Tag Archives: Property Management

29Mar 2011

Current Property News: Letting Agent Kitemark – Yes Please!

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By Steve Roulstone

The National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS) are to champion a new Kite mark for Letting Agents with compliant CMP (Client Money Protection) and as the owner of the Castle Estates brand, I would like to throw my weight totally behind the scheme and the principals that the scheme promotes. I have long stated through these pages that I firmly believe in and openly support any move towards confirming professionalism in our industry and can only congratulate those behind this move.

Public will benefit.

Every Agent should embrace this scheme, which is free for those who already have CMP. It is now down to every qualifying Agent to sell the system and advise our Landlords that we both embrace it and what the scheme means. In simple terms, every Agent who carries this Kite mark will by definition, protect and insure the Landlords money. It is time for us not to just sell the advantages but also make sure that both our existing and potential Landlords are aware of the implications of NOT being able to display the Kite Mark. It is time we stood loud and proud and waved the flag of Professionalism as often as possible!

Government take note.

But to me this is also an opportunity to say to the Government that as an Industry we believe they made the wrong decision in not following through with registration of Agents as recommended by the Rugg review of 2009. This is another reason why I champion the decision, if the Government will not support us as an Industry through legislation, then as an Industry we must legislate ourselves. I am not suggesting we do not need the Government, because as the report (link above) states, this is not law, but hopefully, sufficient Agents will adopt this opportunity that the Government has to take note and will in time back us with the type of legislation that will once and for all confirm our Industry as Professional.

Why do we need legislation?

As an Industry, like so many others in difficult times, we are offering our services at reduced rates through Competition. I firmly believe that no matter what price we offer our service, they should always be accompanied by the Guarantees offered by CMP and professional membership to bodies such as NALS and ARLA. Such membership does have its costs, which can be significant and along with having qualified staff to carry out the full range of services that a Professional Letting Agency should offer we can quite often find ourselves competing at a disadvantage to Companies that risk the implications of operating without Guarantees for their clients and at a reduced level of service.

Legislation equals Professionalism.

Unfortunately the papers are still full of Offices that have collapsed because of discrepancies in Client accounts (monies held). Confirming the continued need for legislation, especially at a time when so many have been attracted to what is unusually at present, a growing market. Further proof of this is the Financial Increase we are currently paying for continued CMP cover. An increase which comes about purely because of claims made against the scheme. In summary, this Industry is doing something positive to combat the difference to services available, but the Government can make it happen through Law. The Kite Mark is therefore very welcome, but legislation is still needed and as soon as possible please, in the meantime we can show our commitment by joining and letting the public know, why and what difference professional Agents make to this growing industry.

21Mar 2011

Property Landlord advice: Utility Warehouse charges unfair on Landlords.

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By Steve Roulstone

I had a very upsetting and disturbing situation develop last week on a house of mine that is occupied by Tenants and has been since I moved out last December. The disturbing matter, was that I received what can best be described as a mixture between a debt letter and a threatening letter advising that my account with Utility Warehouse was overdue by some £430.00 and that if I did not take IMMIEDIATE ACTION or worse still IGNORED THIS LETTER charges could rise to over £800.00

First reaction.

Now I do not know about you, but if somebody sends me a debt letter, for no reason what so ever, it does not make me very happy – what transpired when I phoned Utility Warehouse, for it appears to have been their debt collecting agency as I was internally transferred without any delay, made me even angrier!

The facts in this case.

What had actually happened was that we had advised UW that we were moving gave them our forwarding address and subsequently paid the final invoice and closed our account, something that was easy to confirm, as the account number on the stated debt letter was different than the one on our old invoices for this same address. The new Tenants had also been in touch, but they (UW) did not approve of the paperwork sent to confirm the Tenancy and instead of trying anything else they moved straight to debt recovery letter.

 Debt has to be recovered – does it not?

