With new legislation being introduced over the next few weeks we felt it was important to feature related articles in this edition to assist our landlord readers with the coming changes. Additionally, Mark Alexander shares an onion based refurb tip and adds an amusing video link to his Landlord’s Log.
Continue reading Property118 Landlords Newsletter – Issue 97
Landlords and letting agents must comply with a streamlined energy performance certificate scheme from April.
The government has given the green light to the new rules that bring EPC requirements for selling and letting residential and commercial property into line. Continue reading Property people get ready for new EPC rules
Void periods are an occupational hazard of letting property and something that the vast majority of landlords will experience at some point. The key to a successful void is to keep it as short as possible. Currently there is an environment of strong rental demand but this does not mean that landlords should be complacent. There are various ways for you to minimise the dreaded void period and I will illustrate this by going through a typical lifecycle of a tenancy.
Continue reading Avoiding the Void
A snapshot of landlords and letting has just been released by the Department of Communities and Local Government following a survey of property investors.
The aim is to profile landlords how they buy, let, manage buy to let and shared homes, sometimes called houses in multiple occupation (HMO). Continue reading Do You Fit the Private Landlord Profile?
The Green Deal has become law – and landlords must comply with the new energy efficiency measures or risk a ban on letting property.
The Energy Act lays out framework for the government to issue eco-friendly regulations aimed at making homes and commercial buildings warmer and cheaper to run.
Buy to let landlords must comply with the standards from April 1, 2018, and hand over the proof to tenants as an energy performance certificate (EPC).
If a home fails to meet the minimum standards – an E rating on an EPC – the landlord must not let the property until work is carried out to meet the guidlines. Landlords who let a home that breaches the rules could face a fine of up to £5,000. Continue reading Green Light as Green Deal Becomes Law for Landlords
"A third of landlords ignoring the green calls"
More than a third (35%) of buy to let landlords don’t know or don’t care that their rental homes fail to meet minimum energy performance standards.
Around another 17% of landlords suspect their letting properties would not meet the basic standards expected by the government’s new Green Deal.
From 2018, buy to let homes that fail to score more than the minimum will be banned from letting until remedial works are carried out.
Meanwhile, the Green Deal will make funding available for energy efficiency improvements from next year. Continue reading Landlords Not Switched on to Energy Efficiency
"More on the Green Deal for landlords"
Landlords who carry out work to upgrade buy to let properties under the Green Deal could be paying out up to £1,000 in ‘referral’ fees wrapped up in the price of the work.
The National EPC Company has recruited James Dodd as regional development director with a brief to encourage letting agents to earn commission from tipping the company’s One Green Deal division about landlords requiring work highlighted in energy performance certificates.
Referral fees reportedly range from £100 to £1,000, depending on the work carried out, according to letting agent and estate agent trade news provider The Negotiator.
The service is aimed at working with landlords and home owners to improve their energy performance rating by financing the work through grants offered under the government’s Green Deal.
The Green Deal is the government’s energy saving strategy to make homes warmer and cheaper to run, starting in 2012.
The plan offers landlords and homeowners up to £10,000 to pay for energy related upgrades. The money is paid as a grant repaid over a number of years through savings on energy bills, providing the estimated savings directly related to the work come to more than the cost.
“The Green Deal will be the biggest home improvement programme since the Second World War shifting our outdated draughty homes from the past into the future, so it is vital people can trust it. I have heard too many cases of shoddy workmanship or dodgy technology from Government schemes in the past so from day one there will be strict rules about standards,” Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has said.
Dodd told The Negotiator: “A lot of people are focused on delivering solar panels because of the big margins, but that’s not our approach. We’ll look at the opportunities, which our guys have been trained to recognise.”
New EPC laws postponed
Upcoming changes to energy performance certificate rules for landlords have been put on hold because they have failed to clear the required regulatory hurdles on time.
The new rules were due to tighten controls on landlords and letting agents from July 1. Continue reading New EPC laws postponed after legal time-out
18 new eco-homes are to be completed by July in Kettering
The first few from a series of eco-friendly homes have been unveiled in Kettering after being commissioned by LHA-ASRA. The eight homes are the first of 18 being built on unused allotment land provided by the Kettering Borough Council to be completed.
The two and three bedroom houses meet Level Five of the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes due to the many uses of eco-technology from photovoltaic solar panels to simple good insulation. Continue reading New eco homes open a view to the future?
Householders can scoop their own Olympic gold by renting out rooms tax-free to visitors to the 2012 London games. Continue reading Go for Olympic gold by letting out rooms tax-free
