Sean Hooker: How to avoid the Christmas crisis

Christmas is an eagerly awaited time of year, with everyone gearing up for the big day months ahead. However, for rental professionals, the festive season has traditionally been a period of dread - or at least a time to keep fingers firmly crossed. Every agent knows all too well about the Christmas crisis.

What can go wrong?

If you had to summarise what Christmas means for a professional agent, then two thoughts spring to mind: “Things going wrong” and “people going wrong”. The first is probably the easiest to deal with but is challenging nonetheless. Repairs need to be done and it isn’t Santa who’s obliged to do them.

Every agent dreads the call from a tenant just before the King’s Speech that their boiler has packed up, their cooker has stopped working or there’s water pouring through the ceiling onto the dining table. It’s up to you to save their Christmas at the expense of your own - especially if your landlord is sunbathing in Florida!

Be prepared for festive slowdowns

Incredulously, I have seen agents close the office over the entire Christmas period with nothing more than a voicemail telling tenants to ring back in the New Year. Of course you can wind down your operation. However, you must have an emergency provision in place. It is not the time for humbug - it is a time for common sense. 

Even then, there is a shortage of skilled professionals, so don’t leave it to chance.  I have seen cases when an engineer was sent to the property to resolve the issue with a boiler for them to say the spare part won’t be delivered for a week because of Christmas. Have a contingency in place for this kind of eventuality. 

An agent’s duty of care does not stop just because it’s Christmas. And it’s not just the tenant you have to worry about - your landlords won’t be happy come new year when you present them with a huge bill for an emergency call-out charge. 

Exclaiming “He was the only one that answered his phone!” won’t cut it when you send the landlord the small change left from their January rent payment. Your landlord may feel comfortable playing Scrooge, but as far as your tenants are concerned, you are the Christmas Fairy!

The impact of changing tenant lifestyles 

How can you ensure a problem that is routine any other time of the year does not become an expensive nightmare?

1. Ensure both your landlords and tenants understand what service you have been contracted to do. Is it you or the landlord who is responsible for emergency repairs? Does the landlord understand what authority they have given you to undertake work without referral to them? Does the landlord understand that they cannot refuse to fix a problem where there is a threat to life or property?
2. Make sure your tenants know the correct process for reporting repairs and what constitutes an emergency. I dealt with a case where the tenant claimed they did not know the number of the agent’s out of hours service. Instead, they instructed their own emergency electrician who botched the job - and a huge bill ensued. Who paid? Yes, you’ve guessed it - the agent.
3. Help your tenants to mitigate risks to themselves and the property. Don’t leave them guessing where the stopcocks or isolation switches for electricity and gas are. And do not - as one agent did on the instruction from the landlord - lock the garage where all the fuses were so that the tenants spent Christmas in the dark with a raw turkey.
4. Outline your service standards. Are they reasonable and can you meet them? Remember, while there are no hard and fast rules, boiler and water leaks should be dealt with urgently - I suggest within 24 hours. For cooker faults, it would be reasonable for a slightly longer period, but no more than 48 hours. For washing machines, I suggest fixing within 72 hours.
5. Ensure that you have a robust protocol for repairs that cannot be rectified over the holiday period. If you cannot resolve the issue, can you offer alternative accommodation or a temporary solution? Don’t quibble over reasonable compensation. Remember the tenant is entitled to withhold rent and undertake the repairs themselves as stated in Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
6. Have processes in place to record and coordinate any works that are undertaken. Check that your regular repairers are available and competent to deal with the issues they may be called to resolve. Keeping good records is even more important during this time, so don’t let standards slip.

Remember help is at hand

For many, the "Season of Goodwill" is actually far from that. Relationships break up and domestic issues come to the fore during this time more than at any other. This year may be even worse for some due to sky high energy prices and the cost of living crisis.  So, if you are an agent caught in the middle of this, then you may need to seek professional guidance.

Many agents do a good job of dealing with arrears and possessions themselves. However, with court queues still extremely long, it will not be long before your landlord, without their rent, will run out of money and stop paying you. Remember that, even with the tenant owing rent, you will still be obliged by law to undertake repairs and maintenance.

If this happens, call in the Christmas elves. A professional mediation service such as The Property Redress Scheme Mediation Service can resolve issues without the need for court. Contact an eviction and debt recovery law firm that is approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Landlord Action, part of the Hamilton Fraser family, can help navigate you through this raging blizzard.

So, if your tenants have run out of money, run out on their partner, or just run off, then pick up the phone today.

Good tidings (an agent) brings

I am sorry that I could not be jollier in this blog, but I hope that being forewarned is to be forearmed. That is hopefully my gift to you - for you to be ready for anything Father Christmas brings you. Remember - Christmas is a joyful time and my tips for agents would be to get into the festive spirit.  Send a Christmas card or even a hamper to your tenant as a goodwill gesture and it will be appreciated.