A reminder that the new electrical safety regulations are now in force

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Until now landlords have only had to concern themselves with inspections and the issue of certificates for gas safety – when a gas supply is provided – but now, as from the 1^st of July, landlords or their agents must arrange for regular electrical safety checks (every 5 years) for electrical as well as for gas.

Note: Some companies provide a service where both the gas and the electrical checks can be completed together, saving inconvenience for tenants and simplifying the landlord’s management task.

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Sector (England) Regulations 2020 set out in detail the full requirements and the Government has provided a guide to these regulations for landlords, agents and tenants: Guide for landlords: electrical safety standards in the private rented sector

Briefly, the regulations mean that all residential landlords in England must ensure that the electrical installations in the property are safe and are inspected and tested at least every 5 years. The inspection must be carried out by a “competent person” and an Electrical Safety Certificate issued, a copy of which must be made available to the appropriate authorities if required, and copy given to the tenant/s.

The Certificate must be provided for the tenants within 28 days of receipt, and for new tenants the report must be provided before the start of the tenancy. Should the local authority request a copy of the report it must be provided within 7 days.

Initially, the Electrical Inspection Report is only requited for new tenancies agreements commencing on or after 1st July 2020.

For all existing residential tenancies an electrical safety inspection must now be carried out and an Electrical Safety Certificate issued within the 12 months ending 1st April 2021. Further inspections must then be carried out every 5 years.

The regulations apply to all tenancies including HMOs, with a few limited exceptions: for example, lodger arrangements where the lodger lives in the same house and shares facilities with the landlord, long leases of more than 7 years, hostels, hospitals, refuges, care homes and student halls.

The inspection and report (Electrical Safety Certificate) includes the testing of the fixed electrical system including all the wiring, plugs and sockets, consumer unit and fuse box, but it does not include electrical appliances such as washers, dryers, kettles and toasters etc.

The report should include the expert’s comments on the general safety of the system, any potential hazards, defective wiring or the standard of previous electrical work on the installation.

If works are required following the inspection these will be reported on and given a code depending on the urgency of the matter:

1 Danger Present
2 Risk of Injury
3 Potentially Dangerous
4 Further Investigation required
5 Improvement Recommended.

Remedial work must be undertaken for all of the codes except for number 5. Work must be undertaken and written confirmation of completion provided to the tenant and local authority within 28 days.

Failure to comply could result in the local authority issuing a penality notice and a civil penalty of up to £30,000 against the landlord. The local authority also has the powers to enforce these Regulations against the Landlord and if necessary undertake the works itself and recover the costs from the landlord.

Currently there appears not to be a requirement to provide evidence of the checks or the certificate in respect of a section 21 claim, as is the case with certain other prescribed information: the Gas Safety Certificate, the EPC, and the Government’s How to Rent Guide, as well as evidence of the deposit protection and licencing requirements.

It is possible that this latter point is in anticipation of the abolition of section 21 in the near future?

Advice for Private Landlords – Electrical Safety Council

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Mark Smith (Barrister-At-Law) – Partners in Property Mastermind Session

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Our Hon. Legal Counsel, Mark Smith, Head of Chambers at Cotswold Barristers will be asking if you are you paying too much tax on your property rental business and presenting a Mastermind session on tax-efficient structures for your business.

The Partners in Property online meeting will start at 9:30am Friday the 10th July until 3:30pm.

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Mortgage Market Post-Lockdown – Kate Faulkner and Jack Bertolone

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Jack Bertolone, Operations Director at Brooklands Commercial Finance, discusses with Kate Faulkner the impact of the pandemic on the UK housing market and the availability of mortgages.

Kate Faulkner is a UK property analyst and a regular commentator on BBC

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Build, Build, Build! Profit From PD Rights

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I’m filled with excitement, because Boris has announced new Permitted Development rules and a whole scale reform of the planning system.

In this video I am going to share with you some of these new announcements and what they mean to property developers and investors.

