Warning that Labour will be stricter on lettings compliance

Compliance issues are on the increase in the private rented sector according to a prominent industry supplier.

Inventory and software chief Nick Lyons, the chief executive of No Letting Go and Kaptur, says: “Compliance rarely if ever goes backwards: legislation the same. Landlords and agents have to protect the people in their properties – keeping tenants in a safe environment. Evidence reporting in property such as inventory, smoke alarms, CO alarms, fire door safety are all now basic requirements under property management.

“With extended tenancies, routine property visits are now more important than ever …  Rising rents and the cost of living have meant that tenancies are becoming much longer – there are fewer check-ins and check-outs but there are many more mid-term inspections.

“There is a big emphasis on how often a letting agent or its representative is visiting a property on behalf of the landlord to check on a variety of requirements, including maintaining the property, contract breaches such as subletting and now more than ever compliance, health and safety or socially related issues.

“Nobody wants to be the person that hasn’t provided proof when an issue arises. Nobody wants to say that things haven’t been checked and be found to be negligent in some way”.

Lyons says the new government has a focus on dramatically improving the property market and believes the PRS will inevitably become more regulated.

He continues: “I suspect that a number of additional legislative reforms will come through to protect tenants and evidence will be more critical than ever,” he said.

“We all want to get rid of the rogue landlord end of the property market – the underbelly. That’s not the part of the market we come across professionally because those guys don’t tend to comply, however I believe that the government wants to address this”

“In order to make change and improve, you need to start with the information to hand. You first need to record and document everything. When you’ve got weak evidence, you’re going to get an ambiguous outcome. The better the evidence, the better the outcome – especially during and at the end of a tenancy should there be a dispute of any kind”.

“The work we have done connecting Kaptur reporting technology with No Letting Go’s professional inventory and property reporting clerks all in one click will help to give you access to the right tools or the right people providing over 100 industry reports easily and ensuring you have everything you need.

“This will, in turn, take a positive step towards protecting yourselves, your business and your clients.”