Dealing with Power of Attorney, Wills and Probate
The brief of letting agents is wide reaching when dealing with property to be let, property with tenants in situe, and circumstances that change in relation to property owners and tenants. Situations arise that can be challenging, sensitive and require Due Diligence.
Power of Attorney
When a person presents themselves as the Power of Attorney on behalf of a client landlord or tenant, it is important to follow a strict process to ascertain that a Power of Attorney is in fact in place.
Figures show that since 2014/15, the numbers of Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) registered with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) have more than doubled and the reasons for this range from an increased need for protection due to changes in personal circumstance to illness or lack of capacity
Pets in Properties
What does the Renters Reform Bill say about Pets?
The Bill will set in place the opportunity for tenants to request to have a pet within the property.
Landlords must give the request reasonable consideration; this will be on a case-by-case basis. If a landlord refuses, tenants can escalate the matter if they believe that their landlord has been unfair, and tenants will have access to the Landlord Ombudsman as well as the First Tier Tribunal (FTT).
The view of all the animal centric organisations is that this Bill will be revolutionary for tenants who own pets because large numbers of animals are given up to the RSPCA, Dog’s Trust, and Cat Protection every year due to landlords not allowing pets in their properties. For example, the Cat Protection League received 1,300 cats last year, from people who couldn’t keep them due to issues with private rented and social housing.
Renters Reform - What will this mean for the PRS?
A lot of discussion has taken place since June 2022 when the government announced that the PRS would be Levelled Up, but what does that actually mean in practice and how will the Renters Reform Bill impact landlords, tenants and the PRS?
Firstly, one of the key points to consider is to ignore the trade press and national press who lead with headlines and never factor in the detail.
Abolishing Section 21
A lot of emphasis has been placed on ‘no fault Evictions’ when in fact what should actually be referred to is the service of notice to obtain vacant possession’. There is no way of evicting a tenant just by serving a section 21 and to clarify, the eviction process takes a lot longer than a mere two months.
The Section is the first step to a landlord gaining possession but with ‘no reason’ given, therefore the abolition of this notice will mean that the landlord will be required to state ‘grounds’ (reasons) should they wish to regain possession. This would require Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 (1996) to be amended.
Landlords may be given 2028 to reach EPC Rating of C
According to the Daily telegraph last week, the Government are due to announce announce a new deadline for the EPC rating of C to be achieved for all rental properties.
This announcement will be music to the ears of many landlords who will be given additional time to plan for any modifications that are required. It is important to note that whilst the objectives of the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero have been placed high on the Government’s agenda, the impact on landlords has been stressful.
The government originally proposed that all new lets from April 2025 would need to meet a minimum EPC rating of C, and all other tenancies would have to comply by 2028. However, given that many landlords are already struggling to deal with the peace meal approach to legislation as well as the possibility that Section 21 (Form 6A) will be abolished, the reaction is to sell up and call it a day.
Further information to follow once the announcement if made.