No DSS, No DWP, No Benefits - Updated Guidance for Lettings Professionals
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now clarified advice the CMA’s guidance for lettings professionals on consumer protection law. How did we get here? Shelter started their campaign "Stop DSS Discrimination" in 2018, which lead to examining blanket adverts that stated "No DSS", “considered” by Shelter to be discriminatory. The campaign lead to the property portals restricting the use of the phrase "No DSS" and some major lenders removing the restriction within their mortgage agreements. The CMA has now updated guidance in relation to the way in which properties to be let are advised and what can or cannot be said within the advert.
What’s the Point of Being Qualified?
Most of the blogs on our site are written in the third person with no specific personal reference in mind. This blog is different as it comes from a place where personal experience and a background in education is brought to the fore. Training/teaching the delivery of - is as a natural as breathing for me. It’s been part of my adult life for a little over 30 years. From being a newly qualified teacher working with 11 to 18 year olds in a secondary school to leaving the profession as a Head of Sixth Form and the challenging transition into the private rented sector, my place of Zen has always been the classroom. Creating a safe, comfortable and fun environment for people to learn in, interact and want to come back to, is really not like hard work.
Back to School means Back to Work
This week saw the start of a new school term for many children across the UK - some will be new to school life, some will move to a bigger establishment, some will move into a different year group. There will be excitement, trepidation, nerves, tears - feelings not just experienced by the children but by parents too. Six weeks of summer holidays have disappeared which means for most parents a new autumn routine which includes, of course, back to work.
The Importance of Words and How We Use Them
We communicate in a variety of different ways - words, actions, signs, silence, body language, - all communication is important to us. Yet it appears to be the spoken and written word that is crucial across so many cultures, the emphasis of both is so much more powerful, especially with the advent of the digital age. Whether through a video message or twitter feed, words can create havoc, despair, dialogue, laughter and start trends. Even though the old adage states that actions are stronger than words, “The pen and the written word wield a great deal of power.”