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Call for landlords to encourage tenants to attend check-out
The UK's landlords must encourage
their tenants to attend a check-out
at the end of a tenancy.
This is the call from the Association
of Independent Inventory Clerks
(AIIC), which says that if more tenants
attended check-outs, there would be
fewer deposit disputes between both
sides of the rental transaction.
A check-out takes place at the
end of a tenancy and provides the
landlord or their letting agent with the
opportunity to record the condition of
the rental property in comparison to
when the tenants arrived.
The AIIC's plea comes in response to
data released by the Deposit Protection
Service in July, which suggested that
48% of tenants had not attended their
check-out.
What's more, some 46% of those who
didn't attend said they had either not
been invited or were not informed of
the date or time.
According to the AIIC, this is where
landlords and their letting agents must
ensure they are holding up their side of
the bargain.
“We were disappointed to see that so
many tenants didn't attend check-out
and that almost half of these nonattendees were not invited or made
aware of the arrangements,” comments
Pat Barber, Chair of the AIIC.
“We are urging landlords and their
agents to invite and remind their
tenants about their check-out. It is
an extremely important part of the
inventory process and a successful
inventory can go a long way to
reducing the likelihood of a dispute at
the end of a tenancy.”
“As always, we advise landlords and
letting agents to utilise the services
of an independent inventory clerk
in order to maintain impartiality and
professionalism,” she adds.
Agents' concern over carbon monoxide alarm deadline
The timetable given for the
implementation of new rules
governing the compulsory use of
carbon monoxide alarms in the
private rented sector has come
under fire from letting agents.
The Association of Residential Letting
Agents (ARLA) say that many landlord
and letting agents will struggle to
meet the October 1st deadline to
install alarms in designated spaces.
David Cox, Managing Director of the
comments on the passing of the Smoke
and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England)
Regulations 2015 in Parliament: “Whilst
ARLA is entirely supportive of the
aims of the regulations, we remain
concerned that the Government has
ignored calls from across the private
rented sector to reconsider the
timeframe for its implementation.
“Following final scrutiny of the
measures yesterday in the House of
Lords, landlords have until the 1st
October 2015 to ensure that all tenancies
have a smoke alarm fitted on every
floor of their property where there is
a room used wholly or partly as living
accommodation. They will also be
required to put a carbon monoxide alarm
in any room where a solid fuel is burnt.
“Whilst these measures are entirely
sensible, ARLA is concerned that
landlords will not have enough time
to comply with the requirements, as
10 Landlord & Buy-to-Let Issue 61 • September 2015
it is simply impracticable for letting
agents, who may manage a huge
amount of properties, to gain access
to the properties and to install these
alarms on behalf of their clients in the
timeframe allotted.
“On behalf of its members, ARLA has
written to the Government on this issue
to raise its concerns and suggested
that all existing tenancies should
be allowed to have until 1st January
2016 to comply. We were encouraged
to see that Lord Marlesford showed
support for our proposals in Parliament
and again put our suggestion to
the Government.
“However, despite our efforts it
appears that the Government will now
go ahead and implement the new
requirements as planned. We urge our
members to ensure that they do all
they can to ensure that their properties
comply with the new regulations
before the measures come into effect.”