The problem with this debt letter was that they immediately opened another account in my name (as Landlord) and sent the debt letter to us! Now, I know that this could never stand up in court, but I just wonder how many people are not aware? It is a fact that no debt for services amassed by one person can be the responsibility of others, owners or not. No, what UW did here was take the easy way out and send a letter to somebody to get a reaction. Well I have news for you UW it worked!

My advice.

 What I am guessing they did not expect, was that the Landlord in this case would then put this absurd situation in writing and advise all Landlords NOT to have UW as their provider. It is a fact that the Tenant (A Company) as somebody that I have dealt with professionally for several years had no intention of staying with UW and had advised them of this fact, not that UW then made contact back with the Tenant to try and address the issue direct with the person responsible for the bills! Oh no, instead they opened an account in my name without even speaking with me. Now, let’s just look at that again.

Contradiction the name of the game.

 So because they were unhappy with paperwork sent by the people who were generating the invoices, UW would not accept them for a new account. Not that they did not open one in their name, rather that they changed the name when they decided the information was not complete. Now it is what they did next that is, in my opinion, a contradiction of what appear to be their own rules!  So rather than contact the Tenant and sort it out, they opened the account in my name, even though I had not asked for one and they had received no paperwork which they could approve or otherwise!! So it seems that what was not acceptable for the correct person did not matter for the wrong person!

Soft target!

And this is the rub for me, just because we made it known where we live and what we were doing with the property, UW decided to send us the invoice for no other reason than because we were there and available. This is treating Landlords with disrespect in my book and I get fed up of being treated as second class citizens where the rental market is concerned. (I did ask them to investigate and call me back, but their offices only receive incoming calls! Says it all really) We all know what our responsibilities are and we all know this would not happen if the property had been sold! UW would not have sent the invoice to the original owner and yet we are just as liable (as in not liable at all) as Landlords or as past owners. Think again UW treat us all with equal respect and put more effort in too sorting out problems rather than shooting at soft targets!

 

 

 

 

16Mar 2011

Property Landlord advice: Block Management and Letting Agents (Part 2)

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By Steve Roulstone

There are several areas where having somebody who is qualified to understand the implications of renting leasehold property managing the site is to the advantage of the other Leaseholders and the running of the site (Block Management Company) in general. One of these is the need to ensure that any secondary agreement offered to a Tenant by a Leaseholder carries the requirements of the original lease within it, to ensure many basic stipulations of the site can be upheld.

Upholding the rules          

 

Without such inclusions, (which can be dealt with reasonably easily by anybody who understands the implications) such basic site rules as ‘No Caravans’ or ‘No Commercial Vehicles’ cannot be enforced as the agreement of the lease is with the leaseholder, not their Tenant The Tenant is only answerable to his legal agreement and if the clauses are not included, then the original Leaseholder in allowing the Tenant to break the lease and is the person therefore answerable to the Management Committee.

Ignorance is no excuse.

 

There is no way around this as I have found in my own experience, indeed it was only because one Tenant who parked a caravan on a site we Manage was very understanding, that we managed to have the rule enforced. The Leaseholder and therefore Landlord’s only excuse was lack of knowledge, because his Agent had not taken the time to check, which of course must be the situation up and down the country. But there are many clauses which can fall fowl of this problem, such as pets and of course the biggest problem of all, the permission to sub let in the first place.

Permission to rent.

 

Permission cannot be unreasonably withheld of course for any matter, but if the Leaseholders who live on the site as well as the Freeholder (if not self managed) who’s lease we are discussing here, did not intend the property to be available for rent, then by having a Letting Agent acting as block Managing Agent, whether acting for the Freeholder or the Block management Company (Residents) it is probably in the best interest of all concerned that the rule can be upheld.

Check before signing.

 

So the golden rule is to check before any sub-let is agreed and yet in all of my time as a Letting Agent who operates as a Block Managing Agent as well, I have never once received a phone call to request confirmation of the contents of the Lease or indeed ask if Permission is given on site, from either other agents or Landlords running their own Management. It begs the question just how many ticking time bombs exist out their?

