Every time new regulation is brought in for the lettings industry, compliant agents lose valuable time and earn less, said a leading supplier to the lettings industry.
Rajeev Nayyar said that his motivation is to keep agents’ costs down while helping them comply.
“But the real difficulty for agents is not just complying with the law but proving they have done so,” he said.
Nayyar, who came up with the revolutionary repairs reporting tool Fixflo, has now launched a new service to help agents to comply with the complex new Section 21 requirements that relate to the provision of documents to tenants.
The two dovetail, since an agent that has not complied with the prescribed process after a tenant’s request to make repairs could be unable to serve a Section 21. Fixflo is designed to address the way agents comply with repairs, whereas Letflo deals with the wider issue of Section 21 notices.
Nayyar said: “As I went round the country talking to agents, it became clear that even if they were fully compliant about repairs, the next step was still to make sure that the rest of Section 21 requirements had been met.
“Since the Deregulation Act last year, this has become even more difficult for agents because there are just so many things to get right.
“If something isn’t right in an accelerated proceedings application, Judges are likely to throw it out and agents have to start from scratch again.
“A number of people working in lettings are experienced and knowledgeable, and know exactly what they are doing in terms of Section 21 paperwork.
“There are often one or two such people in most agencies, but the difficulty comes when they are off ill or on holiday.
“Also, most work today is done by email, but much of the legislation pre-dates email.
“Our new service is designed to provide a step-by-step guide through the whole Section 21 process, and to provide absolute proof that the agent was compliant when it came to serving the right documents at the right time.”
He added: “We provide agents with a white-labelled pack which they can show landlords to prove they are legally watertight.”
David Cox, managing director of ARLA, said: “The changes to Section 21 brought about in the Deregulation Act 2015 are a minefield for compliance.
“The most minor error at the start of the tenancy can put landlords and agents in great difficulty should possession proceedings become necessary.
“Any system which assists agents in navigating this complex web of regulation will benefit landlords, tenants and agents alike.”
As a special launch offer for new customers, Letflo is offering five free credits to try the system with no obligation. This offer is available until the end of October.
I guess it is a usefull product for those that have no idea what they are doing and tend to outsource everything, but not to those that are committed to the lettings business.
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The new Sec 21 is not difficult, in fact its pretty simple that even a child at junior school can understand. It sounds more like some agents haven’t bothered to recognise it has changed in ENGLAND (only) or someone is trying sell a story for their business enterprise. If anyone doesn’t understand Sec 21 you shouldn’t be a letting agent. As for ……
David Cox, managing director of ARLA, said: “The changes to Section 21 brought about in the Deregulation Act 2015 are a minefield for compliance. No its not, utter tosh
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I have to disagree on the section 21 changes being as simple as child’s play
lots of potential pitfalls…lets have a quick look:
(a) obligation to serve how to rent guide on renewals and when the tenancy becomes statutory periodic if it has changed since the version given..(which will probably affect those tenancies which started between the dates of the 1st Oct 2015 and 31st Jan 2016
(b) serve a copy of the most recent gas safety record, sounds easy but what happens when the tenant does not let you in to conduct a Gas Safety?
(c) then you have the obligation not to serve in the first four months and ensure you use it within 6 months.
(d) what about retaliatory evictions and the potential interpretations of the court?
add deposit compliance, licencing and the tenant stating that the have not received any infromation at ALL and you have a minefield!!
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I see your point but then again…… (a) isn’t difficult as it is in format you print and issue, (b) I question your understanding of what you can do when a tenant refuses access … that hasn’t changed at all and does not effect Sec 21 notices served. (c) what’s difficult about that? (d) That only applies when you have been served “notice” by local council, period. As to your last paragraph I’m starting to see chinks in what you should be doing with your admin which has been around for years and hasn’t changed at all. If you don’t know what new Sec21 in England is (which it sounds like), read it up. Its not difficult just slightly different. You of course fail to mention the good bit over no longer having to worry about date on notice served on tenant.
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Thanks Woodentop
You must obviously be a judge and an agent
I will send you all my queries for you to intepret the law
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