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LATEST: Airbnb clamps down on ‘house party’ short lets bookings

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Airbnb has rolled out new rules for under-25s in the US to combat unauthorised parties and protect neighbours from problems at its short-term lets, rules which are likely to later be introduced in the UK – which has a well documented and ongoing problem with short-lets ‘house parties’.

Following Canada’s lead, guests in the US under 25 with less than three positive reviews now won’t be allowed to book entire home listings in their local area on the platform.

Airbnb says that since it launched the policy in Canada, the number of unauthorised parties booked by guests under 25 has, “experienced a meaningful drop”. It adds that the new restriction will only impact a small number of overall bookings. 

American guests under 25 can still book any type of listing outside their local area or private rooms and hotel rooms through Airbnb, regardless of where they live. And younger guests with at least three positive reviews and without any negative reviews on Airbnb won’t be subject to the restrictions.

Trust and safety

A spokesman says: “There will always be people who work to find ways around our trust and safety protections, and we know that people over the age of 24 are perfectly capable of booking a home for the wrong reasons, too.

But based on the positive impact this policy has had on unauthorised parties booked by guests under 25, we believe this is the right action to continue to protect the safety of our community.”

A recent incident in Denmark Hill, London, at an Airbnb property where a woman was stabbed during a large-scale fight at a party shows that short-term lets being used inappropriately remains a concern in the UK, although Airbnb has yet to introduce similar rules here.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – LATEST: Airbnb clamps down on ‘house party’ short lets bookings | LandlordZONE.

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BREAKING: Leicester lockdown does not prevent home moves, ministry confirms

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The government has confirmed that the health protection regulations published this afternoon to regulate the Leicester lockdown do not prevent people moving home.

A senior civil servant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has written to property industry leaders to reassure them that the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Leicester) Regulations 2020 make it clear that “there will be no additional restrictions placed on moving home”.

For example, while gatherings of two or more people are now banned in Leicester as they were nationally at one point during the lockdown, people moving home are exempt.

“People in Leicester will still be allowed to leave home to move and also to leave home to facilitate a house move,” the statement says.

It goes on to confirm that both agents and landlords will be able to continue to support people when they move home as long as they take all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of infection.

The guidance from MHCLG is important because, as well as giving guidance to home movers, landlords and agents in the city, it suggests that future ‘flare up’ lockdowns regulations will also continue to allow homes moves.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher recently revealed why housing is being given special treatment, saying the industry as a whole employed 2.3 million people from carpenters to those who put up To Rent boards outside properties and everything in between.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – BREAKING: Leicester lockdown does not prevent home moves, ministry confirms | LandlordZONE.

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Upfront cost of renting a property outside London rises by up to 24%

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A scarcity of rental properties has pushed up the initial cost of securing a home by as much as 24% in some parts of the country – despite the tenant fees ban.

According to rental deposit replacement scheme Ome, while the cap seems to have had the desired effect, with the initial cost of renting in England down 2% year-on-year, some areas have bucked the trend.

Corby (pictured) has seen the cost of securing a rental deposit rise by 24% since this time last year, while Exeter and Charnwood have also seen a jump of 23%. 

Oxford, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South and West Oxfordshire, Chiltern, Liverpool, Doncaster, Rushcliffe, Haringey and Bristol have also seen a double-digit increase.  

Ome looked at the current initial cost of securing a rental home since the tenant fee ban was introduced last June – based on one month’s rent plus a deposit of five weeks’ rent – and found that tenants are now paying £1,897 upfront; £843 for their first month’s rent, plus a deposit of £1,054 at five weeks’ rent.

While in London, tenants are paying 5% less compared to last year, those in the South West are facing costs up 4%.

Kingston upon Hull is the cheapest place to secure a rental property with an initial outlay of £986, while York is the best place for tenant affordability, as costs have dropped by 18%.

Ome Co-founder Matthew Hooker says: “There’s no doubt that the tenant fee ban has had an impact on the affordability of renting. However, while some have seen the cost of securing a rental property drop, tenants in many parts of the national rental market have still seen sharp increases.

