Regulation & Law
News articles looking at national legislation and local regulation and the application of law to the residential property industry.
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TPO expels another agent
West London estate agents Bruten & Co Limited has been expelled from membership of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) for a minimum of two years after failing to comply with parts of the Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents and failing to pay an Ombudsman’s award made of £768 to complainants. The decision to expel Bruten & Co, based in Notting Hill, from TPO membership came about following a complaint from prospective tenants who raised concerns about several elements of the firm’s level of service whilst applying to rent a home. The complaint had two parts. The first part, about the attempt to arrange a tenancy, consisted of three elements, two of which were upheld by the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer. The second part, about handling of the prospective tenants’ complaint was also upheld. The tenancy agreement was sent to the prospective tenants with a significant extra term which was not in the offer form they had signed. But Bruten & Co refused either to amend the tenancy agreement or return the deposit and administration fees. The company also failed to clarify for the complainants how the utility bills for the property would be calculated. The agent declined to deal with…
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Tenants should attend inventory check-out
All agents will agree that it is good practice to have a detailed and accurate inventory completed at the start of the tenancy, and again when the tenancy ends, but tenants should be encouraged to attend the check-out in order to avoid potential disputes between both sides of the rental transaction, according to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC). Tenancy deposits are often necessary to protect the landlord in the event of non-payment of rent or loss resulting from the tenant not complying with the terms of the tenancy agreement. Combined with a well prepared inventory, the landlord enjoys a much more risk-free tenancy. But end of tenancy disputes can often arise when the tenant disagrees with the recorded state of the rental property at the end of a tenancy in comparison to its condition when they first arrived, and find that they face having money deducted from their deposit as a consequence. The AIIC believes that the number of potential disagreements between landlords and tenants could be significant reduced if more tenants were present at the inventory check-out. The AIIC’s plea comes in response to data released by the Deposit Protection Service in July, which suggested that almost…
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New law to tackle rogue agents and landlords in Wales
There are just a few weeks now remaining until it becomes compulsory for all landlords and agents in Wales to register with a central licensing authority and obtain a new type of licence, viathe Rent Smart Wales initiative. Under the new law, being introduced this autumn, with a view to improve letting and management standards for people who rent private accommodation in Wales, all landlords and agents will be required to take part in a new registration and licensing scheme, which forms a key part of The Housing (Wales) Act 2014. This new legislation will see Wales become the first country in the UK where managing landlords and agents are obliged toobtain a new type of licence as well as undertake training to ensure they are aware of their rights and responsibilities. The new Rent Smart Wales scheme will replace the existing voluntary Landlord Accreditation Wales initiative, which has been operated by Cardiff Council on behalf of all local authorities in Wales. The aim of the new legislation is ultimately to increase awareness among landlords, tenants and agents of their respective rights and responsibilities, as well as improve standards in the PRS. All private landlords who own a rental home…
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PM to tackle ‘dirty money’ in UK property market
The Prime Minister used a speech in Singapore last week to acknowledge that some homes in the UK have been acquired using “plundered and laundered cash”, but vowed to do more to clampdown on the practice by publishing information on property owned by foreign firms. Cameron (right) said, “My message to fraudsters is: ‘London is not the place to stash your dirty cash.” Official figures show that over 100,000 property titles are registered to overseas companies, with more than 36,000 properties in London owned by offshore firms. In total, in excess of £120 billion of property in England and Wales is owned by offshore companies. “I want Britain to be the most open country in the world for investment. But I want to ensure that all this money is clean money,” the Prime Minister added. “There is no place for dirty money in Britain. Indeed, there should be no place for dirty money anywhere.” Any estate agent found to be involved in money laundering within the UK property market will not be tolerated by any professional body for agents, including the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA). Commenting on last week’s announcement from David Cameron, Mark Hayward (left), Managing Director,…
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Landlords must evict illegal immigrants or face jail
Landlords will face up to five years in prison if they rent properties to illegal immigrants or fail to evict tenants who lose the right to live in England under new measures announced by the Government this week. Landlords, who will be required to check a migrant’s status before agreeing a new tenancy, will also be permitted to terminate rental leases, on occasions without a court order, when asylum requests are rejected. Failure to do so could see landlords face up to five years in prison. The Government’s aim is to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live in the UK, while also clamping down on rogue landlords who provide immigrants with unsafe and often overcrowded accommodation. Greg Clark (left), the Communities Secretary, said: “We are determined to crack down on rogue landlords who make money out of illegal immigration – exploiting vulnerable people and undermining our immigration system. In future, landlords will be required to ensure that the people they rent their properties to are legally entitled to be in the country. We will also require them to meet their basic responsibilities as landlords, cracking down on those who rent out dangerous, dirty and overcrowded properties.” The Association…
