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.

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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“There is legislation that has gone under the radar,” says Tim Frome, Landlord Action’s Legal Director. “Everyone’s aware of the legal issues brought about by the pandemic that people are facing on a day-to-day basis. But the government has still been passing other lettings legislation.”

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.

A Revised Code of Practice on Right to Rent officially replaces the previous version on 2 November 2020 and has set out the details of the Home Office’s new online right to rent check service, in addition to confirming how visitors from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States with biometric passports (also known as “B5JSSK nationals”) can prove their right to rent.

The government wants to raise the minimum energy efficiency standards to EPC Band C by 2028 in order to improve the overall energy performance of the private rented sector in England and Wales. UK housing stock is generally older than in the rest of Europe, according to the consultation document, and “the potential for improvement in the energy performance is considerable”. Privately rented properties, which make up 20% of the housing stock, are among the least energy efficient, “costing over £6bn in energy bills in 2018 and producing GHG emissions of around 11 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent a year”.

It is expected that nearly two-thirds of the working population will have returned to work by the end of August, with safety measures put in place to protect them. Nevertheless, many employees may still feel uncomfortable about returning to their workplace. Can an employee refuse to return to work due to fears of contracting Covid-19 and where does the law stand if employees decide to ‘take a stand’? Chloe Williams, Legal Adviser at DAS Law answers key questions around employees returning to work during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The government has confirmed its intention to end the "moratorium on evictions" from social or private rented accommodation on 23 August. This means that from 24 August, “the courts will begin to process possession cases again.” When they do, there will be a new ‘pre-action protocol’ that letting agents and landlords will need to comply with.

There’s already a protocol in place for claims by social landlords which seeks to help parties to work through issues before taking action through the court and it is believed this will be extended to private landlords. The aim of the protocol is to encourage more pre-action contact between the parties, the exchange of information and to avoid litigation. Anthony Di Palma, a solicitor at DAS Law, talks through what this could look like. Note that this is based on limited information available at this moment in time and we await further clarification from the government.

When taking on a new tenant, your landlord wants to know that their property will be well looked after, and that they’ll receive payments on time and in full - especially when letting to new tenants while the pandemic is still ongoing and causing uncertainty. Referencing checks that your landlord’s tenant will meet these criteria and that they’ll be a suitable fit. A robust referencing process goes even further than this and directly impacts your revenue - making the value of referencing even more pronounced.