“This increase will have been driven mainly by a reduction of rental accommodation to meet demand as many buy-to-let landlords reconsider their investments due to a string of Government changes to the sector.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Upfront cost of renting a property outside London rises by up to 24% | LandlordZONE.

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DON’T TALK TO THE COUNCIL!!!

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A new Landlord: hounded, bullied, harassed and falsely accused of breaking the law – until we put the bullies and the idiots in their place. Unjustified Enforcement yet again!

Read this true story. Every landlord needs to know the council is wrong a lot of the time and will destroy you the Landlord –

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High Street Commercial landlords put on a brave face as retail shops re-open

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Hammerson & British Land say they are still hopeful for a “retail rebound” despite struggling with third quarter rent issues, managing to collect just 16% and 36% respectively of the rents due to them for the third quarter 2020.

With the coronavirus crisis coming on top of many already struggling retail stores, many High Street or shopping centre located tenants are struggling to survive faced with the inexorable rise of online sales and home deliveries,

Despite this, and the shopping centre giant Intu’s fall into administration last week, the companies say they are confident that their rent collection rates will improve.

In an update this week British Land confirmed that 64 per cent (or 894) of stores across its centres in England have now opened and have witnessed a sales surge 91% above the first week of reopening.

Both Hammerson and British Land have put out statements this week to reassure investors, reporting that footfall climbs and sales were encouraging for their English retail tenants, after the store restrictions were lifted for non-essentials from June 15.

Hammerson owner of the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham and Brent Cross in north London says it is confident that it’s rent collection rates will continue to improve ‘materially’ as they renegotiate their lease agreements with individual store owners. They have managed to secure a “breathing space” from lenders, and they say they have also accessed the Government’s coronavirus support scheme to shore up its finances.

British Land, owners of the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield and office buildings in London, also say they are optimistic that rent collection rates will improve over the coming weeks as they continue to renegotiate their agreements with their tenants.

‘We expect the best-located open-air retail parks to perform an important role in retailers’ reopening strategies, and this was reflected in positive like-for-like sales for out-of-town stores open in England versus the same week last year,’ says British Land.

The group had more success collecting rents from office building tenants, with a collection rate of nearly 90% during the quarter.

However, it has had to write off around £5 million worth of rents due from smaller retailers and it is in discussions with larger retailers over a move to monthly rent periods, re-scheduling overdue rent payments and discussing variations to lease terms.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – High Street Commercial landlords put on a brave face as retail shops re-open | LandlordZONE.

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Leading industry organisations give landlords and tenants guidance on rent arrears negotiations

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Six of the UK’s leading property industry organisations have clubbed together to offer landlords and tenants advice on how to overcome the looming rent arrears crisis following the Covid pandemic.

These are the National Residential Landlords Association, Chartered Institute of Housing, Property Redress Scheme, My Deposits, the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and ARLA Propertymark.

This includes rent suspensions, reductions and deferrals guidance as well as a plethora of other strategies to help tenants through the crisis, which has been published online.

Called Arrears Management and Coronavirus, it offers both the sides in rent arrears negotiations practical advice on which options are available to them.

It also includes advice and guidance on how landlords can apply to have Universal Credit payments made directly to them, and for a mortgage holiday if their tenants are one of the 10% who, so far, have been unable to pay their rent since the pandemic kicked off.

THe guidance also urges landlords to offer tenants information on where to get financial help if they are struggling to pay their household bills, including their rent.  

In a joint statement, the six organisations tsay:

“COVID-19 has posed significant challenges for both tenants and landlords. As a group we are committed to doing everything possible to sustain tenancies both through and beyond this period of crisis.

“The guidance being launched today has an important role to play in achieving this and we encourage all tenants and landlords to work through it together in a spirit of positive co-operation.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Leading industry organisations give landlords and tenants guidance on rent arrears negotiations | LandlordZONE.

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