Covid: Why must landlords renew EPCs during the current lockdown?

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Landlord groups have expressed their frustration at being expected to obtain Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) during the pandemic – despite fines being handed out to the general public for minor breaches of lockdown rules.

Updated government advice for landlords and letting agents reiterates the need to arrange for an accredited assessor when selling or letting a property, despite it not being essential safety work.

Its guidance for England and Wales states that if they can’t arrange an energy assessment, it should be rescheduled, adding: “If all reasonable efforts have been made to obtain a valid EPC but this has not been possible, a further 21 days are allowed as a grace period. After this period, enforcement action can be taken.”

Giles Inman, EMPO’s business development director, says it’s particularly frustrating that the government expects landlords to do this work as well as shoulder other repair obligations, while local authorities haven’t been doing any inspections since last March.

However, he tells LandlordZONE that landlords can protect themselves if they’re unable to access a property: “We tell our members that written evidence is key – if they can get a tenant to either send a text or email them to explain why they don’t want to admit them to the property, this will cover a landlord.”

The National Residential Landlords Association has called for delays or an extension to the expiry date of non-urgent inspections, just as the government has allowed for vehicle MOTs.

John Stewart (pictured), deputy policy director, tells LandlordZONE: “The impact of extending EPC renewals would affect relatively small numbers as they are valid for 10 years, and at worst this would mean a few non-compliant properties will be let for a short period.”

Read more news about EPCs.

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Entire housing sector backs UPRNs in open letter to housing secretary

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An open letter from 53 organisations operating within the housing market has been published calling on the government to roll-out Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs)

Addressed to housing secretary Robert Jenrick, the letter says UPRNs will offer many benefits including the elimination of rogue landlords, increased protection for tenants, better enforcement of housing standards and faster and simpler house sales.

Organised by The Lettings Industry Council (TLIC) and the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRMP), the letter is also backed by many leading estate agents and industry organisations including the Property Redress Scheme, the NRLA, RICS, Savills, Foxtons and Countrywide.

The PRS’ Head of Redress Sean Hooker says he backs UPRNs because it will help bring greater transparency to the private rental market and links a huge amount of property information to a single, easily-used number.

Andrew Bulmer, CEO of the IRPM says a UPRN is like attaching a number plate to a car. “Instead, we attach a unique number of up to 12 digits to all things related to properties including fittings, fixtures, paperwork and surveys so that each property can be uniquely identified with unparalleled accuracy,” he says.

Theresa Wallace (pictured), Founder of TLIC, notes that, “widespread adoption of UPRN’s could revolutionise the property market, this is a really exciting initiative which has industry support and we now need the Government to add theirs.”

The letter details the benefits of widespread market adoption of the UPRN to society, the economy and property sector. These include:

• Improved building, consumer and market safety.
• More targeted enforcement of legislation.
• Increased protection for tenants from rogue landlords.
• Faster conveyancing and transparency in home buying and selling.

UPRNs are backed by National Trading Standards, which says that the “widespread use of UPRNs has the potential to deliver many benefits across the residential property market.”

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Post Incorporation Refinancing Explained

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So you’ve incorporated your property portfolio into a limited company, now there’s a whole world of refinancing and finance raising options open to you.

This video is all about explaining which option is best for you.

Post Incorporation Refinancing Explained by Dak Lam

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Anti-money laundering legislation to apply to letting agents

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The Government thinks that the risk of money laundering taking place in estate agency is on the rise, especially in high-end lettings – the top 5% of lets in value. However, there is a lot of uncertainty as to the full scale of money laundering in lettings says ARLA Propertymark.

Propertymark says the level of compliance with AML regulations is still very low, with its assessment for 2019 stating that only half of estate agents were registered, even though they may face civil penalties or criminal prosecution. There are penalties of unlimited fines and / or a prison term of up to two years.

All employees should be aware of the law on AML, the estate and letting agent’s professional body says, and it advises business owners to provide regular training in how to recognise and deal with transactions that could involve some form of money laundering.

The organisation also advises letting and estate agents to carry out what it terms Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on both tenants and landlords before any business relationship is established, particularly for high-end lets. But interestingly, it recommends carrying out AML related CCD as a matter of routine for ALL lettings.

It will be a legal requirement for any agency agreement with a monthly rent of 10,000 Euros (or equivalent) or more. This involves agency staff in identifying and verifying potential tenants and landlords, obtaining information on the nature of the business relationship, and finding details of any beneficial owners.

So, Propertymark recommends that best practice for all letting agents, regardless of whether they come under the HMRC definition of businesses to be regulated for AML supervision, is to carry out CDD on all their tenants and landlords.

