Welsh Housing Minister to speak at RLA Wales conference

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THE Welsh Housing Minister, Julie James AM, will address landlords, agents and property professionals at the Residential Landlord Association’s Future Renting Wales conference next month.

The third annual conference, in Cardiff, will be held at the city’s Jury’s Inn on November 28th offering landlords a valuable insight into the future of the private rented sector in Wales.

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Housing Minister to address RLA Wales conference

admin    Uncategorized     agents

The Welsh Housing Minister, Julie James AM will address landlords, agents and property professionals at the Residential Landlord Association’s Future Renting Wales conference next month. The third annual conference, in Cardiff, will be held at the city’s Jury’s Inn on November 28thoffering landlords a valuable insight into the future of the private rented sector in Wales. With the […]

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Grenfell: Phase One of inquiry report published

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The Phase One report of the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry has been published. The report states that the reason the fire spread so quickly to the whole building was due to Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) cladding. The Phase One report looked into established exactly what happened in the early hours of 14th June 2017, and […]

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RICS fine Countrywide £100,000 over client money security

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Yesterday the 30th October Countrywide Residential Lettings Nottingham faced a RICS Disciplinary Panel Hearing to defend the following charges:

“Between 2008 and 2018, the Firm transferred a sum of £10,093,866 of client funds, representing unclaimed and unidentified client balances that had not been claimed for six years or more

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New Electrical safety standards for England

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Electrical Safety:

ARLA propertymark
reminds us that the Commencement Order in Sections 122 and 123 of the
Housing and Planning Act 2016 (electrical safety standards) came into
force on 25 October 2019. This means that mandatory electrical safety
checks in the private rented sector in England regulations will be
implemented very soon.

The Housing and
Planning Act 2016, under Section 122, contains an enabling power to
allow the Secretary of State, through regulations, to impose duties
on private landlords ensuring that electrical safety standards are
met.

The frequency of checks and the qualifications for those electricians carrying them out, as well as penalties for breaches and an appeals process, are all likely to be specified soon.

However, with a general election now in progress it is likely to be the New Year before action is taken.

A working group of interested parties, including ARLA Propertymark, other industry representatives and landlord bodies, electrical and tenant bodies, have provided recommendations to government on the proposed requirements for electrical safety in the private rented sector (PRS).

Here is a summary of
the Electrical Safety Working Group recommendations provided by ARLA
Propertymark:

Recommendation 1:
Five yearly mandatory electrical installation checks should be set
out in secondary legislation.

Recommendation 2:
Visual checks of the safety of the electrical installation by
landlords at a change of tenancy should be encouraged as good
practice and set out in guidance.

Recommendation 3:
A report should be issued to the landlord which confirms that an EICR
has been completed along with confirmation that any remedial work
necessary has been undertaken satisfactorily. A copy should be issued
to the tenant at the beginning of the tenancy and should be made
available to local authorities on request.

Recommendation 4:
Landlord supplied electrical appliance testing and visual checks of
electrical appliances by landlords at a change of tenancy should be
encouraged as good practice and set out in guidance.

Recommendation 5:
The installation of Residual Current Devices (RCDs) by landlords
should be encouraged as good practice and set out in guidance.

Recommendation 6:
A Private Rented Sector electrical testing competent person’s
scheme should be set up which would be separate from existing
Building Regulations competent person’s scheme.

Recommendation 7:
DCLG should commission the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification
(EAS) management committee to consider the most effective method of
recognising ‘competent PRS testers’ to carry out electrical
inspections and tests.

Recommendation 8:
Legislative requirements should be phased in, beginning with new
tenancies, followed by all existing tenancies.

It is anticipated that the eventual regulations will follow closely these recommendations, so all PRS landlords should consider these and make plans to comply as soon as possible.

Electrical safety in the private rented sector

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Scariest property price drops

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The UK’s worst Halloween house price drops and the cost of buying with a Halloween road name

The latest research by national fast sale estate agent, Springbok Properties, has looked at where UK homeowners are in for the biggest fright this Halloween when it comes to the value change in their property since last year

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A positive vision for the PRS

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Too much attention is given to the idea that the sector is a problem which requires management. Instead the Residential Landlords Association argues that what is needed is a positive, ambitious programme for the sector which supports tenants and good landlords whilst rooting out the crooks who have no place in the sector.

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#ExpertView, RLA Chairman Alan Ward on DepositGuard Custodial

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The RLA has always understood the challenges faced by landlords and is proactive in doing all it can to support members with the tools they need to do the right thing. Therefore, the RLA and TDS have joined forces once again to create a free, custodial tenancy deposit option for RLA landlords called DepositGuard Custodial.  […]

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Modest UK house price growth in October

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Annual house price growth remained subdued at 0.4% while October saw a modest 0.2% rise month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal factors.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“Annual house price growth remained below 1% for the 11th month in a row in October

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RLA election manifesto: a positive vision for the PRS

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With a General Election set for December 12, the RLA has published a six-point manifesto unveiling a positive vision for the private rented sector. Too much attention is given to the idea that the sector is a problem which requires management. Instead the RLA argues that what is needed is a positive, ambitious programme for […]

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