ARE YOU READY FOR EPC'S?

From the 1st of October 2008, all rental properties with a new tenancy in England and Wales will be required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

Landlords will need to provide an EPC, which will be valid for ten years, to prospective tenants the first time you let or re-let your property after the 1st October 2008. However, you will not need to provide an EPC certificate to tenants that renew their contracts as it is not necessary to supply an EPC to an existing tenant.

What is an Energy Performance Certificate?

The Energy Performance Certificate tells you how efficient and environmentally friendly your property is. The energy efficiency is worked out on a scale of A-G.

  A being the most efficient and G being the least.

Part of the EPC is a recommendation report which will list the potential rating that your home could achieve, if you made changes. The report lists improvements that you could carry out and how this would change the energy and carbon emission rating of the property.

You can use this information to help cut our fuel bills

Improve energy performances in your home.

Help cut carbon emissions 

Who carries out the EPC's

Energy Performance Certificates are carried out by a fully qualified Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs). The assessor will visit your property and assess the age construction and location of all the information that he takes down will be fed into a computer, which will calculate ratings and generate a certificate. Either yourself or your Letting agent can organize this for you. Each property will require an EPC which will last for 10 years.

How do I get one?

Either yourself or your Letting Agent can commission one from an accredited Domestic Assessor (DEA).

TENANCY DEPOSIT PROTECTION SCHEME

We would like to inform all our Landlords that a confirmed date for the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme has been issued for 6 th April 2007 

This will mean that every private landlord in England and Wales letting private residential property will by law required to join one of three government-authorized tenancy deposit protection schemes if

The start date of the tenancy is after 6 April (tenancies already in being will not be affect by the legislation) and

The tenancy is let under an Assured Short Term tenancy agreement.  

They take a deposit

As we do not hold deposit we would advise our Landlords to look into the schemes that are on offer.

The three schemes are:

The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) - the only custodial deposit protection scheme – is free to use and open to all Landlords and Letting Agents. The service is funded entirely from the interest earned from deposits held. Landlords and Letting Agents will be able to register and make transactions online. Paper forms will also be available should internet access be an issue. The scheme will be supported by a dedicated call centre and an independent dispute resolution service.  For more information, visit www.depositprotection.com or call 0870 707 1 707

Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd (TDSL) is a partnership between the National Landlords Association and Hamilton Fraser Insurance. This insurance-based tenancy deposit protection scheme enables landlords to hold deposits this is directed primarily to landlords. The fee for joining this scheme is £58.75 joining fee and £30.00 per deposit protected by the deposit protection scheme and an annual membership renewal fee of £14.70. For more information, visit www.mydeposits.co.uk  0871 703 0552

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is an insurance-backed deposit protection and dispute resolution scheme run by The Dispute Service that builds on a scheme established in 2003 to provide dispute resolution and complaints handling for the lettings industry. The new scheme enables letting agents and landlords to hold their deposits.

The fee for joining this scheme is £95 per tenancy for unaffiliated Landlords and £45 for Landlords who are members of a landlord trade association. For more information, visit www.tds.gb.com or call 0845 226 7837.

If a deposit is not protected , the landlord will be breaking the law. S/he will be unable to regain possession of the property using notice-only grounds for possession under the Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. The tenant can apply for a court order requiring the deposits to be protected, or for the prescribed information to be given to them. If the court is satisfied that the landlord has failed to comply with these requirements, or is not satisfied that the deposit is being held in accordance with an authorized scheme, the court must either:

Order the landlord to repay the deposit within 14 days of the issuing of the court order, or

Order the landlord to pay the deposit into the designated account held by the custodial scheme administrator.

The court must also order the landlord to pay to the tenant (or person who paid the deposit on his / her behalf) an amount equivalent to three times the deposit amount within 14 days of the making of the order.

We strongly advise you to take a look at all the schemes so you will be prepared for the 6 th April 2007.

The government is introducing a provision in the Housing Act 2004, whereby it will be a requirement that all landlords/agents that wish to take a monetary deposit will need to place the deposit into a Tenancy Deposit Scheme this scheme is intended to be introduced later this year. The tenancy deposit scheme is described in sections 212 to 215 and schedule 10 within the Housing Act 2004.

WHY?

It is being introduced to safeguard tenants' deposits which are paid in connection with Assured Shorthold Tenancies against unscrupulous landlords and agents who withhold the deposits with no justified reason, it shall also help to facilitate with resolving disputes with an independent adjudicator.

How does it work?

There will be two schemes on offer a Custodial Scheme and an Insurance based scheme.

Custodial Scheme —in this scheme the deposit is forwarded to a designated third party. It is then held by this party throughout the tenancy until the termination of the tenancy and is returned when all parties are happy with the appropriation of the deposit.

Insurance Scheme —this is whereby the landlord or the agent holds onto the deposit but the landlord or agent is involved in a scheme that ensures that should the landlord withhold the deposit then the scheme shall pay out.

HMO Licensing

What are the changes?

Licensing will be broken up into 2 sections; mandatory licensing, additional licensing and selective area licensing which could be introduced by the LHA.

Mandatory Licenses — On the 6th April this year all properties that are more than 3 stories high, this does include basements and attics, which are occupied by 5 or more tenants where 2 or more tenants are unrelated will be a HMO and require mandatory licensing.

Discretionary Licenses —The legislation will allow LHA's to extend the definition of an HMO if they so wish, to any property with 2 or more unrelated tenants.

As the LHA can introduce additional licensing schemes and selective area licensing schemes landlords will need to ensure that they keep up to date with the actions of their LHA.

