100 Days on - What next in the Lettings Industry?
Letting Agents & Property Managers have navigated this pandemic sailing through unchartered territory. Planning, putting new procedures in place to enable WFH, redistributing workloads, and then moving back through a phased approach to the office environment has been challenging to say the least.
What happens next?
-
Tenants are legally bound to pay rent, so at this three month point, it is important to review the status of those deferred payments/agreed rent reductions. Remember, post WWII Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd [1947] - the agreement to delay rent payments was NOT put in writing. Any amendment to the contract MUST be MUTUALLY agreed.
Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield Gas Safety Case - Court of Appeal rules in favour of Landlord
The Court of Appeal has yesterday handed down its judgment in the case of Trecarrell House Limited v Rouncefield. The Court of Appeal Judges ruled that late service of a gas safety certificate does not prevent a landlord from serving a section 21 notice on their tenant provided the certificate has been given to the tenant before service of the section 21 notice. This decision will be welcomed by landlords.
It was due to the Caridon Property v Monty Schooltz, in which HHJ Luba QC concluded that a failure to provide the gas safety certificate to the tenant before occupation was a breach that could not be remedied late. The effect of the judges’ interpretation of the law was that a landlord who had failed to provide the gas safety certificate before the tenant took occupation.
Unlocking Property Management
The great property freeze has lifted, with estate agents now allowed to open back up and property moves given the green light again. But as one of the first industries to reopen, how should letting agents prepare for the next phase of their COVID-19 response?
Staff
The first question many agents will be dealing with is how to unfurlough furloughed staff. There are no hard and fast rules. As agents navigate the new situation, it may be worth considering:
-
The different skill-sets of your staff – which parts of your operation are on the front line may determine which of your staff should be brought back first.
-
Some agents may choose to operate a ‘first-out-first-in’ policy and bringing back those members of staff that have been on furlough the longest.
-
Assessing which of your staff may have children at home with nobody to care for them while schools are closed or those that may be more vulnerable make provisions for remote working where possible.(pregnant women or those with health concerns for example).
Property Inspections - Minimising the Risk when Working in Other People's Homes
On the 10th May 2020, the Government announced that the Housing Market could “go back to work”. The announcement made late on that Monday evening took many people who work as Letting Agents, Estate Agents, Conveyancers, Builders, Developers, Surveyors, Contractors and Engineers by surprise not the last because there was no warning and no prep-time. The next day guidance was published (amended on May 29th) to provide practical advice on how to re-open offices safely. It has taken time, but fast-forward three weeks and many letting agents have taken a “phased approach”to ensure that the necessary protocols have been put in place to minimise risk in relation to Covid-19.
Along with the guidance for offices and call centres, the Government produced a guide for those who have to carry out work in other people’s homes. This applies to many practitioners who work in housing who carry out a range of activities that include valuations, viewings, inventories, check-ins and check outs, along with Interim Property Inspections. As letting agents move back into the office environment many of the “tasks” which were performed day to day away from the office are now being re-introduced.