property through a company.
  5. The Unfair Terms rules which now form part of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply to almost all residential tenancies, apart from company lets.
  6. Misleading prospective tenants or pressuring them into signing can give them the right to ‘unwind’ their tenancy under consumer protection legislation, ending it early and potentially recovering rent and claiming compensation. The right to unwind normally must be exercised within 90 days of the tenancy starting. Although this is less important since the Renters Rights Act came into force, as now tenants will be able to give a two-month Notice to Quit.
  7. The Consumer Rights Act introduced new transparency rules regarding letting agent fees – for example, it will be unfair to quote fees without including VAT where VAT is payable
  8. If you qualify as a consumer and enter into an agency agreement online, by phone or away from the agent’s premises, you will normally have 14 days to cancel. The agent must explain this right. If they fail to do so, the cancellation period can extend to 12 months and 14 days, ending sooner if they provide the information. If you cancel after the required information was omitted, you will normally owe nothing for services supplied during the cancellation period.
  9. All letting agents must belong to a Property Redress Scheme which provides a cheap and easy way for both landlords and tenants to bring a complaint
  10. Landlords and agents must not mislead prospective tenants, either by giving false information about a property or by withholding important information they need to make an informed decision. This can breach the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

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