Posts with tag: landlord responsibilties

Better Regulation for Airbnb-Style Landlords Required, say MPs

Published On: July 17, 2018 at 9:30 am

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Categories: Law News

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With an increase in Airbnb listings than in previous years, MPs are concerned that these platforms or platforms that are similar may be posing risks to holidaymakers.

Due to Airbnb landlords and homeowners not adhering to the standard regulations that hotels and B&B’s comply with, including fire safety checks in addition to other checks, this has created some anxiety among MPs. Their main concern is the lack of control in the short-term rental sector which allows for dishonest businesses to pose as private owners.

According to a recent report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tourism, Leisure and the Hospitality Industry, there is evidence that reveals a number of businesses are using holiday rental platforms to rent out properties due to the fact that they do not enforce checks.

Moreover, it has been brought to attention by Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Gordon Marsden that thousands of Airbnb properties are listed in the UK and that despite this, local authorities and fire brigades are oblivious to the locations of these properties.

Blackpool South MP commented: “There is an image that this is a lot of happy, jolly people with a spare room trying to make some pin money.

“That’s true, but it’s also true that there seems to be systematic attempts to do block-booking in blocks of flats. That’s problematic.

“They have their hands on a number of different properties and many of those are often in large tower blocks.

“That suggests that sharing-economy platforms are increasingly being used to develop tourism accommodation businesses rather than simply renting a room on an ad hoc basis.

“Sadly, issues like the Grenfell inquiry have shone a strong light on what the potential perils in large blocks might be, in terms of safety and security, and particularly not knowing who’s in there.”

In other news, despite this concern over Airbnb’s, Dragon Tej Lalvani from Dragon’s Den on BBC Two and Chief Executive of vitamins business, Vitabiotics has recently acquired a stake in the London-based Airbnb property management firm, Air Agents.

This new funding will reportedly enable Londoners Mark Hudson and Fran Milson, who set up Air Agents, to expand considerably on the six-hundred and fifty homes on their books.

Lalvani commented: “I am thrilled to be involved in a project as exciting as Air Agents. The business model is exceptionally clever to support a company like Airbnb during its boom, and I see only great things for the future of the brand.”

Free Online Maintenance and Repair Reporting Tool for Tenants Launches

Published On: October 20, 2016 at 9:29 am

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Categories: Landlord News

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The National Landlords Code of Excellence Ltd (NLCE) has launched a free online maintenance and repair reporting tool for private tenants in a bid to tackle the age-old problem of maintenance/repair issues between landlords and tenants.

Maintenance in private rental properties is one of the most complex issues to define, particularly for tenants, and is one of the main causes of deposit disputes at the end of a tenancy. Research from deposit protection scheme My Deposits shows that while only 2% of disputes require a formal resolution service, property maintenance accounts for 42% of these cases.

The law

Furthermore, for new tenancies that start on or after 1st October 2015, the Deregulation Act 2015 rules that:

  • Letting agents and tenants must put repair requests and resulting actions in writing.
  • Repair requests do not need to be written in English.
Free Online Maintenance and Repair Reporting Tool for Tenants Launches

Free Online Maintenance and Repair Reporting Tool for Tenants Launches

These new measures were created to protect tenants from eviction when they raise a complaint about the condition of their home, called revenge or retaliatory evictions. Therefore, if a landlord or their letting agent fails to follow the correct procedure for managing repairs under this latest legislation, they could face penalties as well as being unable to evict tenants in the future.

Although the new legislation does not specifically mention what “in writing” constitutes, the courts are increasingly encouraging service of documents by electronic means.

With all of this in mind, the NLCE created its property maintenance and repair reporting tool for tenants.

In compliance with the law, the reporting tool also provides a translation service, which allows tenants to report an issue to their landlord in over 100 languages.

The NLCE works with councils, landlords and letting agents around the UK to ensure that the legal requirements of a landlord, to repair and maintain their property to housing standards criteria, are met in full.

How does it work?

This free tool allows tenants to notify their landlord of any problems they are having with their property. Once the report has been sent, the landlord cannot claim that they have never received a complaint from the tenant about a specific maintenance/repair issue.

With this facility, the landlord supplies the tenant with a plastic bank card-style NLCE tenancy emergency card, which can be acquired from the NLCE and contains the landlord’s name and contact details. The tenant can then use the information on the card to report problems to the landlord. This also helps landlords comply with their legal responsibility to provide their tenants with their contact details.

If the landlord fails to complete the work within a reasonable timeframe, the tenant can automatically raise the issue to the NLCE to make a formal complaint. This complaint will then be passed simultaneously to the relevant accreditation scheme and local council.

Once the complaint is upheld, the complaint procedure will formally begin. If the accreditation scheme cannot make the landlord conduct the works, the local authority will step in to issue an improvement notice, which forces them to complete the work within a specific timescale.

The primary objective of the maintenance and repair reporting tool is to create a paper trail between the landlord and tenant, to protect both parties in the event of a dispute.

The tool can be accessed here: https://www.landlordreferencing.co.uk/nlceuk/maintenance-issue/

Failure to Comply with Right to Rent will be Criminal Offence from December

Published On: October 5, 2016 at 10:15 am

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Failure to Comply with Right to Rent will be Criminal Offence from December

Failure to Comply with Right to Rent will be Criminal Offence from December

Yesterday, the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, announced at the Conservative Party Conference that failure to comply with the Right to Rent scheme will become a criminal offence from December.

As of 1st February this year, all landlords and letting agents in England have been legally required to conduct immigration status checks on all prospective tenants under the Right to Rent scheme. Those that do not comply with the new law can currently face civil penalties, such as fines of up to £3,000.

However, for many months now, the criminalisation of the Right to Rent scheme has been in discussion in the House of Commons.

Rudd has now confirmed that failure to comply with Right to Rent law will become a criminal offence as of December 2016.

All landlords and letting agents must be aware of their duties, to avoid facing criminal sanctions. The Home Office has compiled information for landlords on how to conduct the immigration checks: /home-office-reinforces-landlord-responsibilities-right-rent/

Reacting to the news, the Managing Director of the Deposit Protection Service, Julian Foster, says: “Although landlords will always want to operate within the law, ever changes in the regulatory environment can mean that many fall foul of legislation without realising it.

“Pressures on landlords can be significant, particularly those who are also in full-time work, so it’s vital that they receive sufficient information and support whenever the rules change.”

He insists: “Anyone letting out property must fully understand regulations that affect them, as well as their obligations as a landlord to both their tenants and the authorities.”

We remind all landlords of their responsibilities under Right to Rent and to stick to the law at all times.

To keep up to date with your obligations as a landlord, remember to check back to Landlord News regularly for daily advice and updates.