News

• Jun 14

  New HMO Licensing Regs

  The Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (Prescribed Description) (England) Order 2018 amends the description of which propertiesfall within Mandatory Licensing. The previous rule was where five or morepeople from two or more households in a building with three or more storeys.

  The new rules basically leave the people andhouseholds unchanged but require houses in multiple occupation on any number offloors to be licensed. There is an exclusion that if the property is in apurpose built block of flats of three or more flats, then it is not covered bythe requirement to be licensed under Mandatory Licensing.

  This means that if you have five people from two ormore households in a two storey house, this will now fall into mandatorylicensing.

  Transitional provisions clarify that if the property isalready licensed under additional licensing, this licence will continue tillexpiry and the property will not need to re-license

• May 01

  Licensing of agents

  In October 2017 there was a 6 week call for evidence about regulating all agents. On the 1st April 2018 MHCLG release a press release explaining what they see as the way forward.
  
  This will involve an independent regulator and a standard code of practice for letting and managing agents. Letting agents will have to achieve a recognised  national qualification, presumably all staff as it goes on to say "with at least one person in every organisation required to have a higher qualification". Linked to this will be a requirement for all agents to undertake continuing professional development (a certain amount of training annually) in order to continue to practice.
  
  A working group will be looking at the proposals with final recommendations expected in early 2019.
  
  MHCLG have also published the response to the consultation on client money protection with legislation to be brought forward to require membership of schemes and define sanctions (£30,000 civil penalty)

• Apr 03

  Energy Efficiency Consultation

  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy launched a consultation on the 19th December 2017 about modifying The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015.
  
  Current legislation, as confirmed in the recent 97 page guidance issued, requires that all energy improvements must be at no cost to the landlord. If improvements cannot be achieved at no cost to the landlord then the landlord can register the band F or G property on an exemptions register and for 5 years they are then OK to be letting the property. This will probably be the biggest single reason properties will be registered on the exemption register. However, it will also mean a lot of energy inefficient properties continue to be let and continue to be producing more carbon emissions than necessary. This consultation suggests that they may change the rules, possibly at some time during 2018, and require a landlord to spend an amount of money, up to a cap, in order to improve the energy efficiency. Only having spent this money would the property be allowed on the exemption register for further improvements not being available at no cost to the landlord.
  
  This is quite a significant change and could certainly costs landlords with a significant portfolio in bands F or G, a lot of money. Original proposals had been to cap the spend at £5,000 but this has now been reduced to £2,500, though the amount of the cap is one of the points in the consultation.
  
  Data from the 2014 English Housing Survey showed that here are an estimated 280,000 private rented properties in bands F or G. It should be remembers (and this is restated in the consultation) that the plan is to make all private rented properties a minimum of Band C by 2030.
  
  The consultation can be found https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/669198/PRS_Minimum_Standards_Consultation_2017.pdf.
  
  Responses have to be in by 13 March 2018 with any changes not expected to be in force till April 2019.

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