100 Days on - What next in the Lettings Industry?

Letting Agents & Property Managers have navigated this pandemic sailing through unchartered territory.  Planning, putting new procedures in place to enable WFH, redistributing workloads, and then moving back through a phased approach to the office environment has been challenging to say the least.

What happens next?

1. Tenants are legally bound to pay rent, so at this three month point, it is important to review the status of those deferred payments/agreed rent reductions. Remember, post WWII Central London Property Trust Ltd v High Trees House Ltd [1947] - the agreement to delay rent payments was NOT put in writing. Any amendment to the contract MUST be MUTUALLY agreed.

2. Notices periods for Section 21 & 8. There is still no change to this - until further notice landlords MUST also give tenants three months’ notice, instead of two. This does NOT apply to company lets or common law agreements.

3.   The Government has suspended housing repossession (evictions) for a further two months, but what happens then? All court action to evict private and social tenants in England and Wales, as well as repossessions instigated by mortgage lenders, have been suspended until August 23. This includes cases that pre-23rd March 2020 when lockdown began. Needless to say there will be a backlog of existing claims and current claims. This does NOT mean that court proceedings cannot begin. Please note, check whether the local court is receiving hard copy claims by post before making a claim.

4. Landlords whose tenants can’t pay rent because due to Covid-19, can apply to their lender for a mortgage holiday of up to six months. They can apply until October 31.

5. Which repairs should landlords carry out ? Landlords have a legal duty to fix ALL “serious and urgent issues” . This includes a broken boiler that leaves tenants without heating or hot water, a plumbing issue that means they cannot wash or use a lavatory, or a problem with the building fabric, such as a roof leak.

6. Ask the Right questions

   Tenants and tradespeople must all be free from Covid-19 symptoms and try to stay in different rooms. As far as possible, arrange repairs and safety checks while the home is empty between tenancies. The government safety advice recommends a deep clean, while adhering to guidance from Public Health England, or to leave 72 hours between moving.

7. Should safety checks continue?

   Government advice says landlords should “make every effort” to comply with rules requiring engineers to check gas appliances and flues once a year, and, for new lets from July, the electrical installation every five years. Landlords must show all reasonable attempts have been made to do everything in their power to abide by the law.

8. How do right-to-rent checks work? Landlords no longer have to meet new tenants in person to check identity documents for their right to rent in England under the Coronavirus Act. Currently, tenants can send scans or photographs of their documents. Via Skype, Zoom, FaceTime or any other platform, tenants must show the original paperwork for the letting agent to compare the scanned copies. If tenants lack the right documents, use the Home Office’s landlord checking service to find out whether they are allowed to rent without it. When the letting agent is ready, all tenants who moved into properties pre 23rd March 2020, must be Right-to-Rent checked again face-to-face in the office environment.

9. When can property inspections take place? Property inspections are permitted in England, as long as tenants are not vulnerable to the virus or staying at home with symptoms. Ask tenants all relevant questions to ensure that you have as much information as possible in order to minimise risk. The Government produced a guide for those who have to carry out work in other people’s homes. This applies to many practitioners who work in housing who carry out a range of activities that include valuations, viewings, inventories, and check-ins and check outs, along with Interim Property Inspections. As letting agents move back into the office environment many of the “tasks” which were performed day to day away from the office are now being re-introduced.