What are the license requirements?

All licenses will have provisions for anti-social behaviour by tenants which will ultimately be the responsibility of the landlords.

In addition to this the license will specify how many tenants can reside at the property and the minimum facilities required including the number of toilets, baths, showers and kitchens etc. for the number of tenants and the property needs to fulfill the safety requirements.

What happens if the property does not meet the standards?

If the property fails to meet the minimum standards required then the LHA may:

· Grant a license subject to a provision being made about ensuring that extra facilities are supplied within a certain period.

· Grant a license for a smaller number of occupants.

· Refuse to grant a license until the standards have been met.

Are there any fees and how long does a license last?

Yes there will be a fee. The fees vary between LHA's as it is up to them to set the fees. They currently vary between £300 to £500 however it has been stated that one is quoting £1100. These licenses will be valid for five years however it may be possible to get a shorter license.

When will this take affect?

Mandatory licensing will take affect on the 6th April 2006   however 3 months grace is being applied to ensure that Landlords have sufficient time to register and apply for a license.

Are there any penalties?

It will be a criminal offence to operate an HMO without a license and will be subject to a fine of up to £20,000 . The tenants within your property may also apply for a rent repayment order whereby the tenant can apply for the landlord to repay all the rent paid whilst the property was run as an HMO without a license, up to a years back payment can be applied for.  Another restriction will be that while a Landlord operates without a license he will be unable to serve a Section 21 to regain the property.

Landlords legal rights and obligations.

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 governs the safety requirements of electrical appliances. As a result Landlords and managing agents have a duty of care to ensure that the electrical appliances that they provide are safe to use. This regulation relates to both new and second hand goods; however, there is no mandatory checking period.

If a fault occurs at a later date and tenants are injured and you are taken to court you will need to provide evidence that you took reasonable steps to ensure that the appliances were safe to use. It is strongly recommended that any second hand appliances that you have are professionally tested and that all your appliances have the relevant CE symbol on them. It would be advisable that you carry out checks on all your appliances and maintain records of when you carried out these checks, you will also need to provide all the instruction booklets for all the appliances and if you are in doubt over the condition of any appliance then get it checked by a qualified electrician.

Should an incident occur and you are found to be guilty you can be charged both with a criminal offence and with Civil offence. The criminal offence carries a maximum fine of £5,000 and/or imprisonment.

(Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998) demands that all Landlords must ensure that any gas appliances within their rental property is inspected and passed annually by a CORGI qualified engineer. Failure to comply with the regulation carries a fine of up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment of six months (or more). The Landlord is responsible for keeping a record of all the Safety checks and provide the Tenants with a copy.

The FURNITURE and FURNISHINGS (FIRE) (SAFETY) REGULATIONS 1988 and the FURNITURE and FURNISHINGS (FIRE) SAFETY) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 1993. Since the 1 st of March 1993 it has been a criminal offence, punishable by a fine and/or a prison term, to let premises with furniture or soft furnishings, which cannot be proven to comply with the above fire safety regulations.

The 1991 Building Regulations require that all properties built since June 1992 must be fitted with mains operated interlinked smoke detectors/alarms on each floor. Such regulations regarding older properties do not exist but we strongly recommend that smoke alarms are fitted in all let properties and are regularly checked to ensure they are in full working order.

Electrical safety and landlords’ legal obligations

The Electrical Safety Council has published the Landlords’ Guide to Electrical Safety, highlighting the fact that landlords do have legal responsibilities. Many landlords are uncertain as to what these actually are, but there are some key points to remember.
There is a distinction so far as electrical safety is concerned between fixed installations such as wiring circuits, switches, sockets, light fittings and circuit boards, and appliances which can be plugged in and are often portable – eg, refrigerators, cookers, kettles and toasters.
With rented residential accommodation, it is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that the electrical installation is safe when the tenancy begins and is in repair and proper working order throughout the tenancy.
The local authority can take action to enforce electrical safety in residential accommodation under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
If a landlord provides any electrical appliances under the tenancy, the Electrical Safety Regulations require the landlord to ensure that the appliances are safe when first supplied. This applies when a tenancy is granted and / or relets.
The Guidance makes recommendations regarding inspections and testing of the electrical installations and appliances.

Part P Building Regulations:

Part P of the Building Regulations requires that most fixed electrical installation work must meet Building Regulation requirements. Thus, the work must either be pre-notified to the local authority or be carried out by a registered electrician under one of the Government approved schemes.
What the Electrical Safety Council now recommends in this latest Guidance for rented accommodation is that period inspections / tests by a qualified electrician is carried out at least every five years or on a change of tenancy. For a HMO property House in Multiple occupation of any kind (including shared houses) there is a statutory requirement to carry out such inspection / test every five years anyway.

The Institute of Electrical Engineers also recommends for residential accommodation that an inspection / test is carried out on a change of occupancy. These are inspections / tests by a qualified electrician.
The Electrical Safety Council Guide says that where a change of tenancy occurs within a short period (for example not more than six months) a full inspection / test may not always be required. However, it is imperative that a landlord’s representative carries out a visual electrical safety inspection prior to re-letting. This should undertake a manual test of any residual current devices. As an alternative to a full test / inspection, the Guide suggests a visual condition report, also carried out by a qualified electrician. However, a visual condition report is only suitable where the installations have been inspected and tested in the last two years and the result was satisfactory or any resulting defects have been rectified.
* The Electrical Safety Council’s Landlords’ Guide to Electrical Safety can be downloaded from www.esc.org.uk