Apr

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Word of the day is ‘apricate’ (17th century): to revel in the warmth of the sun on your back.

Dear All,

Following on from last weeks email the feed back has been very welcome about fair wear and tear. “During the pandemic and lockdown – does the guidance time scales still apply?” As Professor Jason Leitch would say “that’s a really good question.”

It is such a good question when I was in a virtual coffee and catch up with the Scottish Association of Landlords chief executive John Blackwood it was a topic of conversation! Unfortunately there is no definitive answer in legislation to make provision for the fact that the property would be inhabited more and it would be a common sense judgement on how much wear and tear would have happened over the past 13 months of constant habitation.

I do hope to have a fuller answer at some point.

Lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and eviction ban

The First Minister announced further dates for the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in a speech to parliament on 16March. Our guidance on these restrictions remains unchanged for now.

The First Minister expects Scotland to return to the levels system of lockdown restrictions on 26 April with all areas of Scotland expected to move to level 3 or lower. In level 3, this would mean that non-essential activities like property inspections and non-essential maintenance/repair works could resume from that date.

The First Minister also stated that from 17 May she hopes the whole of Scotland will be in level 2. The eviction ban, which prevents sheriff officers enforcing eviction orders issued by the tribunal, only applies in areas subject to level 3 and 4 restrictions so it is likely that evictions will be able to resume from 17 May.

New 20 year housing strategy paper published

Following a public consultation and engagement with key stakeholder groups, the Scottish Government has published a paper setting out its strategy for housing policy over the next 20 years. The paper sets out the government’s vision for all tenures of housing; owner occupied and social rented sector housing as well the private rented sector.

For the private rented sector the government’s main intentions are as follows:

to reform existing Rent Pressure Zone legislation to ensure local authorities combat unreasonably high rents in localised areas;
to put in place mechanisms to collect robust data on the Scottish private rented sector;
to introduce pre-action protocols on a permanent basis in the private rented sector, requiring landlords to work with tenants prior to taking eviction action;
to ensure that joint tenants experiencing domestic abuse can end a joint tenancy in the private rented sector and, where appropriate, can remain in the family home as a sole tenant;

to review and consider potential reforms to the current grounds for repossession under the Private Residential Tenancy, assessing what is the correct balance between maintaining tenancies wherever possible and landlords’ rights;
to review the existing registration and regulation regimes within the private rented sector and consult on any proposals to strengthen them where needed;
to bring forward regulations requiring private rented sector properties to achieve an equivalent of EPC C by 2028 (exemptions will apply for properties where this is not technically feasible or not cost effective)

The full wording of the strategy can be read here.

The government has committed to working with stakeholder groups, including SAL, in implementing their proposals and we will keep members updated as always with any developments and opportunities for members to have their say.

Landlord Focus magazine published

The new spring issue of Landlord Focus magazine has been published. You can read Landlord Focus online via this link

Landlord Focus is the leading publication for all involved in private sector letting in Scotland. It is published three times per year in March, July and October. All content is written from a Scottish perspective making this specialist journal unique and I will freely admit often a spring board for these weekly emails, so you may feel deja vous.

Landlord Registration – Landlords & Agents Newsletter (glasgow.gov.uk)

Last Wednesday you may have received an email from landlord registration. If you did not, can you check your landlord registration details on https://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk/ as your registration may have lapsed.

Property Condition and Tenancy Management mandatory requirements

At the commencement of a tenancy and throughout the period of any tenancy, your property must meet certain physical standards and the management of the tenancy must also meet acceptable standards.

Please click on the easy to read guide – Registration Requirements to ensure you are meeting the required standards.

It should be noted that the responsibilities placed on landlords have not been suspended by the Scottish Government. Landlords must therefore continue to take steps to maintain their properties to meet acceptable standards and ensure the tenancy is properly managed.

Landlord Registration Fees increase from 01 April 2021

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=52932&p=0

Link to new rates Landlord Registration Fees

The French ‘retrouvailles’ [ruh–troov-eye]: the joy of reuniting with someone after a very long time, with hope we will be able to meet up with friends and family soon, even if it is a socially distanced garden cup of tea.

Please remember we have closed our laptops Friday and Monday to focus on easter egg hunts, but today the focus is on not being the fool!

“April fool, n. The March fool with another month added to his folly. Ambrose Bierce”

Kindest Regards

Michelle O’Donnell

Branch Manager

077 2000 9850

17 Elmbank Street

Glasgow

G2 4PB

0141 221 3990

Registration number LARN1903009

VAT : 174415411

SC345735

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Landlord email Thursday 1st April - Covid restrictions, housing strategy and April fool