Profile incomplete
11:05 AM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago 31
Text Size
Hello everyone, I’ve just had a reply from Serco regarding their offer to take a properties to be used by the Home Office for asylum seeker use….
I welcome any comments good or bad – what do you think of this? What other questions do you have? Pitfalls?
———————-
Thank you for your enquiry to Serco.
Serco currently operates the Asylum Accommodation Support Contract (AASC) within the North West of England, East of England and Midlands and are looking to expand our portfolio within these areas.
Our business model supports Investors, Landlords and Agents in the drive to return a profitable yield, within a legal and ethical framework which can only benefit both the occupier and landlord.
What we can offer:
A 7-year lease with an FSE 250 company, with an option to renew
Blue Chip Tenants
Day-to-day maintenance and repairs undertaken at no cost to the landlord
Guaranteed Rent (paid monthly by BACS when you hand over the keys)
Monthly property inspections
Council Tax and utilities paid
No void properties
No Management Fees. No Legal fees. No registration fees. No set-up fees
No rent arrears or debt collection
No Call outs payments to contractors
Full HMO Management
Administration of licenses and certification administered by our team of experts
All our properties are managed by in-house Housing and Maintenance Officers, supported by a team of administrators.
Properties must be vacant.
Our demand is for 1, 2 and 3 bedroom family property and 4+ bedroom HMO’s and at present there is no cap on the number we wish to acquire.
Each property offered to Serco is required to go through a due diligence with the Local Authority (LA) and the Local Police, called a Property Post Code Consultation (PCC). This is to ensure the property is fit for purpose and safe. This process takes between 2 days to 2 weeks.
Once the property is approved by the LA, a Property Negotiator will be assigned as your account manager, who will carry out an initial inspection to scope out the property, a work schedule will be drawn up and a letter of intent shared. Once you have the brought the property to the necessary standard the Property Negotiator will revisit and sign off the property and a Lease will be issued.
I have attached a draft copy of the Lease and the property standards as well as some FAQ’s for your perusal.
The key points of the Lease are below.
CERTIFICATION AND LICENCING
• Certification – Serco to undertake. LL to be recharged
• HMO License – Serco to undertake. LL to be recharged
• Selective Licence – Landlord to undertake and fund
BREAK CLAUSE
· Serco must give 2 months’ notice to LL
· LL must give 6 months’ notice to Serco
LANDLORD OBLIGATIONS – IF REQUESTED TO DO SO
Year 4 of Contractual Term and every 3 years thereafter
Floor covering replacement
Full decoration of the Property
Replacement of inventory (the latter being where applicable) in the fourth year of the Contractual Term and every 3 years thereafter
Year 6 of Contractual Term
New kitchen, new bathroom
Replacement windows
Repair/replacement to boundary markers
Year 7 of the Contractual Term
External decorations including gutters; facias, soffits, rendering and doors
BOILER
· Replacement of the boiler following 2 or more repairs over 3 months or a repair bill of more than £500
· replace the boiler if 3 or more repairs to the boiler over a 6 month period and/or expenditure of £500 or above in a rolling 6 month period.
RENT
To be paid by BACs, 2 months in arrears
INSURANCE
LL to insure, insurance policy to note use for Asylum Seekers.
ASSIGNMENT
Serco is permitted to assign to other group companies and to any company taking over the Compass Contract without further consent of the LL;
NOVATION = ALLOWED TO PASS ON LEASE (SIMILAR TO ASSIGNMENT)
Serco is allowed to transfer the Lease to the Home Office or another company nominated by the Home Office (i.e. if Serco’s contract ends, the Lease will continue and we have the choice to pass it on to the HO/new Provider. This is good for Serco and also for LLs, as the lease (their income will continue)
REPAIR & MAINTENANCE (SCHEDULE 1) – SERCO
Serco takes on the repair and maintenance obligations (non-structural). Structural and Latent defects are the responsibility of the Landlord
SCHEDULE OF CONDITION. A photographic record of the property at the start needs to be attached to the Lease.
DSR
Previous Article
Have you been suffering from rent arrears?
Tom Kirkwood
11:52 AM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
The terms and conditions looks ridiculously onerous and heavily weighted in their favour. At present it’s so easy to rent property so I fail to understand why you’d want to enter an agreement where you have contracted obligations as stated above. Personally wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole!
Helen Smitj
11:59 AM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
I advertised a property and was considering approaching Serco, I mentioned it to a senior Environmental Health officer I know, and they said 'don't touch with a barge pole'. A very high percentage of the Secro managed properties that they have had dealings with, have ended up as slum properties and have had issues with overcrowded occupancy and anti social behaviour. I didn't take it any further so I don't have any first hand knowledge of working with them.
Dylan Morris
12:08 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Leaving less properties to rent for British citizens. I’d never deal with Serco on principle it’s just encouraging even more dinghy invaders and an even more acute housing crisis, as if things weren’t bad enough already.
LordOf TheManor
12:17 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Blue Chip Tenants?
REALLY????
Paul Essex
12:35 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
One thing I can't see in that list of clauses - are they actually promising to return a vacant property at the end of the lease. Or can they just walk away leaving you with a big headache?
Dylan Morris
12:38 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Rent paid 2 months in arrears !! And would permission from BTL mortgage lender be given ?
Duncan Horncastle
12:40 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Presumably they must be paying 3 or 4 times the current rentable value for the property to make it worthwhile for the landlord considering these ridiculous one sided conditions. If you have to replace the bathroom and kitchens after 6 years that indicates the quality of the tenants they are providing.
Dylan Morris
12:51 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
1. Replacement of the boiler following 2 or more repairs over 3 months or a repair bill of more than £500
2. Replace the boiler if 3 or more repairs to the boiler over a 6 month period and/or expenditure of £500
The cheeky blighters. So your engineer says repair bill is £510 and instead of having it repaired you’ve got to buy a completely new boiler. And this is likely under the new Part L building regulations to mean new larger radiators and pipe work.
Beaver
13:24 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 04/11/2022 - 12:35
I think that would also be my biggest question. I've rented to a 'corporate' client before. There were additional requirements which I complied with but I found the client OK to deal with. I have no knowledge of Serco as a corporate tenant.
But my biggest question would be, what happens if the occupants' asylum application fails? Does Serco just leave you with a house full of illegal migrants with you having to stump up the cost of dealing with that? Will Serco still commit to paying you as the tenant if they are no longer eligible to receive payments for the failed asylum applicants? Or just they just leave the headache with you?
In truth I would say the same about people from Ukraine, however nice they may be and however sympathetic you might feel to their cause. I don't know anybody who doesn't feel sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause: but what happens if the government decides it's not going to pay any more? Will you be free to ask the occupants to vacate? Or as a landlord will you just be a 'rich person' whose assets are up for grabs?
I haven't checked whether my mortgage company or insurance company would allow this. I'm not sure whether if you had to replace the kitchen and bathroom every six years that you'd make any money on this; the rent would have to be very high indeed. And it looks as though Serco can hand over the lease to 'other group companies' without consulting with the landlord at all. Doubt my lawyer would iike that much.
Old Mrs Landlord
13:30 PM, 4th November 2022, About A year ago
Reply to the comment left by LordOf TheManor at 04/11/2022 - 12:17Yes, that's why they need new floor coverings every four years and new kitchens and bathrooms and replacement windows every six years! But, as mentioned, the bigger headache could be getting your property back afterwards.