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Agent expelled by TPO
After failing to comply with several elements of The Property Ombudsman’s (TPO) Code of Practice for residential letting agents and subsequently failing to pay an Ombudsman’s award made of £1,600 to the complainants, Allen & Crane Estates, a sales and lettings agent based in Burnham near Slough, has been excluded from membership of TPO for a minimum of two years. The decision to expel the firm came about following a complaint from landlords who raised a number of concerns connected with the performance of the agent when they let a property through the company. Various complaints were made by the landlord, all of which were upheld to varying degrees by the Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer. This included the agent allowing tenants to take occupation of the property without the landlords’ knowledge and without evidence of reference checks having been carried out. Additionally, there was also a delay in providing the landlords with a copy of the tenancy agreement. Other issues included the agent’s failure to obtain any security deposit or a valid guarantor agreement, failure to provide regular and clear statements of account following rent being paid in irregular instalments and finally their inability to demonstrate that they had inspected the…
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Zero carbon homes plan scrapped
The Government will no longer be introducing requirements for zero carbon homes in 2016 and zero carbon non-domestic buildings in 2019, the Treasury announced last week, as part of plans to boost UK productivity, including the supply of new build homes being delivered. The zero carbon homes policy was first announced in 2006 by the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, making Britain was the first country to make such a commitment. The move would have ensured that all new residential properties from next year would generate as much energy on-site – through renewable sources, such as wind or solar power – as they would use in heating, hot water, lighting and ventilation. The Government’s decision to scrap plans to make all new UK homes carbon neutral has been welcomed by the Home Builders Federation (HBF). “Maintaining the current energy efficiency requirements for new homes is a sensible move by Government,” said Stewart Baseley (left), Executive Chairman of the HBF. “The UK is already building some of the most energy efficient homes in the world under the current, already exacting standards, that have been developed with the full support of the industry and considerable progress is being made to deliver ever higher…
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Housing industry welcomes Chancellor’s planning shake-up
The Government has released proposals to tackle the UK planning system with a view to speeding up house building as part of its Productivity Plan. The Chancellor George Osborne last week said that the Government is changing the country’s planning laws to make it easier for house builders to develop more residential properties. Under the new plan, planning consent would be granted automatically on suitable disused industrial land, limiting delays to development, under the reforms, while a higher number of brownfield plots could also be seized for development through new compulsory purchase powers. What’s more, major infrastructure projects that feature new homes will be fast-tracked to meet local housing demands. “Britain has been incapable of building enough homes,” said George Osborne. “The reforms we made to the planning system in the last parliament have started to improve the situation: planning permissions and housing starts are at a seven-year high.” “But we need to go further and I am not prepared to stand by when people who want to get on the housing ladder can’t do so,” he added. The Chancellor’s planning changes were described as a “major step towards solving the housing crisis” by Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the…
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Righting the wrongs
When a vendor was recently advised by the estate agent to reduce his asking price and complete additional works on the property, it seemed like sound advice to speed up the sale of his property, especially as the house went under offer just a few days later. But when it materialised that the buyer was actually a member of staff at the estate agency, the seller issued a complaint to the Ombudsman Services on the grounds that the company had failed to disclose this conflict of interest, which may have influenced the negotiation. “In the small number of cases where people have complaints these should be addressed quickly and effectively.” Brandon Lewis, Minsiter for Housing & Planning The estate agent maintained that it sold the property to the highest bidder. It also stated that the complainant was aware of the conflict in interest. However, upon investigation, the Ombudsman Services could find no evidence to show that the conflict of interest was disclosed to the complainant (the vendor) in writing, which is a legal requirement, in accordance with the Estate Agents Act. Following its failure to follow the rules, Ombudsman Services ordered the company to reduce their commission for selling the…
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Tenancy deposit deadline day
Letting agents and property managers are being encouraged to urge landlords to check that their tenants’ deposits have been stored in a Government-protected scheme by the close of play today (Tuesday 23rd June) or they could be liable to pay the occupants of their property compensation. The deadline, which was imposed as part of the Deregulation Act, will impact on landlords who have existing tenancies that commenced before Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) was introduced in England and Wales in April 2007. Landlords and agents who still hold a deposit on a tenancy that started prior to 6th April 2007 and then rolled into a Statutory Periodic Tenancy (SPT) on or after that date must protect the deposit and serve the prescribed information by today to prevent being fined. For deposits taken before the 6thApril 2007 and where the tenancy became periodic prior to this date, landlords and agents are not required to protect the deposit however, they will not be able to serve a section 21 notice to regain possession of the property unless the deposit is protected with a tenancy deposit scheme. This new legislation is viewed upon as “another positive step towards raising standards in the professional lettings…
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