HMRC is the supervisory body for AML in the property sector and its role is to promote safe practice with regard to AML to “combat, prevent and respond” to money laundering.

David Cox, ARLA Propertymark Chief Executive says:

“The new regulations introduced, create a level playing field in the sales and auctions market and we welcome this. The regulations have also been expanded to include the letting agency sector for high-value transactions with a monthly rent of 10,000 euros.

“Those letting agents who fall within the scope of regulated businesses and manage tenancies that meet the threshold will need to register for anti-money laundering (AML) supervision.

“Despite the HMRC’s online register not being operational until May 2020, letting agents will need to comply with the regulations from 10th January 2020 and if they’re found to be non-compliant with the regulation’s agents may face civil penalties or criminal prosecution.”

David Smith, solicitor and partner at JMW Solicitors, says:

“Guidance relevant to lettings agencies remains outstanding, so the regulations are very unclear as to when the obligations to do checks apply in relation to prospective tenants. It is inevitable that prosecutions will be taken against estate and letting agents. However, given the lack of full guidance, the unclear approach in the regulations, and the uncertain level of risk in the risk assessment, such prosecutions are not the easy case that the Government might think.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Anti-money laundering legislation to apply to letting agents | LandlordZONE.

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Will it ever happen? Key property industry event postpones for a THIRD time due to Covid

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Covid has made a mess of many landlords’ and agents’ plans since March last year but the problems are most obvious if you’re organising conferences and exhibitions, all of which have been forced to cancel or go online.

And that’s true for the property sector’s largest gathering which has now been delayed for a third time and now won’t take place until the end of the year.

ARLA Propertymark’s conference and exhibition was rescheduled from its original date of 24^th March 2020 to 2^nd September, and then later moved to 27^th April 2021, but due to the ongoing pandemic, organisers are asking agents to save the new date of 7^th December.

Uncertainty

An ARLA spokeswoman says that the decision to postpone its popular networking event reflected continued uncertainty around the virus.

“Our hope is that by pushing the event back to much later in the year, we will all be in a position to safely come together for an informative and successful event,” she says.

“We can confirm that all existing conference registrations for delegates will be automatically transferred to the new conference date. We want to thank all of our exhibitors and sponsors for their patience and we look forward to collaborating with them to deliver a fantastic event.”

The event, which usually attracts more than 1,000 property professionals and 60 suppliers to the industry, will take place at ExCel in London’s Docklands, ironically the location of the London Nightingale Hospital, set up to accommodate Coronavirus victims.

Retail guru Mary Portas (pictured) and controversial head of the NHS test and trace programme, Dido Harding, are two of the speakers.

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Will it ever happen? Key property industry event postpones for a THIRD time due to Covid | LandlordZONE.

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Evictions ban must be extended past February 21st says Labour leader

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Labour leader Keir Starmer has called on the government to go further and extend the evictions ban past the current February 21^st deadline announced on Friday.

His call for action, which is unlikely to go down well among landlords who already have court-approved possession orders to evict tenants in serious arrears, was made during a keynote speech made this morning via social media.

Starmer says during the address, which has been delivered with an eye on the already delayed local elections due to now take place in May, that he wants the government to ‘put families first’.

He says Ministers should back local authorities to prevent council tax rises, stop any cuts in Universal Credit, “extend the ban on evictions and repossessions” and give “key workers the pay rise they deserve”.

Lockdown extension

In notes published alongside his speech, Starmer’s team says the evictions ban should be kept while the lockdown is in place, which is expected to endure in one form or another until April and even May this year.

Labour has also criticised the current evictions ban, claiming that it breaks previous promises by the government to ensure that those who have lost their income during the pandemic would not be evicted.

This is because, after being persuaded by the NRLA, Ministers agreed that ‘egregious arrears’ will now include those of more than six months duration rather the nine, which now includes tenants who stopped paying their rent after the pandemic began.

Watch the speech in full.

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Violent and criminal tenant who threatened landlord jailed for 20 months

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A tenant who had threatened and assaulted his landlord has been jailed for harassing a female colleague after she rejected his advances.

Edward Stewart, of Victoria Street in Belfast, threatened to throw acid in his colleague’s face when she turned down repeated requests to be his girlfriend.

He was handed a 20-month sentence after he admitted harassing the woman and causing her to fear violence.

Judge Stephen Fowler also imposed an extended period of 24 months on licence after it emerged the 36-year-old had been deemed a dangerous offender.

Landlord

The court heard Stewart had a, “relevant and extensive criminal record for targeting individuals with whom he has taken umbrage”. This included attacks and threats against his landlord after he was evicted, former employers, a probation officer and the police.

