The English right to rent checks on the immigration status of potential tenants, first introduced in 2016, are mandatory for letting agents and their landlords. Any agents or landlords accepting a tenant who doesn’t have the right to reside in the UK will leave themselves open to prosecution and potential unlimited fines.

Landlord Action's Legal Director, Tim Frome, talks to Goodlord's Oli Sherlock about how possession cases are faring since the reopening of the courts, with insights from on the ground for letting agents and landlords who are going through the new process.

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An analysis of the impact of Tier 3 restrictions on the lettings market in Leicester, which was under extra restrictions for more than 120 days, indicates that the current lockdown could slow the rental market in England despite house moves being permitted under the current lockdown rules. 

Since 1 July 2020, landlords and agents in the private rented sector in England have been required to carry out electrical installation inspections and testing on all new tenancies in England under the new Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. This legislation will extend to include all existing tenancies on 1 April 2021.

Regulation is on its way and letting agents need to be prepared. That’s why Darshan Sunger of Three Oaks is prioritising getting his staff qualified now - and why he believes other agencies should be prioritising this too. He talks about how agencies can get ahead of the Regulation of Property Agents with Goodlord’s Costas Frangeskou, with exclusive insights from his experience at Three Oaks.

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How do you get the most out of your team? Goodlord's Oli Sherlock, Head of Insurance, and Leah Ellis, Head of People, joined Charlotte Campbell, Director of The Able Agent, to discuss how you can equip your lettings staff to get the best results.

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October proved a slower month for the UK rental market, with the average cost of rent decreasing and void periods increasing in all regions monitored in Goodlord's Rental Index.

The Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) was first proposed in 2018, with a working group laying out a new regulatory framework in the RoPA Report, published in July 2019.

Goodlord has released an enhanced version of its referencing service for letting agents across the UK. Their offering now includes bank-grade facial recognition technology and fully integrated Open Banking capabilities. 

Robert Bolwell, Senior Partner at Dutton Gregory, which manages the ARLA Propertymark Legal Helpline, answered letting agents questions on Covid-19's impact on the possession process in a Goodlord webinar. Click on a question to jump to the answer or watch the webinar on-demand now.

1. How would you summarise the key changes for people who haven't yet had to use the courts since they reopened?
2. If you have a case that's been stayed, how do you kick start that process again?
3. How long will it take for cases to be looked at if there aren’t significant arrears?
4. When it does mean you're going to be physically in front of a judge if you are pursuing a possession claim together with a claim for rent arrears?
5. If there aren’t any arrears, do you need to provide a Covid-19 statement with the paperwork or only when requested?
6. How much notice does the tenant have to give to the landlord's agents?
7. Do we have to change the wording on section eight notices around the grounds for rent arrears?
8. What do I do if I've got rent arrears now of five months? Do I serve a notice now for six months’ expiration date or do I wait till they go over the six month mark?
9. Can you get ahead of the game by submitting a claim to the courts before the notice is expired?
10. If a section 21 notice has been issued and the tenant has now fallen into a periodic tenancy, and there has been since then a revised TDS certificate. Does that revised certificate somehow revoke the section 21 that happened beforehand?
11. How could the Tenant Fees Act impact payment plans?
12. What do you do if you haven't heard a peep out of your tenant? 
13. What impact do you think Covid-19 might have on the courts if a tenant starts to argue that actually that process has been affecting the tenant?