Should you inspect your property if your tenants are self-isolating?

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Much of a letting agent’s work involves meeting different people and visiting homes on a day-to-day basis – and with the current events surrounding Coronavirus, it is more important than ever for agents to know their rights and safety responsibilities.

Last week, the Hamilton Fraser Academy
held its first Legal Update & Compliance course of 2020, where letting agents
gathered to learn more about lettings law and compliance with legislation.

The course highlighted the importance of carrying out
property inspections and keeping comprehensive audit trails. Audit trails are a
vital record of any interaction, communication or action taken with a client
and are key in the event of a complaint or dispute.

Due to current restrictions surrounding Coronavirus, many
people across the country are beginning to self-isolate within their homes,
which can make certain parts of a landlord or letting agent’s job tricky –
particularly inspections.

Landlords and agents should know that you can reserve the
right to refuse to carry out a property inspection if you have a valid reason
to do so, as long as you are able to show that you have made every reasonable
attempt.

For example, in the event that you have scheduled to visit a property for a mandatory inspection, such as a gas safety inspection, and you are unable to access the property, you must be able to provide evidence that you had a legitimate reason for why you couldn’t. If the tenant doesn’t allow you access to the property, or you are unable to enter for safety reasons, your audit trail must detail this. The Guild of Letting and Management (GLM) reported that a letting agent recently visited a property where the tenant had just arrived back in the country after visiting an area affected by coronavirus, and as a result were now self-isolating. The agent had received no warning beforehand and was immediately welcomed into the home upon arrival.

In this situation, the agent would have been within their
rights to refuse to enter the property as there was a safety risk present,
however they were unable to do so because the tenant failed to make them aware
of the risk beforehand.

This is why it is important establish clear lines of
communication with the tenant, complete a safety checklist before the
inspection, and keep an audit trail of all events. Your audit trail will show
that you made a reasonable attempt to access the property, and that you had a
legitimate reason to postpone the inspection. This evidence will protect you in
the event of a dispute or any allegations of negligence.

Brand Ambassador for Hamilton Fraser and Founder of Landlord Action,
Paul Shamplina, commented: ‘As the risk surrounding coronavirus continues to
rise, it is more important than ever for letting agents and landlords to
consider taking safety precautions before carrying out inspections.’

‘If you don’t already have a safety checklist, make sure that you prepare one and use it every time you plan to visit a property.’ For expert letting agent advice, make use of the new HF Assist helpline. Also visit, the Government’s guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection.

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Breaking: Eviction proceedings are to be delayed by three months during crisis

admin    Uncategorized     agents

Tenants who are suffering financial difficulties and cannot pay their rent will be spared eviction proceedings under emergency legislation due to be enacted in parliament.

The government has revealed the full details of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement in parliament yesterday of plans to ‘ban evictions’ during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of a complete ban,
landlords will have to wait three months before starting eviction proceedings
against a tenant if their financial difficulties are related to Coronavirus.

Late yesterday evening the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released a statement
saying that it would bring forward emergency legislation to introduce the
changes.

These will suspend new
evictions from social or private rented accommodation while ‘this national
emergency is taking place’ and that ‘no new possession proceedings through applications
to the court’ will start during the crisis.

Indicating how long the
government believes this crisis may last, the statement also says that: “Landlords will not
be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period”.

It has also been announced that pre-action protocols, which are used within the social landlord sector within England and Wales to ensure that the necessary information is before a court at the first hearing, are to be strengthened and widened to include tenants within the private rented sector.

“This will support
the necessary engagement between landlords and tenants to resolve disputes and
landlords will have to reach out to tenants to understand the financial
position they are in,” the statement says.

Secretary
of State Robert Jenrick says: “The government is clear – no renter who has lost
income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.”

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