Frost's blog

Running our busy property management department is no easy task.  With ever changing legislation, having to work around the various restrictions of the last year whilst protecting the interest of our landlords, our Head of Property Management; Melanie Hughes is a busy lady!

The English Housing Survey is a national survey of housing conditions and energy efficiency in England.   New data, just released, provides the findings from the 2019-20 survey which shows a dramatic rise in the energy efficiency of private rental property.   Some 38 per cent of homes in the private rented sector and 36 per cent of owner occupied homes were in EPC bands A to C in 2019 - that’s up from 13 per cent and eight per cent respectively in 2009.  

Whilst there is no legal requirement for landlords to take out a dedicated insurance policy, (although most buy-to-let mortgages come with the condition that you have to have it) a conventional home insurance policy will not cover you for rental activities.   Furthermore, if you have a mortgage on your property, it is more than likely your mortgage lender will require you to take out insurance before you take on tenants.

The Landlords safety pack will include 3 risk assessments covering the key issues of:   Legionella Risk Assesment  HHSRS (Housing Health & Safety Rating System) and  Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Testing.   Detailed reports on each risk assessment will be provided upon completion, together with any identified works required.

From September 2021, the Government banned the sale of halogen light bulbs and from September 2023, legislation will also include the removal of fluorescent lights from shelves in a bid to tackle climate change.    

The Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017 claimed 72 lives, and exposed the dangers of inflammable cladding on residential tower blocks, and has become known as 'The Cladding Scandal'.  This triggered calls for changes to UK building regulations and the strengthening of fire safety measures.  

Meet Cherry Maddern, our move in progressor.  Cherry joined us in November last year, bringing a wealth of experience and superb customer focused approach from a career within the lettings market.  

Covid-19 may have left some tenants struggling to pay their rent, and this new law will ensure they have some "breathing space", giving them time to find a way to pay off their debts.  The Debt Respite Scheme came into effect from 4 May 2021.  

This month we wanted to highlight Sophie Hutchinson, our newly appointed Lettings Manager for St Albans.  Sophie lives locally in the area and has worked within the property industry for over 9 years, been with Frosts for almost 6 years, and  gained a huge wealth of property knowledge during this time.

Like every business Frost’s have been through a tumultuous year, ensuring we have protected our staff and clients has been central in decisions we have taken and with the restrictions on social distancing providing us less office space then we would need a lot of our staff have like many elsewhere have been working from home over the last year. As we look to regain some normality, we are delighted to inform you that we have taken a temporary office in St Albans in order to allow our entire property management team to return to work.

Properties with gardens have been extremely sought after since the start of lockdown. When it comes to renting a property with a garden, landlords and tenants can get easily confused with what’s required from both parties and this can cause confusion at the end of the tenancy.  

If you are thinking of investing into property, or are already a landlord, you may be thinking of engaging the services of a Property Management Company rather than managing it yourself.  Rental properties are subject to an increasing amount of legislation and compliance, and as a landlord you have responsibilities towards your tenants that you cannot afford to ignore.