It is recommended that landlords perform a Legionella risk assessment every two years to meet their legal duty in ensuring that the risk of exposure of tenants to Legionella is properly assessed and controlled.

We are always looking for additional ways to add extra value to our client’s services that in turn helps provide a better service to their landlords. Legionella risk assessment makes a lot of sense for us as we have the right skill set to ensure this work is carried out to the highest levels and can in turn be offered in addition to our inventory management services.

Outsourcing this activity through us is an efficient and cost-effective way for landlords, agents and property managers to demonstrate they are compliant. We can perform the risk assessment as a separate visit or whilst we are already attending the property for a check-in, check-out or mid-term report allowing for us to offer better overall value.

Legionella is a bacteria naturally found in water systems. Whilst the bacteria at low levels do not pose a health risk, under certain conditions, in water storage tanks for example, and in certain temperature ranges, the bacteria can multiply increasing the risk of Legionnaire’s Disease. Risk increases in water systems that are unused for any period of time; making rental properties particularly vulnerable. Legionnaire’s is a potentially fatal disease with flu-like symptoms often mistaken for pneumonia contracted by inhaling bacteria contained in water droplets.

We are to provide full checks of the entire water system in residential property including water tanks in lofts, pipes, taps, toilet and shower systems. The risk assessment will indicate whether any action is required on the part of the landlord and if not is a record demonstrating compliance in protecting tenants.

Photo sources: bwt-ni.co.uk – housemanwaterhygiene.com

We’re delighted to welcome Janine Gehlig who is heading up our new branch in Liverpool. Janine has been involved in the property sector since 2008. She has excelled within the sector of construction and property clerking, as well as leasing in the commercial and residential divisions. Janine has extensive inventory experience. She spent four years in South Africa working in the market as well as working with No Letting Go since January 2014.
Her achievements have given her an opportunity to set up the Liverpool No Letting Go branch which she is sure to tackle head on. Not only has Janine provided a level of service which is always held up to a high standard, her professional and “always willing to get the job done” attitude ensures the Liverpool No Letting Go branch will succeed.

Nick Lyons, Managing Director of No Letting Go added, “The property rental market and subsequently the property services sector is extremely buoyant. Liverpool has become one of the UK’s Top 6 rental markets for Landlords, yielding even better returns than London property. Janine will ensure service levels are maintained throughout the area in line with our philosophy of providing a national service that is delivered locally. ”

For more information please contact Janine Gehlig direct on 07474 736 313 or Gary Claven on 07475 526 111; alternatively visit www.nolettinggo.co.uk.

The landlord/tenant relationship is a common one in the UK, with a reported 3.8 million people living in rented accommodation in England alone. However, while many tenants enjoy a long and prosperous relationship with landlords, there are also those whose association is less than amicable.

We’ve all heard the stories about landlords from hell; there are enough of them out there to give landlords everywhere a bad name. Nevertheless, the nightmarish tales do not exist solely on the side of the property owner – there are also stories of tenants from hell, making the landlord’s life misery and ruining a rental property.

Most of the issues that occur between both parties in a rental agreement are because of one thing: blame. Landlords blaming tenants for causing damage and tenants insisting damage was pre-existing, it is a common situation; however, it is also one that never has to surface. Playing the blame game pits your word against the word of the other party, the result of which generally ends up being settled in court. A simple document such as a property inventory, though, will instantly eliminate any issue over any aspect of a property.

Property inventories for landlords

As a landlord, it goes without saying that you want to protect your home, your livelihood. Since 2007 and the introduction of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), it has been much harder to do this. The old days of having full control over a deposit are gone – tenants have more rights and they know this. Since the TDS was brought in, tenants are now more willing to challenge the holding of a deposit; some will do it even if they know they are in the wrong. While this can be frustrating, they are well within their rights to do this and they have a pretty good chance of winning if a case went to court. The only way you can prevent this from happening is with a comprehensive property inventory.

