Legislation and compliance news and guides for letting agents and estate agents

The rights and responsibilities of letting and estate agents, landlords, and tenants in the private rented sector across England, Scotland, and Wales vary as they can be decided at the level of each devolved government - and therefore the legislation and regulations differ too across Great Britain. So what should your agency consider when renting out your landlords' properties?

The government wants to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards to EPC Band C by 2025 for new tenancies in private rented homes and by 2028 for all tenancies to improve the overall energy performance of the private rented sector in England and Wales, through the Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings bill which will be introduced in the Houses of Parliament in the week commencing 19 June 2021. The consultation on the proposals ran until 8 January 2021.

In England, there's a new right to rent checking process for EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, which has been mandatory since 1 July 2021. After months of waiting to hear what the new process would be, it's good to now have a definitive answer. It makes the checks less subjective for agents and will hopefully give agents more confidence with the simple yes or no response.

Lettings businesses using the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - also known as the furlough scheme - will be required to make a contribution to the cost of their furloughed employees wages. From 1 July 2021, the government will reduce its contribution to 70% of wages, down from 80%. Employers will top up employees’ wages to make sure they receive 80% of wages (up to £2,500) in total for the hours the employee is on furlough. The level of the employer's contribution will increase to 20% in August and September, until the scheme ends on 30 September 2021.

The fall out from the Grenfell tragedy is proving to have many unforeseen consequences and whilst everybody accepts that everything humanly possible to prevent this happening again should be undertaken, the impact of what needs to be done will have wide ranging effects, not least on letting agents. External wall safety inspections (EWS1) will be required for certain buildings, but a raft of other measures will need to be put in place, putting greater responsibility on property managers as well as the checks an agent will need to carry out before marketing a property. It will go beyond just looking up to see if the property has cladding or not.

The government has again extended the end date for adjusted right to rent checks. Since 30 March 2020, temporary measures for the right to rent checks in England, which traditionally take place in person, have been in place, allowing the checks to be carried out virtually. The temporary measures were originally set to end on 21 June 2021, but will now remain in place until 31 August 2021, to align with the extension of the final lockdown restrictions being lifted.

Demand in lettings has been gradually building in recent months - and shows no sign of abating as we head into the summer, with rents currently high and voids low across England according to Goodlord's Rental Index. This means it's important to make sure you’re not wasting your agency’s time or money on applicants your referencing provider would advise against. 

The government has confirmed how landlords and letting agents will check the right to rent status of EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens after 30 June 2021, many of whom will no longer be able to physically document their right to rent in England after this date. Citizens from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland who have successfully applied to the EU Settlement Scheme or for a UK visa will need to use the government's new "View and Prove" online service to share their right to rent status with landlords and letting agents. 

Estate and letting agents who receive rent payments equivalent to €10,000 or more per month for a property have been subject to anti-money laundering legislation - the Fifth Money Laundering Directive which falls under The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2019 - since 10January 2020. To remain compliant, agencies that fall into this category must also register with HMRC by 10 June 2021.