His most recent victim had started working in a call centre where Stewart was also employed. After she rebuffed him, he made threats against her, told her he was going to rape her, slit her throat and throw acid in her face.

Stewart appeared for sentencing at Belfast Crown Court (pictured) via video-link, which heard he had breached a ten-year restraining order issued to protect the former work colleague within an hour of it being imposed; after his initial court hearing, he invaded her personal space and shouted at her outside court.

Judge Fowler noted that Stewart’s criminal record consisted of similar offences, highlighting his lack of victim awareness, lack of remorse and mental health issues.

He told Stewart: “You are intelligent but you are calculating. Your behaviour caused significant psychological distress to the victim.”

Read more about tenants to turn violent against landlords.

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A tiny flame to a raging 800 Celsius inferno in less than three minutes!

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A recent incident in my own HMO with fan heaters plugged in but hidden behind bedding making the place an absolute death trap made me realise just how little tenants (and indeed most landlords) understand about fire safety.

Most tenants

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BREAKING: NRLA report into ‘unaccountable’ Rent Smart Wales reveals range of failings

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Landlords have slammed the registration and licensing authority that regulates the private rented sector in Wales, taking the organisation to task for a range of failings.

Rent Smart Wales was set up five years ago and requires all landlords with properties within Wales to register and apply for a licence to operate or face a range of penalties from a £150 fixed fine to a criminal prosecution.

But the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has investigated the organisation as tens of thousands of Welsh landlords prepare to renew their licences this year.

Rent Smart Wales: The Accountability Gap pulls no punches, accusing the organisation of a lack of transparency or oversight and also blaming the Welsh government, which created it, for a lack of strategy.

The report, which will make for difficult reading at the organisation’s Cardiff HQ, also says it is too remote and that it has failed to engage with landlords, tenants or local authorities; is poor value for money and has failed to achieve many of its own objectives.

The NRLA also says Rent Smart Wales prefers chasing bureaucratic compliance to improving standards, and often duplicates the licensing work of local authorities.

Recommendations for improvement include an annual report into the performance of Rent Smart Wales, that decision making on political and operational grounds should be separated and that its role should be integrated into a wider PRS strategy for Wales.

The NRLA representative in Wales, Calum Davies, says: “We believe there has been insufficient scrutiny of RSW – an incredibly powerful body considering how much regulatory and prosecutorial power it wields – and felt a duty to fill that evidence gap.

“What is clear from that research was a lack of transparency as to how decision-making within the organisation is conducted and who is politically accountable for decisions that affect over hundreds of thousands across Wales.”

LandlordZONE has contacted Rent Smart Wales for comment.

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Wales follows England’s lead with own evictions ban extension

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The Welsh government has followed England’s lead and announced its own evictions ban extension which, like England’s, was due to run out on Monday.

But the Welsh government has gone further, revealing that its extension will last until 31^st March, housing minister Julie James (pictured, above) has confirmed.

This means until then bailiffs will not be able to execute court orders for both private and social housing tenants, except in cases of anti-social behaviour or domestic violence.

“This is an extremely difficult time for many people and renters should not be forced out of their homes, at a time when we are asking people to stay at home and when they will have less access to advice, support and alternative accommodation,” says James.

Pay the rent

But the minister has sided with landlords to a degree, underlining that the eviction ban extension should not be construed as “an excuse for people not to pay their rent if they are able to, and address any financial problems they are experiencing”, she said.

“Having an early conversation with landlords to work out a way forward is vital, as is getting the right debt advice.”

The extension of the notice period for evictions to six months in Wales will also remain in place until 31^st March 2021. Both regulations will be kept under review and the suspension of evictions will be subject to a confirmatory vote in the Senedd.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: “The pandemic has hit renters and landlords hard and we share the Welsh Government’s objective to ensure there is no rise in homelessness and that good tenants stay in their homes.

“Ensuring tenants have the financial support to stay in their homes is the best way to prevent repossession. However, in addition to antisocial behaviour, landlords must be able to take action against those with extreme arrears, especially those that predate Covid, and particularly where tenants are not availing themselves of the financial support available, or do not meet the criteria.”

Timothy Douglas, Policy & Campaigns Manager for Propertymark, says: “We remain concerned about rent arears and increasing household debt and landlords must not be left carrying an impossible financial burden,” says

“We will continue to work with the Welsh Government to ensure that the Tenant Saver Loan scheme is used wherever appropriate.”

©1999 – Present | Parkmatic Publications Ltd. All rights reserved | LandlordZONE® – Wales follows England’s lead with own evictions ban extension | LandlordZONE.

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