An inventory, when carried out by an agency, will list all of the contents and record the condition of a property using both written and photographic methods. The inventory will be taken just before a tenant moves in and just before a tenant leaves, to make clear what, if any, damages need to be repaired and paid for out of a deposit. Inventories are generally carried out with a tenant in attendance and must be signed by the tenant, giving you as the landlord assurances that your property is protected.

Property inventories for tenants

As a tenant, the reasons for considering an inventory are the same as those of a landlord: you do not want to be blamed for something you haven’t done. While the Tenancy Deposit Scheme is in place to ensure your deposit is protected, an inventory report will provide you with that extra assurance that you need to leave a property without any hassle.

There are times when landlords and tenants do not agree on certain things – one thing they can both agree on, though, is a property inventory.

Image sources on flickr: Michael Mandiberg & Orin Zebest

Have you ever wondered how the life of a professional inventory clerk is? We decided to ask directly to our franchisees and share with you their professional experiences but also any light hearted or intriguing anecdotes. The first ones to answer our questions are Alison & Mark from the No Letting Go Swindon & Cotswolds local branch.

1) Some of our readers may be unsure as to what is involved in your line of work. Shed some light by telling us about a typical day in the life of a professional inventory clerk.

Independently and impartially carrying out a detailed inventory of and reporting on condition and cleanliness of properties primarily in the residential lettings sector before, during and after a tenancy has taken place. A typical day will involve liaising with letting agents / landlords and tenants in order to make this happen!

2) As a professional inventory clerk it is essential that you have an eye for detail; what other skills would you consider essential to do the job well?

Empathy, enthusiasm, resolve, impartiality, flexibility, initiative and resilience!!

3) How might a landlord prepare for an inventory?

Ensure in good decorative order with carpets professionally cleaned and vacuumed, all rubbish/ unwanted items removed, kitchen and bathrooms , flooring and woodwork all professionally cleaned throughout.

4) When moving house, stuff is constantly being shifted about from place to place and it is all too easy to overlook the odd item when packing. You must have come across some oddities during your time as an inventory clerk. What are the five strangest items you have found in a property during check out?

Wardrobe novelty door knob decorations such as soft toys/ hearts etc, a leather whip, , a straw boater hat and recipe cards to name a few!

5) Property is hot business at the minute, often seen as a great investment if managed properly. If you could offer three tips for new landlords wanting to let their properties what would they be?

Maintain it. Have it professionally cleaned and arrange a detailed, impartial and professional inventory make.

6) Landlords and tenants are two of a kind; they can be great, a perfect match but they can also be high maintenance, occasionally apathetic and sometimes complacent. What are the three most typical complaints landlords have in relation to the inventory market?

  • Poor quality reports from previous inventory providers
  • Tenants leaving the place in a worse condition than taken on, most of the time not technically correct as they often have a ‘rose tinted view’ of their own properties
  • Missing / damaged items or appliances

7) And what about the tenants, do you ever receive any complaints from them if so what are typical complaints and are they always justified?

  • Non- completed tasks / actions by landlord or through letting agent such as phone points that were supposed to have been installed
  • Grass cutting before tenancy
  • Cleanliness or lack of it! in relation to the property

8) Animal lovers can often be dismayed when moving into rented accommodation as many landlords do not allow pets to be kept within their property. In your experience, what implications and issues does owning a pet have on a property?

  • Wear & tear on carpets
  • Build up of pet hair
  • Smell
  • Cleanliness

9) You must have held the keys to a fair few houses in your time: from the elegant to the beautifully designed to the stunningly decorated. Can you tell us about any interesting houses you’ve come across?

48 room 138 page inventory on an 11 bedroom, 7 bathroom country house with swimming pool, tennis courts, changing rooms, walled garden and stable blocks & outbuildings. A number of large farmhouses all with seemingly single people moving in!!

10) On the No Letting Go website it states: “No Letting Go will provide peace of mind and ensure no horrible surprises”, give us an example of any “horrible surprises” you’ve encountered.

