Shelter and Yougov’s survey of 1000 private landlords back in February 2016* highlights why there is so much concern now around rogue landlords in the press.  The survey shows that 21%...

Shelter and Yougov’s survey of 1000 private landlords back in February 2016* highlights why there is so much concern now around rogue landlords in the press.

The survey shows that 21% of landlords struggle to keep their properties in good repair and that a staggering 38% didn’t know if they were complying with the EPC regulations. Worryingly, 8% of landlords surveyed did not comply with gas safety regulations and 5% didn’t always protect their tenant’s deposit and 23% were not confident that they were paying the right amount of tax.

Apply those figures to the estimated 2 million private landlords in the UK and there could well be 160,000 households with an unchecked gas boiler operating in their homes and 100,000 deposits that probably aren’t registered.

If these landlords are unaware of the important basic safety legislation above, it seems unlikely that they will be aware of the rules around when they can access a tenanted property, how they legally chase rent arrears (without harassment) and what they need to do to satisfy the government’s Right to Rent legislation.

Many breaches of legislation will bring about fines and in some more severe cases prison sentences for landlords (and agents)

Since I joined Robinson Reade in 2006, the residential lettings industry has become almost unrecognisable due to the changes in laws and regulations. There are now over 150 pieces of legislation affecting the private rental sector (breaches of which will bring about fines and in more severe cases even prison sentences for landlords and agents). It’s our job to keep up to speed with all those changes to ensure our landlords are kept well informed.

We regularly attend conferences and industry workshops to keep our knowledge updated. This is an investment of time and money which ultimately pays dividends for our clients and safeguards them against falling foul of new changes to laws and regulations and ending up on the rogue landlord’s database!

If you are interested in finding out more about our residential lettings service (yes, we are regulated!) then please give me a call on 01489 579009 or email me at emma@robinsonreade.co.uk

Emma in a circle

PS: If you are looking for a ‘smart let’ (http://www.robinsonreade.co.uk/quick-let-or-smart-let/) call us today on 01489 579009 or email us at lettings@robinsonreade.co.uk for honest, expert and friendly advice.

*Read the full Shelter research report here:-

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_and_research/policy_library/policy_library_folder/research_report_survey_of_private_landlords