25Feb 2011

Property Landlord advice: Block Management and Letting Agents. (Part 1)

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By Steve Roulstone

Henley Grange Halesowen.

Over the years of running a Letting Agency, several different opportunities come to light and most Agencies do at some stage along the way, get the opportunity to advice or run a Block Management Company. This is exactly what happened to my Company and we now look after a total of 14 sites throughout the Franchise area of Staffordshire.

Block Management explained.

For those in the know, this is well understood, but if you have never had anything to do with what are mainly leasehold properties, or lived in a location where there are shared facilities, it may not be so obvious, so let me explain: In simplistic terms, Block Management Companies are set up to oversee the running of Leasehold properties such as apartment blocks (nowadays nearly always with Freehold properties attached, because of Planning authorities insisting on new sites having a cross section of affordable as well as ‘Executive’ type housing) appointing and therefore paying for such services as Cleaners and Gardeners, organising insurance cover and also giving a platform for all who live within the site to comment or even assist in the day to day running by standing as a site Director. Companies such as ours carry out the collecting and payment of services rendered and stands as Company Secretary to carry out the formal running of the site in line with any and all legal requirements and are appointed by the Directors.

Why Letting Agents?

What normally happens is one of our Landlords will get frustrated at the lack of contact or accountability of the existing Managing agent (Professional appointed body) and ask if we can assist. This is how we started and all of our business has come about through recommendation since that first site in 2003. This is because as Companies, Letting Agents are set up to operate in a very similar way and of course we can soon adjust our services to take Block Management on board.

Training and Professional standing.

Within Castle Estates, we offer training for all of our offices whenever opportunity presents itself, this is to ensure that the training is given when it is needed and therefore better utilised by the offices and the customer of course benefits as well from up to date information. Our professional bodies also recognise the services we give as Block Management Agents but there is a separate body ARMA Association of Residential Managing Agents (as opposed to ARLA) which it is wise to apply to join when numbers of sites increase. In our case, when we developed to the stage of having a separate division within the Company, just for Block Management.

So what advantages to the customer.

The normal reason and this I am sure is countrywide, is lack of approachability and poor communication that results in  a lack of trust, but of course the disillusioned owners and directors nearly always look to their own locality for a solution. And this is exactly why so many Letting Agents come to look after so many local sites. This is exactly what we can offer, accountability and easy simple approachability and communication. OK there are people who do not communicate well no matter where they are located, so I guess that is my hint to anybody taking over a local site because of problems with the existing agents – communicate with your new customers. We do and have shown considerable growth because of it!

17Feb 2011

The New Castle Estates (Staffordshire) Blog

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By Craig Smith

Welcome to our new blog which will be focusing on the issues of property lettings and management in and around the Stafford area. We aim to update our blog as often as possible to keep all Landlords (and Tenants) informed of the latest news and legislation with regards to the rental market.

Why publish a Lettings blog?

The best way to ensure everyone has the latest news and information is to make it readily available and easy to access. We hope to keep you as informed as possible and updated with any major discussions or changes relating to the property rental market. Although our Franchisor focuses more on the national issues we hope to tackle some of the more local issues.

Who can read this, Landlord or Tenants?

The simple answer is everybody! We hope that the majority of information will apply to our Landlords but also to some of our Tenants as well. Another reason for this blog is to advise our Landlords of current market trends and to make letting a property that little bit easier! Any changes in property law or legislation can have an effect on everybody, so we hope that you will find this useful.

What are the upcoming issues in Rentals?

There are always a number of interesting points to be discussed when letting out and managing a property. Legislation is constantly changing and agent practices have to change to reflect these. The last 5 years have seen a number of big changes including Tenancy Deposit Protection and the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for rental properties. We also anticipate a number of changes following the budget cuts this year and will be able to publish more information shortly.