  • On a job in a rural location everything was prepared meticulously by the both agent and landlord with carpets professionally cleaned and even re-stretched,  yet when we arrived to carry out the inventory make , overnight a Jackdaw had fallen down the chimney and marked the carpets again with loose carbon from the chimney and had several accidents shall we say, scared in a corner we managed to get him outside and contacted the agent  bringing the tenants attention to it at check in but adding that additional cleaning was being arranged as we carried it out!
  • Upon carrying out a inventory on a newly renovated property the landlord said would be clear but they had still been living in the property , were pulling cables through the ceiling still for inset spotlights and even though there were ‘glass walls’ upstairs  the landlords partner was running around half naked !!

11) There are many routes towards owning your own business, what compelled you to become an inventory franchisee, has it been a wise decision and how much did you know about the world of inventories previously?

General interest in / passion for property. Not sure yet as still early days yet love the work but need it to provide a better income level & no not really!!

12) Would you recommend inventory management as a career for others?

Yes, if you are hard working, adaptable, flexible, self- reliant and personable you’ll do very well.

The importance of Inventory Management Reports.

The importance of correct paperwork when letting a property cannot be underestimated. There are over 55 pieces of legislation to rent a single property and all require adhering too. Mostly, this legislation can be effectively managed at the start of the tenancy.

Condition and misuse of property reporting comes under the general term of Inventory Management reporting. These reports cover:

  1. Inventory and Schedule of Condition – a detailed professionally prepared aesthetic description of the internals and externals of a property, an inventory of all fixtures and fittings and their condition.
  2. Check In – the process of agreeing the inventory, the condition and cleanliness with the incoming tenant and registering of meters and keys.
  3. Property Visits – mid-term periodic inspections to check that the property is not being misused and that the tenant is adhering to the tenancy agreement.
  4. Check Out with Damage and Dilapidations – the report that determines the change between the start and the end of the tenancy, lists damages, missing items, the state of the cleanliness, property and garden condition, outstanding or due maintenance items, meters read and keys returned. The check out is carried out as the last act of the tenancy and is therefore usually carried out on the last day of tenancy.

Should the dispute end up at adjudication with one of the deposit schemes (ADR), the requirements for inventory management documentation are clearly defined as crucial. The onus is on the landlord to show why they are entitled to claim money from the deposit. The landlord must support their claim with robust and reliable evidence to show that the tenant has broken the tenancy agreement, and that the landlord has suffered, or is likely to suffer, a loss as a result.

The dispute service states the following:

“…..inventories that are not prepared by independent companies or individuals…..are likely to place less weight on their contents. It may also be necessary for a landlord to provide more corroborating evidence to show the condition of the property than would normally be required if the process was carried out by qualified and independent inventory clerks”.

“where landlords use their agents to conduct their check-in and check-out inspections………there is an added need to show that the process, and the person undertaking the inspection, was impartial. Adjudicators will take into consideration the general circumstances and relationship between the parties in determining what weight to put on the evidence”

“…..where a landlord puts the onus on the tenant to complete their own check in inspection, this type of check in is far less robust than a ‘full’ check in”.

“Just providing an inventory to the tenant and expecting them to note any discrepancies, or relying on a document that has not been signed, will not be sufficient to convince an adjudicator; the landlord will need to provide other evidence to show that their expectations and the tenant’s obligations were fully explained to the tenant”.

“Where a check-in is challenged by the tenant, a full audit trail of what remedial action has occurred should be provided and a revised check-in agreed and signed”

Further information on the requirements of the deposit schemes and other useful articles on inventory management can be found https://nolettinggo.co.uk/property-inventory-articles.html

From all the media stories, no-one is quite sure whether the property market is booming or not!

The simple answer is that the buy-to-let sector is doing very well but it would be doing even better if there were more new properties to buy. There’s an increasing market in the number of people looking to rent which means that demand is pushing up rents.

Indeed, the Council of Mortgage Lenders recently said that investing in houses and flats to rent is growing in popularity once more.

They say that the number of buy-to-let properties soared by 84,000 last year – with buy-to-let mortgages now accounting for nearly 13 per cent of the total outstanding value of home loans in the UK.

