By Craig Smith
It only feels like 5 minutes ago since we were marking our first anniversary of blogging and only 10 minutes since we actually started! The fact is we have now been blogging for 2 years and have no plan of stopping any time soon!
Looking Back
As another year goes by we have seen yet more changes in the industry as a whole and as the saying goes; ‘you learn something new every day’. Well we certainly hope that some of our posts have helped to fill the quota! This year we have covered everything from the Localism Act toCoronation Street. OK, so we weren’t exactly gossiping about the characters but more about the gas safety awareness issue raised in one of the storylines.
Over the past 12 months we have seen changes in the gas safety legislation which has caused some of our Landlords to spend some considerable money/effort in having their properties rectified. The gas business is yet another industry where regulations are constantly changing and where something might be perfectly acceptable one year and not the next.
Recently, we have even published some of our blog posts in our local newspaper to help to spread the word more locally about some of the issues we come across. We’ve had a good response to this as we do so of the comments we receive online and it is always nice to know that people not just read but also understand the messages we are trying to distribute.
Moving Forward
As another blogging year comes into view, so do further changes to the way the lettings industry works. Rules and regulations are changing on what feels like a weekly basis which certainly keeps us on our toes!
One such thing is a question due to be asked in Parliament later this month as to whether there should be a mandatory register of residential letting agents. Whilst you might be thinking how good an idea this is or isn’t there are still a lot more details to be confirmed if this were to go ahead. Would the register be kept by the local councils or would it operate on a national scale? Would there be a fee to pay for Landlords to join? How would the register of Landlords be managed to wean out the rogues?
There are some schemes like this already in place in localised areas so we can only presume that any future plans would be very similar to this.
Likewise, there are still a lot of questions that are yet to be answered concerning the Green Deal. (You might remember our recent post about this.) Although this might not apply for another couple of years, plans still need to be made so that Landlords are prepared for what is around the corner.
So here’s to our next year of blogging!
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