 To summarise…

We do hope that you will find our posts both useful and informative. We aim to make the headings for each post clear on each subject, so that you can easily find the posts more relevant to you. Hopefully, you will able to be kept ‘in the loop’ with our page and enjoy reading our latest posts! 

15Feb 2011

Property Landlord advice: Letting Agency visits a must.

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By Steve Roulstone

There is no doubt in my mind what so ever, that the Property visit for Landlords in a fully managed scenario, is one of the most important functions carried out by the agent on behalf of the Landlord. It works so well on so many levels that when I cannot understand why any professional agent should not carry them out.

Landlord benifits.

When you receive a report that the property is or even is not, being looked after by the existing Tenant, means that as a Landlord, you know that the agent is on the job and that you are receiving a return for the monthly fees being charged. A report on the current Tenancy, which should in my opinion (and practise and I am not alone!) be carried out every three months especially with a new Tenant can put your mind at rest about the property, or give an early warning about what may need to be done in the future. Whichever way this plays out, this becomes a strategy and the best way to manage any situation is to plan in advance and that is exactly what happens when holding regular property visits.

Tenant benifits.

Now what is not recognised so readily, but is an issue that I have seen firsthand, is that the same visit also gives the Tenant belief that the owner of the property cares about its condition (this to me is why so many Tenants talk about their agent as their Landlord by mistake, because the face of the Landlord IS the Agent and they know somebody cares!) and it is very important for the person paying the rent to know that they are not alone in being responsible, financially or otherwise, for the home they live in and pay to live in!

No losers!

So everybody wins when visits take place, but make sure it is organised well and legally, badly dealt with this could cause more problems than NOT visiting, but I continue to experience first hand that it can be difficult to get Landlords to carry out direct visits themselves especially under self Management, but what they do not realise is the harm it does to the perception of them as Landlords by the Tenants! I have stated before and firmly believe that if Tenant requests continue to be ignored by Landlords those very same Tenants who want action because they care, will stop doing so and that can only be bad news for the property itself.

Difference between Inspection and Visit?

Technically none, but it is worth pointing out that to the true definition of the word, it is Property Visits we carry out and not Inspections. Many years ago an Agent was successfully sued for failing to report on the failing condition of a property as part of the ‘Inspection’ which resulted in heavy cost for a Landlord which could have been avoided should the problem have been spotted at an earlier date. This then opened a can of worms for Agents and a better defined ‘role’ and ‘description’ was utilised, that I feel is better described as a ‘Visit’ to carry out a ‘Check’ on the manner in which the Tenancy is being carried out. This removes the risk on us not noticing that the chimney stack is cracking and the cost of replacement for not reporting at a time that remedial action could have been carried out!

16Jan 2011

Property Landlord advice: Further problems for reluctant Landlords.

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By Steve Roulstone

It is strange how some matters come up on more than one occasion and this week, we have seen two occasions where absent property owners were at risk without even being aware and it is a situation that I now recommend everybody to be aware of, indeed check with your own Insurance Company to ensure the house insured is covered under your normal homeowners Buildings Insurance policy. The outcome may have a great effect on you becoming a reluctant Landlord.

Empty property.

The two occasions that have arisen this week, both concern owners, who in our case are Landlords both, who have found that their property is not insured under their existing Insurance policy, because the property is currently empty. In the first case, the property was empty whilst the Landlord had work carried out in preparation for renting the property, to ensure that the house was presented in the best possible condition. His policy only gave cover for sixty days and was discovered because of damage being claimed through a burst pipe during the recent cold weather. Needless to say he was not aware of the clause and I wonder just how many insured are?

Policy renewed.

The second case is even worse, in that because of what had happened to the first Landlord we asked the second, who had moved on over a year ago, only to find that he only had thirty days cover and the property had been empty for over a year. In fact, the Landlord had recently renewed and even with the address change, nobody at the Insurance Company asked the question about why, so it appears they gladly took the payment without even taking the opportunity to check if the house was covered! When you consider the questions we have to answer to ensure our position (property) is insurable, it seems strange that the reverse does not happen, i.e. we are not asked if a situation exists, even with evidence to support that it does (the different address) that means any claim would be rejected!

