April Fool's Day - Deadline for Key Legislative Change
1st April is a day for Fools, a day of practical jokes and hoaxes. April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.
Of late it appears that the Government feel this day is significant and has bought Legislation into force on the 1st April, no pun intended we hope.
Client Money Protection (CMP)
The Housing and Planning Act 2016 introduced powers allowing the Government to bring in legislation making membership of an approved or designated CMP scheme mandatory and in 2018, the Government announced regulations that would require all letting agents in England to belong to an approved CMP scheme by 1 April 2019. The deadline for the regulations was then extended to 1st April 2021.
What does this mean?
By 1st April 2021, all Letting Agents in England must be able to prove they have CMP in place. The approved providers of CMP have been in place for almost 2 years and therefore, there should be no surprise that this is a mandatory requirement. It is also important to remember, regardless of whether working from home or not, that the transparency rules relating CMP must also be adhered to.
The Importance of Privacy
What is privacy?
Privacy is the right to protect one’s own information from others or personal history from others. After 12 months of living our lives online, privacy is more important than ever.
Every time we sign up for online services such as emails, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms, we are putting a snapshot of our lives and personal information online for the world to see. This is why it is essential to have the right to have your information kept securely when signing up to these platforms, otherwise this kind of security, everyone would have access to your life.
The Data Protection Act of 2018 establishes strict rules, data protection principles, that have to be followed. For example, that data is used fairly, lawfully and transparently. Furthermore, this enables people to have the rights to be:
· Informed how data is being used
· How personal data is being access
· How the data is erased
· How to stop or restrict the processing of your data etc.
The Importance of Law - an 18 Year Old’s Bird’s Eye View
It is clear to everyone how important the Law is throughout our the whole of our lives, however, when you are young you don’t realise how just much it really does impact your life. Turning 18 is a pivotal point in your life you gain so much freedom but along with that freedom comes responsibility.
When you’re a teenager who is restricted because your Mum or Dad say ‘No, you can’t go there or you can’t do that, until you’re 18’. We question, we challenge and often we don’t really understand why we are so limited.
And then you turn 18 and everything changes because so many doors that open - the freedom to go out late (or not - consider Lockdown), buy alcohol, get a tattoo, without that restriction from your parents.
Great! Freedom, but on the other hand, you are now classified as an adult in the eyes of the Law and therefore, now responsible for your own actions. This means acting appropriately and responsibly, there are expectations as you can no longer say that you are a child. You have to be accountable for yourself and even sometimes others.
Guidance to Understanding the Possession Action Process - Coronavirus Act 2021
The impact of the Pandemic has been devastating for so many different sectors of society including the rental market, both private and social. Little under a year ago, the Government made changes to the notices periods required for the service of the 2 most important notices used in housing along with significant amendments to possessions proceedings, in particular, delaying evictions throughout the most of 2020 and into 2021.
As the country looks towards relaxing Lockdown restrictions, the Government has published a new guide for landlords and tenants in England and Wales and is focused on landlords letting to tenants on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or an Assured Tenancy.
The guide will help you to understand what rights and responsibilities of the landlord when needing to use the courts to take possession of a rental property.
Before taking steps to recover possession of a rental property, the landlord or letting agent should consider discussing any underlying problems with the tenant, either directly or through a mediation service, and try to resolve these without recourse to court action.