Landlords - Safety Issues and Legislation

Our Lettings Team will ensure that all current legislation is met continuously in respect to safety in your property and will fully advise you on the requirements. We have negotiated a favourable rate for safety testing from reputable local companies and we will be happy to undertake the organisation of the inspections as part of our service provided. The relevant legislations and requirements are summarised below:

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
The owner of any gas installation pipe work and gas appliances must ensure that they are safe prior to letting a property. This involves ensuring that a safety check is completed prior to tenant's occupation, and then every twelve months, by a CORGI Registered Engineer who holds the necessary ACOP certification. The certificate/report produced is held by our company on file and a copy is provided to the tenant.

Further information can be found on www.hse.gov.uk/gas/

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1993)
All upholstery and upholstered furnishings, eg sofas, armchairs, mattresses, pillows, supplied as part of the tenancy must comply with current fire resistance standards. Items such as carpets, curtains and bedding are not included and any furniture manufactured prior to 1950 will be exempt providing that they have not been re-upholstered with an illegal filling. Such furnishings must carry the appropriate permanent labels to show that they comply. Any furnishings which do not comply with the regulations must be removed prior to the start of the tenancy.

Electricity
Whilst the legislation for electrical safety is less explicit than that of gas safety and there is no Corgi equivalent for inspection standards, it is nevertheless a statutory duty for Landlords and Agents to ensure that all electrical wiring and equipment present in a rental property is safe for use and maintained adequately. The two main Acts of Parliament that impose a statutory duty on Landlords with respect to the safety of electrical equipment are:

• The Consumer Protection Act 1987
• The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974

There are also several items of secondary legislation under the umbrella of the Consumer Protection act which are directly relevant to the supply of electrical goods, including:

• The Low Voltage Electical Equipment Regulations 1989
• The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994
• The General Product Safety Regulations 1994
• The Plugs and sockets etc (safety) Regulations 1994

From 1st January 2005, new rules came into force controlling who could carry out certain works on certain electrical installations in a property and the procedures around those works.

The regulations state that a 'competent person' has to carry out works in certain areas of a property and these are known as 'notifiable' works. The competent person can 'self certify' the relevant works and has to provide the client and the local authority building control department, with a copy certificate relating to the 'notifiable' works.

For further information regarding these regulations, please do not hesitate to contact the Residential Lettings Department.

We therefore consider it essential that an electrical safety check is conducted prior to the letting of a property and that a regular inspection programme is implemented.

Oil and Solid Fuel
Although there is no specific legislation which applies to fuels such as oil and solid fuel, we recommend that appliances are serviced regularly to ensure their safety.

Smoke Detectors
Properties built after June 1992 must have mains interlinked smoke detectors on each floor. Older properties do not fall under these regulations, however, we would recommend that a let property have at least one fully operational battery operated detector on each floor as a minimum requirement.

TENANCY DEPOSIT SCHEME

We joined the pilot Tenancy Deposit Scheme for Regulated Agents on the 9th November 2005.

New regulations, under the Housing Act 2004, came into force on the 6th April 2007.

The Act requires anyone - Landlord or Agent - who accepts a deposit for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, to belong to a designated scheme to protect the deposit.

The scheme must also provide a resolution service should a dispute arise about the allocation of the deposit at the end of the tenancy.

The Tenancy Deposit - we are a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which is administered by:

The Dispute Service Ltd
P O Box 541
Amersham
Bucks
HP6 6ZR

Phone   0845 226 7837
Email    deposits@tds.gb.com
Fax       01494 431123

If we are instructed by you to hold the deposit, we shall do so under the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

If you (the Landlord) decide to hold the Deposit yourself, we will transfer it to you within 5 working days of receiving it. You must then register it with another Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme within a further 9 working days if the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. If you fail to do so the Tenant can take legal action against you in the County Court. The Court will make an order stating that you must pay the Deposit back to the Tenant or lodge it with the custodial scheme which is known as the Deposit Protection Scheme. In addition a further order will be made requiring you to pay compensation to the Tenant of an amount equal to three times the Deposit. You will be unable to serve a Section 21 Notice on your Tenant until compliance with the above conditions and the Court will not grant you a possession order. We, as the Agent, have no liability for any loss suffered if you fail to comply.

The Agent holds the tenancy deposits as Stakeholder.

At the end of the tenancy covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme

If there is no dispute we will keep any amounts agreed as deductions where expenditure has been incurred on behalf of the Landord, or repay the whole or the balance of the Deposit according to the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement with the Landlord and Tenant. Payment of the Deposit will be made within 10 working days of written consent from both parties.

If, after 10 working days following notification of a dispute to us and reasonable attempts have been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Landlord and the Tenant over the allocation of the deposit it will (subject to the following paragraph) be submitted to the Independent Case Examiner for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with any adjudication.

When the amount in dispute is over £5,000 the Landlord and the Tenant will agree by signing the Tenancy Agreement to submit the dispute to formal arbitration through the engagement of an arbitrator appointed by the Independent Case Examiner although, with the written consent of both parties, the Independent Case Examiner may at his discretion accept the dispute for adjudication. The appointment of an arbitrator will incur an administration fee, to be fixed by the Board of the Dispute Service Ltd from time to time, shared equally between the Landlord and the Tenant. The liability for any subsequent costs will be dependent upon the award made by the arbitrator.

The statutory rights of either you or the Tenant(s) to take legal action against the other party remain unaffected.

It is not compulsory for the parties to refer the dispute to the Independent Case Examiner for adjudication. The parties may, if either party chooses to do so seek the decision of the Court. However, this process may take longer and may incur further costs. Judges may, because it is a condition of the Tenancy Agreement signed by both parties, refer the dispute back to the Independent Case Examiner for adjudication. If the parties do agree that the dispute should be resolved by the Independent Case Examiner, they must accept the decision of the Independent Case Examiner as final and binding.

If there is a dispute we must remit The Dispute Service Ltd the full deposit, less any amounts already agreed by the parties and paid over to them. This must be done within 10 working days of being told that a dispute has been registered whether or not you or we want to contest it. Failure to do so will not delay the adjudication but The Dispute Service Ltd will take appropriate action to recover the deposit and discipline us.

We must co-operate with the Independent Case Examiner in the adjudication of the dispute and follow any recommendations concerning the method of the resolution of the dispute.

Incorrect Information
The Landlord warrants that all the information he has provided to the Agent is correct to the best of his knowledge and belief. In the event that the Landlord provides incorrect information to the Agent, which causes the Agent to suffer loss or causes legal proceedings to be taken, the Landlord agrees to reimburse and compensate the Agent for all losses suffered.

Further information on terms of business, services, legislation and charges are detailed in our Fees and Terms of Business. Please download a copy now or request a brochure via email.