Now the implications

The advice has got to be that any owner looking to move on and leave a property empty, advises the Insurance Company from day one and of course checks how long the house is covered in their absence. But the implication for owners wishing to achieve a sale before deciding to consider their options (our experience suggests this can be anything up to six months) is that they are liable to find that their Insurance policy will not allow them the grace of time and a decision may well be forced.

Renting options

What we normally see is a request for information before owners move on, so that if they do decide to rent they will have already decided who to appoint as Managing Agents and do not have to return to the area to make an appointment. Far be it from me to suggest otherwise and of course we are accustomed to gathering everything we need at that first appointment to enable us to do our job without the then landlords having to return. But under these circumstances, owners are going to have to make that decision at an earlier date and I for one would not argue! but we must always give best advice and as was proven this week, it will be the property owner who will benefit in the long run!

12Jan 2011

Franchise News: Letting agents WANT ‘The Hook’

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By Steve Roulstone

It may seem that I am paranoid about the BBC. My wife would probably agree, far from it, I always start with the BBC before any other channel whenever I turn the TV on. But there are times when I do despair about the way in which they report matters and it is not just the Housing market or in particular the Letting Industry that grabs my attention, just listen to the bad news angle taken within the weather forecasts and you will know what I mean!

Popular news reports.

One of the automatic results of being the BBC is whatever they write, especially within the news, they always get ‘Star billing’ within Google. Well done to them, after all we are all looking for better placement, but over the last couple of weeks, a report by the BBC from back in June 2010 has kept appearing within the criteria of my Google search. It is entitled ‘Letting Agents let off the hook by Government’ so this morning, when it appeared again, I read it.

Principals .

One of the important principals about writing anything for publication on the web, if you wish for people to find your scribbling, is to make sure that your article explains the title, so it falls in the ‘what it says on the tin’ principal, or at least that is what I have always been taught.  However, having read the article I would have to describe this as a tenuous link at the very least. The comment within the article that the title refers to is about agents who I assume are not part of any professional body, as either the ARLA spokesman did not confirm this in what he said, or only part of his comment was printed.

Actual intent.

What is confirmed by ARLA and indeed the CAB is that the legislation was both welcome and good in its intent. That some will take advantage of the decision is a matter of conjecture, as professionals, we believe the legislation would have stopped that happening.  So the actual meaning of professional agents (and in my opinion letting agents are qualified individuals, letting agencies are offices!) is not differentiated in the article headline.

Now for the rub!

And the reason I list this as Franchise news, because the result of the visibility such articles get through Google, is that hundreds of people will read the title and without even reading the article, my Industry will be tarred with a brush, that when you read and understand the article, we do not deserve! It is difficult enough to prove that my industry is not suffering in the same way that House selling has suffered over the last few years and indeed that we have benefitted in so many ways. I do not ask that we have good news just to suit my Industry and I would not state or write anything that I cannot support, but it is time that the BBC went back to the agency that reports the news in a factual manner and stopped looking for elements of bad news so often in its reporting.

The reality is different.

Because they are who they are, the BBC have far more influence that such practises deserve, in the meantime how many people have written off a Property Management Franchise on the back of articles and reports like this that give what in my opinion is a negative approach, when in actual fact, as an Industry we would welcome such legislation and the article says just that. Pity the title the BBC chose disagrees!  

 

10Jan 2011

Current Preoperty news: Cannabis factory increases.

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By Mike Edwards

I would not normally copy information from elsewhere for my own writings, but as this is very good and timely advice from the Police on the prevention of Cannabis Factories, I will make an exception and copy in full a circular I received from Thames Valley Police sent to me because of my position advising our franchised offices within Castle Estates:

Dear Landlord/Estate Agency,

 Cannabis Cultivation

Commercial cannabis cultivation is a growing industry in the UK. In the past two years, Thames Valley Police has uncovered more than 300 cannabis factories, with an estimated yield of £4.4 million.