That means that investing in property to rent is a worthwhile proposition once again.

But let’s not kid ourselves about the current situation for prospective investors. While the buy-to-let market is picking up, it’s nowhere near the heady heights of the 2007 property boom. And most of the investors picking up properties for their letting portfolios are cash-rich investors.

It makes sense really: property prices are relatively low and rent prices are still fairly high which means that there’s a good return on your investment.

And the market for renting a home in the UK is continuing to grow.

Estate agents Countrywide say that last year, more than 275,000 new tenants registered for private rental accommodation – a 24 per cent increase on the previous year.

Across most of the UK there is a shortage of property to rent which means rental prices are remaining high and increasing in some areas.

Potential landlords can still buy property to enjoy the rental market using buy-to-let mortgages from many lenders. In fact, there’s so much competition for a potential landlord’s business that the average borrowing rate on a buy-to-let mortgage has fallen in recent months.

The headline of this article is: How is the shortage of new properties affecting the buy to let market? However, it would be wiser to read this as: How is the shortage of new good quality properties affecting the buy to let market?

That’s because the population of the UK is growing and it’s a relatively transient one – people are moving to where the work is and they are willing to pay for a good quality home.

Though there is no doubt that underpinning the buy-to-let market is the fact that not enough new homes are being built and people are living longer as well as the fact that there are more single person occupied homes.

For more information and advice on the current state of the buy-to-let market, contact the UK’s premium provider of landlord services NoLettingGo.co.uk or call 0800 8815 366.

No Letting Go are the UK’s leading provider of inventory management services, providing check in and check out services, property inventory and condition reports and specialist on site services to landlords, lettings agents and property professionals.

I am always interested in great property stories around the world and read an interesting article on CNN World about how it is now cheaper to buy than rent in most US cities ( http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/16/real_estate/buy_rent/ ) – if only that were the case in the UK.

Nick

With student market nearly upon us, New Student Publications carried out an interesting straw survey on Student Landlord Problems

Different categories were addressed covering areas from unpaid rent to cleanliness issues.

Unpaid rent, filthy tenants and panicking about filling your properties for next year?

The results were astounding, with over 14% of landlords saying that their current biggest problem is just finding tenants to take their properties and fill in any gaps should someone drop out during a contract, with more than 2% feeling like they are struggling just to get viewings. One agent simply said “we have unlet properties remaining for July 2011, the situation is worse than in previous years” In a similar 2009 survey finding tenants was also the biggest problem raised by landlords.

Dirty Tenants

Landlords cited dirty tenants as their second biggest problem, with 16% left to pick up massive cleaning bills, or called out at 4am to change a lightbulb. The general consensus was “students don’t take care of the property or make any effort to keep the house clean.” 3.5% of agents thought that students demanded a much higher standard of accommodation than ever before, although it seems that tenants are unwilling to take out contracts for a full twelve months, with one landlord struggling to get even shorter terms “the majority of people contact me to rent for one or two months.”

Pressure From Pupose Built Halls

Many of the landlords surveyed said that they felt increased pressure from new purpose built student villages found in many city centres; more than 8% of those surveyed would eradicate those villages if we gave them one wish! 2% of landlords are afraid that their properties were not close enough to ‘hotspots’ and so would soon be abandoned in favour of more central locations.

Unpaid Rent

11% of businesses struggle with unpaid rent, while 2% note that this messes with their cash flow and although some are sympathetic to the issues caused by the Student Loans Company, most are fixed on the bigger picture; “a lot of time is spent chasing payment. Students seem to think that it is not always necessary for them to pay their rent.” This coupled with tenants excessively using all inclusive utilities means that businesses are less profitable. One landlord’s wish was simply that we could ‘undo the recession’ as 8 different landlords complained of increases to the cost of maintaining their properties to a decent standard.

