The Guild of Property Professionals has been hosting a daily Facebook Live Webinar to both support and advise its members.

Called Guild Live at One, the interactive webinar provides guidance and allows ask questions to be asked.

These are the top questions that Guild members raised, and many other estate and lettings agents might find some of the answers useful.

Can I suspend my minimum marketing period in my agency agreement?

The Guild’s Compliance Officer, Paul Offley says some agents are writing to sellers to suspend the minimum marketing period until such time as lockdown is lifted.

This should only be completed in agreement with the seller and treated as an addendum to the agreement. However, the challenge may be that marketing can continue and virtual viewings can take place.

I have a property which needs to go on the market but can’t get an EPC done. What do I do?

According to the Offley, the Government have provided clear guidance for the production of Energy Performance Certificates.

These can be completed providing Public Health England guidelines are followed.

We have a property where the sellers want to go ahead. What do we do about AML?

“You should continue to adhere to Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations before commencing a business relationship.

Complete your risk assessment on the seller and look at what document you are able to take.

In some cases, look at using electronic AML verification to see if the process can be completed this way. Also, see if they have certified copies which they could supply,” advices Offley.

My tenant is due to leave a property what do I do about the check out and deposit return?

Consider arranging a ‘video’ check out with the tenant using the information available at the commencement of tenancy and the inventory.

Where this is not possible, arrange to visit once the tenant has vacated.

Possibly consider a three-day time lapse, as research has shown that the coronavirus can live on surfaces for up to 72 hours.

Deposit schemes offer excellent guidance on their own websites.

Regarding the grants administered via local authorities for businesses with a premise with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000, what happens if the building is owned rather than rented – is that a factor?

According to Charles Hobley, Group Finance Director, regardless of whether the premises is rented or owned, if the rates payer fits into the £15,000 to £51,000 bracket they should be entitled to get the grant.

He adds that if agents haven’t done so already, they should look up their rates invoice to check the value and details, and then contact their local council.

With PI and business insurance, is there a clause that provides us cover in the event that some is made redundant?

There is no cover for redundancy payments as such. If you are referring to employee grievances, no there is not.

You would need Employment Practice Liability which covers employment tribunals for wrongful dismissal, racial discrimination and the like.

If a staff member is furloughed and we want them to return before the three weeks is up, I assume this is entirely acceptable, however, I would also assume that restricts an employer from re-furloughing that member of staff again for a period of time?

Head of Employee Engagement and Development, Jennifer Scott-Reid, says that employees can be furloughed multiple times, however, the minimum time they can be furloughed is three weeks for each occasion they are furloughed.

They cannot return to work or undertake any work or services within this three-week period.

If there is no work for employees, they would remain furloughed.

You can rotate employees on furlough if this is a fairer system for your staff, although you need to stick to the minimum three-week rule for each time an employee is designated on furloughed leave.

It is indicated that staff are on furlough for two weeks of a month and then can have one week’s holiday pay at full rate. Can they be furloughed for three weeks and then have the fourth week as holiday?

The government are silent on annual leave and holiday for employees who are on furloughed leave, therefore we are unsure of what position the government will take.

If we rely on European Legislation, which the UK should still be bound by until at least December 2020, you have to give employees twice as much notice of the annual leave you want to insist they take.

Therefore, you could give them two weeks’ notice and the third week could be taken as annual leave.

If they remain on furloughed leave while also on annual leave you would only need to top up the CJRS to full pay for the time they are on holiday, rather than taking them off furloughed leave and paying the full amount.

The same may apply for holiday the employee has booked off.

However, Jennifer Scott-Reid stressed again that this has not been clarified by the government and the position could change.

Can workers have access to office systems while on furlough? Can you confirm what they can and cannot access while on furlough?

According to Scott-Reid, furloughed employee’s emails should be forwarded to either a central point or another member of staff.

They can keep in contact with the business via Microsoft Teams or other similar platforms for communication purposes, such as the CEO giving an update or social events or podcasts/webinars for wellbeing, but they shouldn’t be accessing office systems.