Energy prices are expected to continue to rise, which will add to the growing cost of living. Rik Smith, Goodlord's Head of Tenancy Services, shares his expert analysis on what that may mean for your landlords' tenants.
Councils will receive new government funding to enforce Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in rented homes across England and Wales, and raise awareness of landlord and agent obligations.
As employees start to head back to the office, lettings and estate agents should be asking themselves if their landlords' tenants will want to move back to the city as well - or if the trend of renting and living in a rural area will continue.
The government announced details of the Heat and Buildings Strategy in its Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener policy paper, encouraging homeowners in England to move to low carbon heating such as heat pumps - plus shares when a response is expected for the consultation on raising Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.
Letting a property comes with compliance risk - from sending draft tenancy agreements at the right time to protecting your tenants' deposits - but there are ways your agency can reduce that risk using technology.
In January 2021, the government revised the model agreements in England for a shorthold assured tenancy to include a new clause on pets in rental properties - and a push to encourage "pets in lets" is gaining traction.
Settio Property Experience sets itself apart from the competition by charging its landlords an all-inclusive fee, writes co-founder Samuel Fitz-Hugh. He thinks more agencies are set to follow this approach, but warns it will be hard work.
Goodlord becomes first company since the onset of the pandemic to offer Rent Protection Insurance that pay outs until vacant possession, with no cap on months.
Training in estate and letting agencies is intensifying before the Regulation of Property Agents (RoPA) requirements have even been set in stone. Agents are working to attain the expected qualifications - but what else is driving this burgeoning training mindset?
Goodlord, the UK’s fastest growing lettings technology and services platform, has acquired the fintech app acasa. This acquisition forms part of Goodlord’s push to broaden the range of market-leading services it offers to letting agents and their landlords and tenants.
The government's Heat and Buildings Strategy to decarbonise homes in the UK couldn't come at a better time. As wholesale gas prices rise - pushing smaller suppliers, with no limited funds to protect them, out of the market - our dependence on fossil fuels has been laid bare, letting the current energy crisis gain a foothold. Here's how this situation could play out in the coming months and how it may affect your tenants' cost of living.
Topics: Business
Councils across England and Wales will share funding of £4.3 million from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy to help them raise awareness of and enforce the current energy efficiency standards in rented homes. Since April 2020, all private rented homes have required a minimum energy performance rating of EPC Band E. This new campaign "forms part of the government’s actions to protect consumers, particularly those on lower incomes" in the wake of rising gas prices.
Topics: Compliance
A guest blog by Adrian Gill, Non-Exec Board Member at Reapit.
2020 gave rise to an exodus from the city as work from home became the mandated norm for large swaths of the population, leading homeowners and tenants to reevaluate their residential needs and abandon the urban for the rural. The trend of moving to the countryside or to smaller homesteads outside of cities really hit full swing in the summer when the housing market reopened, with Rightmove noting at one point that enquiries over June and July from city residents about village homes for sale increased by 126% compared with the year prior.
Topics: Customer experience
The government has outlined £3.9 billion of new funding in its Heat and Buildings Strategy, detailed in the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener policy paper, to support decarbonisation efforts in England and Wales between 2022 and 2025. The strategy prioritises plans to incentivise the installation of low-carbon heating systems such as electric heat pumps, replacing old gas boilers in a "simple, fair and cheap way". The end goal is to reduce the UK's dependence on fossil fuels and avoid exposure to "volatile global gas prices" such as those behind the current energy crisis - all by 2035. The plans also support its previous proposals to increase Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards by 2028 in Private Rented Homes.
Topics: Compliance
The process of letting a property is fraught with compliance risk, from taking the holding deposit through to serving the prescribed information within the required time frame. Simply forgetting to attach a document can invalidate a section 21 notice should you ever need to serve one, while overcharging a tenant for a holding deposit could result in a fine of up to £30,000. When lettings demand is high, the risk to your agency of making a mistake increases exponentially. Fortunately, technology can reduce the risk of manual error and ensure that your agency remains compliant with lettings legislation throughout the process and protect your business against costly fines.
Topics: Compliance
The model agreement for a shorthold assured tenancy provided by the government now has a clause on the topic of tenant pet ownership, in a move that aims to create more flexibility for tenants looking to rent a property with a pet. This sits alongside proposed bills to support "pets in lets" - and comes off the back of a 120% increase in demand for pet-friendly rental properties.
Topics: Compliance
We don't charge our landlords a letting fee. Or an inventory fee. Or a referencing fee. Or any extra fees at all. That's because we've chosen to set Settio Property Experience apart by offering our landlords an all-inclusive management fee instead, simplifying the landlord experience. It doesn't matter if the client requests an extra inspection or anything else - absolutely everything is covered by their managed fees.
Topics: Customer experience
Letting agents and landlords utilising Goodlord's Rent Protection & Legal Expenses Insurance* policy will now have their rent protected until vacant possession is obtained, with no cap on the number of months covered. This will allow landlords to claim up to £100,000 worth of missed rent payments and legal expenses.
Topics: Goodlord Group
At Vouch, we're seeing an increased appetite for training in the agencies we speak with. In the context of the Regulation of Property Agents, this is perhaps unsurprising. But that's not the sole catalyst of the trend - there are other factors at play.
Topics: Business
Goodlord, the UK’s fastest growing lettings technology and services platform, has acquired the fintech app acasa. This acquisition forms part of Goodlord’s push to broaden the range of market-leading services it offers to letting agents and their landlords and tenants.
Topics: Goodlord Group