Relax Regulations

Bogged down with HMO paperwork and expense? Over 18% of those surveyed would love to change or relax the regulations and the council powers to control them. One landlord stated; “there should be a national guide for HMO legislation.” Some landlords feel so strongly about HMO licensing that they named specific city councils or even actual councillors as their biggest fear for the future. 3 landlords said they had qualms about council schemes to shift populations from one area of a city to another, and how it would affect their business.

Worries Over Tuition Fee Increase

Landlords are worried about the tuition fee increase, with more than 14% saying that if they had one wish, they would fight the fees and leave the system as it stands, a worry which probably contributes to 13% of them saying that they feel the future of the market is uncertain, as some students may choose to stay at home to study. Competition from the university owned housing is a headache too, with 4% saying an increase in that sort of accommodation would be detrimental to their ability to let.

Problems With Advertising

Landlords raised the issue of advertising, when to do it and how the culture of marketing lets so early can damage the business, with nearly 5% of landlords thinking there should be a guideline that means property is marketed in January and not before. 4% thought university accommodation offices charged them too much for advertising, and 5% would like to see cheaper, and more effective advertising available to them.

Deposit Protection Unfair

Some landlords were concerned that the existing Deposit Protection Scheme did not offer them enough scope to reclaim money for damage to their properties. Eight separate landlords would like to see the entire system revised, with 1% of those surveyed listing it as their biggest problem. A case from the survey highlights the DPS’s flaws; “£1500 worth of damage but ex tenants refuse to give consent to DPS to pay the landlord.” And some feel that from a legal standpoint the law does not protect them, 3% of landlords would like to see more legislation to protect the financial interests of the landlord.

Worries Over The Potential Drop In Student Numbers

And what of the future of the student property market? More than half of those surveyed were very worried about the potential drop in student numbers next year, with one landlord summing up the problems this will create; “if student numbers drop because of the £9,000 a year course fees then we might see empty houses, lower rents or both.” A worry shared by 3% of those surveyed, who fear the contraction in the market will mean a forced reduction of rents, while other suggested offering shorter term contracts or starting to appeal to the housing benefit market was the only way to keep the business afloat.

No Problems At All

But this isn’t the full picture. Almost 9% of those surveyed have no major problems with the lettings market, their tenants or filling their properties. One landlord is more than happy with his tenants; “we enjoy our students. We pride ourselves in helping them learn how to care for and run the house. We regard them as ‘professionals-in-training’ and teach them what they should reasonably expect from a landlord and what they should reasonably do as a tenant.” One respondent would use a magic wand to change the public’s attitude towards students; “they tend to live in larger houses that are too big for modern families and therefore almost act as guardians for some of our most impressive architecture. They should be seen as a positive part of any community.”

Top 5 biggest fears for the future Number of responses Percentage
Fewer students in the future 101 54%
Student villages 15 8%
Legislation increasing workload 15 8%
Unpaid rent due to fees 10 5%
Universities moving into market 8 4%
Top 5 current biggest problems Number of responses Percentage
Bad tenants 51 13.6%
Uncertainty for the future 49 13.1%
Finding tenants 48 12%
Unpaid rent 41 11%
HMOs 17 4.5%

No Letting Go are working with a number of student letting agents and bodies around the UK to help protect both landlords and tenants from many of the issues arising from cleanliness and deposit protection. Better use of Inventory services, checking tenants in, property visits and managing the check out is critical to ensuring that potential problems are dealt with in advance and issues arising from check outs are dealt with quickly and efficiently. Contact No Letting Go on 0800 881 5366 or find your nearest office at www.nolettinggo.co.uk

Compiled by Emma Parker New Student – Student Housing Magazines – www.newstudent.co.uk

TDS state that the following percentage awards (in terms of deposits held) were made during 2010

Percentage of awards made to tenant – 56%

Percentage of awards made to landlord – 42%

Percentage of awards made to agents – 2%

The lack of landlord generated accurate paperwork seems to still be a problem.

TDS state that in 2009/10 the top three causes of disputes were as follows:

Cleaning – found in 46% of complaints

Damage – found in 29% of complaints

Redecoration – found in 24% of complaints