Cannabis factories range from small enterprises in a bedroom, to barns and industrial premises adapted for large-scale production. Because properties are often sub let from existing tenants, it can be difficult to trace those responsible.

The damage to property caused by this kind of activity can be substantial. Landlords face severe penalties for failing to report illegal drug production, and could be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Information for Landlords, giving advice on how to spot if drug production might be taking place at one of your properties and what to watch out for with regard to a new tenant is available on our force website by following the link below.

http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/crprev/crprev-home/crprev-home-canprod/crprev-home-canprod-adv.htm

Use this number, 08458 505505, to report a non-emergency crime or to give information to Thames Valley Police. You can contact Crimestoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.  Always call 999 in an emergency.

 If I can be of any further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me.

 Kind Regards,

 Wendy Walker, Community Information Manager, Force Intelligence Bureau, Thames Valley Police. Tel: 701 3967 (External 01865 293967) Mobile 07837 496532. Email:  [email protected]

 The area is of course not significant, but the advice is paramount.

Good advice

Any advice of this nature should of course be well received and what matters most is the ability to put steps in place to stop such a disaster happening to any Landlord and of course, when fully managed by an agent, who would carry out regular property visits, it should not! Only when Landlords leave a Tenant in the property without visiting between Tenancies do such opportunities arise and when you consider the possible actions taken against the Landlord, surely this is reason enough to ensure all properties are visited on a regular basis!

05Jan 2011

Property Landlord advice: Rental Insurance for Landlords and Tenants.

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By Steve Roulstone

I have used these pages before to give my opinion that all Landlords should consider specialist rent guarantee Insurance to ensure that they protect their rent at a time when the best intentioned of Tenants may find themselves unable to pay because of losing their income. At the start of the New Year it has once again come to my attention (a Landlord of our office in Stafford found there Tenant in a similar position) at a time when arrears are always at their worst because of overspending at Christmas and let’s be honest who can say they have never been guilty of doing exactly the same!

Good advice!

Is exactly what every agent should give to their Landlords and unless the agent concerned is registered with the FSA as somebody qualified to give specific policy advise, then it is very much our role to make Landlords aware of what type of insurance policies are available, rather than sell any specific policy. Like it or not, current financial legislation, set up to protect our customers, only allows the majority of agents, through best advice practises, to inform our customers, our Landlords, what type of policy they should be taking usually by way of an introduction and there after leave the selling of the policies to those who are qualified and more specifically registered with the FSA.

Rental Insurance policies

So what type of policy can or should be taken by either Landlord or Tenant? so to clarify, and again only with regard to the type of policy rather than any specific product, Landlords should of course continue to insure the building and discuss with their provider what minimum contents are included, as they should still consider carpets, curtains, bathroom and kitchen fitted furniture for example. Then of course, rent and legal expenses insurance, to cover referenced Tenants who find themselves unable to pay and to cover the cost of legal action taken by Industry specialists to evict if required.

Tenant policies

And finally the policy that most forget, Tenants! All agents should have some system to try to ensure Tenants DO take a policy to cover their own contents and with the knowledge that policies exist that will cover the Landlords contents for accidental damage, a specialist policy that unless advised about, most Tenants would not know existed, it is especially important that in giving best service to our Landlords, we ensure that Tenants are indeed introduced to such a policy at all times.

Basic cover

There are of course other policies, and other considerations and items covered within differing policies, but to cover them all would need more time and space than this media provides and would endanger me of discussing specific policies rather than in general (something the FSA regulations did not intent to include but never the less does, where have we heard that before? Sorry, I meant how many times have we heard that before!) but it is our duty to ensure knowledge is available to both Landlords and Tenants at all stages of the process, so we must make sure we foster the knowledge so that we can continue to give good advice and current advice, whenever the need arises.