By Steve Roulstone
As a Letting Agent I looked at three houses yesterday, all at the invite of the Landlord and all for evaluation. Three Landlords who were all asking for my opinion on the readiness and valuation of their property in the current market place, and all three were due differing responses for varying reasons but the issue that stood out was that the message about legislation and property readiness is still not getting out there and we still need to preach to either the unconverted or the unknowing.
House of Mulitple Occupation.
The first was a terraced property which had been lovingly restored by the owners. The Gentleman had made a really good job of renovating the property and had managed to change a property so much that it no longer felt like a traditional terraced house, even though it was. The issue for this Landlord was whether the property would take three or four Tenants as a room let. What came as a surprise to him were the requirements for a House of Multiple Occupation that he had to adhere to, because even though he had been carrying out the work for several years, he was not aware of what was needed. He will now speak to the Council, because even though the property did not need a License, the regulations surrounding safety, once more than two family groups occupy the home, remain the same. He will then be able to decide between renting per room, or renting to a Family.
Property in fit condition.
The second was a house that had been purchased cheaply and the new owner, having started some work, was looking for advice as to a valuation. Unfortunately, I had to confirm that in my opinion it needed far more money spending on it before it was even fit for purpose. This concerned a new RCD fuse board, new carpets, all of which were badly fitted, new decoration, all of which was multi prime colours, repair and make good to several areas such as stair rails, chipped tiling, poor flooring and a general electric check because of the obvious additional wiring installation that had been added to the original for what looked like several years. Not forgetting what looked like unvented wall mounted gas heaters and we had a property which was far from fit for purpose.
Unwanted information?
I certainly felt that the Landlord did not feel the property was far from ready once he had completed the new bathroom, and my sincere hope is that some other agency does not take the property on without the work being carried out, but such calls do become one of the hardest things we have to do as Agents. Hopefully my message set around my central point that with such choice of quality housing about, why should a property in this condition be rented out in competition with the rest of the market was understood. The worry is why both of the properties above should get to the stage of what we saw yesterday without knowing what was needed before this stage?
Good advice.
Perhaps it is that people do not really want to hear? But this is not the case with the first Landlord, because we have already looked after two of their houses and they are good Landlords, so it is a fact that the legislation message has not got through, which is doubly compounded, when we heard of just how much time the Landlord had spent negotiating with the local council over matters surrounding access to the property over the last three years? There is a lesson to be learnt here, even for us as Agents, for whilst we knew the Landlord owned the property and was carrying out renovation, we were not aware of its intended use until yesterday and I definitely feel we should have had a conversation prior to the properties completion. As Tenant Find Landlords, we have assumed they knew and the lesson is clear for us to see, enquire ask and speak at every opportunity and what came as a surprise could have been avoided.
Third time lucky.
The third visit came as an absolute pleasure, here was a Landlord who had moved back in too his home, between Tenants whilst he bought a new house for himself having sold his last house before buying again. In the meantime, he had taken the opportunity to refurbish the house again, fitting new carpets, re-decorating and fitting a new Bathroom. Every task he got spot on, using clean fresh schemes with neutral colours, taking the opportunity to tidy up the garden, laying slate along the edges of paths to reduce the burden of weeding for the next Tenant and improving the appearance. Seven years ago, when the house first came to the market, it looked just as it does now and all the time we have been asked for comment and opinion as to what was being done. And therein lies the answer, no matter if we feel we are interfering, to do our job correctly, we must speak and spread the word to Landlords as much as possible.
Lesson learnt.
Of course we cannot speak if we do not get the chance to speak as with the second Landlord, before we are invited to the property, so to put that right, apart from just offering it to the people we do speak with, we are going to physically advertise free advice to Landlords for the next three months. That way, we might just save a Landlord on another day, being so surprised about what was needed from him in presenting his property to the market in a fit and proper state in the first place!
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