Property Specialist recognised in New Year’s Honours List
Kate Faulkner has been recognised for her work with the Home Buying and Selling Group and The Lettings Council and overall for her ‘services to the property industry’. Kate and co founder of the Lettings Council, Theresa Wallace of Savills managed to do something that had been missing in the property sector, the letting sector that is and that is to bring professional bodies, letting agents and suppliers together. The Lettings Council has created a forum and a platform for change that unifies the industry rather divides the sector.
Kate’s response to the honour was “I feel a bit like I’ve been given the award for ‘top goal scorer’ – which you only get thanks to everyone that has supported you and in the HBSG’s case that’s an awful lot of very committed people that have worked tirelessly over the years together.,” she says.
Congratulations Kate, well deserved.
A Technical Consultation & the Renters Reform Bill
On the 7th December 2022, the Government announced there will be a technical consultation on the consequential amendments to homelessness legislation as a result of the Renters Reform Bill, namely, the removal of section 21 evictions, assured shorthold tenancies and fixed-term tenancies.
The consultation will close at 11:45pm on 25 January 2023 and provides anyone with a vested interest to put forward their opinions on the provisions that have set out in the Renters Reform Bill.
For those who remain unaware, the Renters Reform Bill will be the vehicle for the abolition of Section 21 and will signify one of the most notable shifts in Landlord & Tenant Law since 2004.
Whilst there is a great deal of reference being made to tenants being evicted when they are served with a Section 21, the route to being evicted is a lot more complicated than serving notice. The notice advises the tenant that Vacant Possession is required and that should the tenant fail to vacate, court proceedings could begin to obtain possession. Only if the tenant fails to vacate once a court order is in place, will eviction take place. An clearly, on the basis of the notice served, the eviction would be a ‘no fault’ eviction; no grounds would have been relied upon unlike the section 8 notice.
A Guide to Protecting Rental Properties against Snow and Ice
With the onslaught of winter, action is required to keep properties/homes in good working order, especially in these times of the cost of living crisis. Differing extremities of weather can bring the need to adapt general maintenance and upkeep of the dwelling.
Preparation – Having an early ongoing contingency plan in place is far wiser than leaving the whole winter extreme weather to chance. Risks, hazards, and legal claims can be an easily avoided expensive outcome. Ensuring both Landlords and Tenants work together, putting winter protocol briefings in place before the bad weather hits is a surefire way of making it through the cold snap unscathed.
There is no room for complacency. It is prudent for all to take protective measures. Even the most experienced landlords need to be ahead of the game.
Keeping properties safe and functional can be achieved by taking on board some practical guidelines. From the outset, good, clear communication between landlord and tenant is a must. This will cancel out any future awkward, unnecessary and/or uncomfortable accidents, misunderstandings, or claims.
Compliance & It’s importance for your Letting Agency
Compliance features heavily on the list of priorities for the letting agent - with health and safety matters at the forefront of the duties letting agents must deal with. However, compliance must also be taken into consideration when dealing with administrative processes, ranging from AML checks to ensuring who ownership of the property is verified.
The reasons behind having strong systems in place to ensure that a letting agent is compliant are multi-layered and can raise concern if there are gaps in the letting agents processes. For example, the introduction of the Deregulation Act 2015 (1st October 2015), changed not only the section 21 notice template in England (the Form 6A was introduced), the additional documents required to ensure validity of the notice, as well as the period during which the notice could NOT be served, caused confusion and placed great emphasis on the importance of compliance and demonstrating to a very strong audit trail.