Key Facts
- •Ms Switaj entered into an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in 2018, paying a security deposit, administration fee, and check-out fee.
- •The Tenant Fees Act 2019 (TFA) prohibited these fees from June 1, 2019.
- •Ms Switaj entered into further ASTs in 2020 and 2021, neither of which included the prohibited fees.
- •In 2023, the landlord served a section 21 notice to terminate the 2021 tenancy.
- •Ms Switaj argued the 2018 payments precluded the section 21 notice due to the TFA.
Legal Principles
The Tenant Fees Act 2019 prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to make prohibited payments (administration and check-out fees).
Tenant Fees Act 2019, sections 1, 17(3)
A section 21 notice cannot be served if a prohibited payment related to the tenancy has not been repaid.
Tenant Fees Act 2019, section 17(3)
The TFA is not retrospective; requirements imposed before its commencement are not caught by section 1.
Tenant Fees Act 2019, section 30
The word 'require' in the TFA implies a compulsory quality and some overt act or utterance; mere silence does not constitute a requirement.
Interpretation of Tenant Fees Act 2019, section 1(6)
Inferences drawn from facts must be based on evidence and cannot be speculative or constructed to support a desired conclusion.
Efobi v Royal Mail Group Ltd [2021] UKSC 33
Outcomes
The appeal was dismissed.
The 2018 payments were made before the TFA came into force and were not 'required' under the 2021 tenancy. The landlord's retention of the check-out fee did not amount to a new requirement under the TFA.