New year, new laws! The new year will bring a series of new laws in the UK, from new legislation that will affect driving laws, taxes, and benefits to the new requirement to provide ID to vote.
We have compiled the new laws we believe you should know:
Tougher laws for landlords
New restrictions that will come into force in April 2023 will stop landlords from granting new leases and continuing existing leases of non-domestic properties with energy ratings below E.
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Regulations will apply to all privately rented properties in England and Wales which are legally required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
Landlords will have to make energy-efficient improvements to their properties or register exemptions for them on the PRS Exemption Register.
Building Safety Bill
The new Building Safety Bill will require leaseholders to pay up to £15,000 to fix unsafe properties and in particular buildings with unsafe cladding.
The new legislation will require owners to cover the costs of fixing safety problems in apartment blocks, but in some circumstances, leaseholders may be required to contribute, for example, if the owner of the property doesn’t have the financial means to cover the costs.
Online Safety Bill
The Online Safety Bill is expected to pass in early 2023 and will be introduced to target harmful online content. The amendment to the Online Safety Bill will better protect victims of intimate image abuse and other abusive behaviour such as the installation and use of hidden cameras to record images of people without their consent.
Additional laws such as ‘downblousing’- when photos are taken down a woman’s top without their consent – and ‘deepfakes’– explicit images of videos which are manipulated to look like someone else without their consent will also be outlawed and included in the new bill.
Please get in touch with DMA Law Link for any legal questions about new laws coming into force this year.
