The Tenant Fee Ban, Fitness for Habitation Act and the De-regulation Act

The private rented sector has seen a huge amount of change in recent times. Unfortunately the press have been enjoying knocking these new Acts as negative news for the landlord. We feel this is a real shame, as in reality this is the complete opposite.

Plymouth Homes Lettings see all of the above as having a positive affect on the market place, driving up standards for both landlords and tenants. For too long our industry has received poor publicity due to the commons sense acts above not being followed.
 
At the end of the day, every property should be fit for habitation. How can anybody morally justify saying that homes do not need to be fit for purpose and that tenants have no right to enjoy living in their home. No-one should be given notice to leave their home because they have asked for the home to be well maintained as per the Deregulation Act. The landlord is running a business when renting out a property and the tenant is their customer. It is only fit and fair that tenants should not pay fees for inventories, or check ins or check outs. The tenants deposit is used to recover any costs for any damage at the end of the tenancy and if they damage something during the time of their tenancy, it is expected that they will pay to rectify any issues.
 
All agents are now required to belong to a Client Money Protection Scheme and Redress Scheme. In the future this industry will see a new Regulatory Body that will also require all agents to be licensed. Again we strongly agree with this and see it as a positive move for the whole industry.
 
The changes do however mean that there is an immense amount of work to ensure that the tenancy is correct and legal. With the tenant fee ban comes fines for any landlord or agent who do not follow the correct procedures.  There is also a real risk of not been able to get your property back if you decide that you need to move back in or sell the property.
 
When Plymouth Homes Lettings was created, our very first job was to recognised as Propertymark ARLA Agents. Lettings Director Jacqui knew that voluntarily belonging to the industry’s Governing Body meant that Plymouth Homes Lettings are best placed for the ongoing education and professional development for herself and her hardworking team. We have always been licensed and have always had Client Money Protection. Jacqui herself has been a member for the last 12 years and thoroughly enjoys all the legal updates, training and the necessity to ensure that we are up to date with every aspect of the complex lettings industry.
 
To summarise, we see all the changes as being positive. We will see an upsurge of respect  in the industry and for people to recognise the difference of using a professional company who are constantly up to date with the fast moving and changing legislation. The changes will mean there is a lot more administration involved, but remember the Act is there to protect the landlord and the tenant in almost every way possible, which can only be a good thing.