World Plumbing Day is an international event, initiated by the World Plumbing Council, held on 11 March each year to recognize the important role plumbing plays in societal health and amenity.
“ Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.” – Oprah Winfrey.
“ Work hard, be kind and amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien
I’m not going to school just for the academics. I wanted to share ideas, and be around people who are passionate about learning – Emma Watson
Schools back this week!!!!!
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Dear all,
I was sent the below link from my sons school, which I think has quite useful tips and guidance with regards to starting back at school, but also tips on how to keep sane while we are entering the next stage of this new way of living.
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/support-hub/back-to-school
The team at Glasgow property letting are delighted to announce a merger with DB letting and hope for a smooth process and we welcome our new landlord clients and look forward to working together.
Landlord registration fee increase
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From the 1 April 2021 there will be a slight increase in the fees payable in regards to the principal fee and the late application fee. Both shall rise by £1 to £67.00 and £133.00 respectively. The property fee remains at £15.00. This means the cost of renewing or creating a new registration is now £82.00.
| Fee Type | |||
| Principal | Property | Late Application | |
| 2020-21 | £66 | £15 | £132 |
| 2021-22 | £67 | £15 | £133 |
| Difference | +£1 | 0 | +£1 |
I would recommend logging into your landlord registration now to check when it is due for renewal and using your landlord portal within the Glasgow property letting software to check the certificates and renew if you can.
Extension to eviction ban and longer notice periods
As expected, the government has confirmed its intention to extend the current coronavirus legislation relating to evictions. The legislation makes all evictions discretionary and requires landlords to adhere to longer notice periods when ending a tenancy. The provisions will be extended until 30 September 2021.
The government has also extended the ban on enforcing eviction orders until 30 September. This ban only applies in level 3 and 4 areas so it will be permitted to enforce eviction orders in areas which move into lower levels of restrictions. A list of which level each local authority area is in can be found here. The list will be updated as restrictions ease.
Whilst this is disappointing news, the government has advised Scottish Association of Landlords that these provisions will be regularly reviewed over the next six months. SAL will lobby for a relaxation of the requirements as the public health emergency decreases.
Below is a list of key landlord/letting agent activities and how they are impacted by the lockdown restrictions.
Working from home
As you know the Glasgow Property Letting team are all working from our respective homes as the guidance is “If you are able to work from home, you must do so wherever possible”. It is for business owners to decide which aspects of their employees’ work can or cannot be carried out from home. However, the government has stated that if employees were working from home during the first lockdown they should be working from home now. Another reasonable excuse for leaving home is to undertake activities in connection with the maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that you own or are responsible for.
Home moves and viewing
People can move home but it is advisable to postpone viewings of properties and delay home moves, where this is possible.
Repairs & maintenance
Tradespeople should only go into a house to carry out or deliver essential work or services, for example:
- to carry out utility (electricity, gas, water, telephone, broadband) safety checks, repairs, maintenance and installations
- to carry out repairs and maintenance that would otherwise threaten the household’s health and safety
- to deliver, install or repair key household furniture and appliances such as washing machines, fridges and cookers
- to support a home move, for example furniture removal.
When carrying out essential work in someone’s house, tradespeople should stay 2 metres apart from the people who live there, wear a face covering and follow good hand and respiratory hygiene.
Safety checks
These should continue to take place to obtain safety certificates.
Property inspections
Routine inspections at tenanted properties are not essential and should be postponed until the area is removed from level 4 restrictions.
The Scottish Government’s guidance for landlords and letting agents can be found here and guidance on moving home can be found here.
For all other levels of restriction in Scotland (3 and lower) there are no changes to the guidance and all normal landlord/letting agent activities can take place.
A list of the restrictions each local authority area is subject to can be found here.
New tenants who plan to travel from England or other countries
The current travel ban between Scotland and other countries has a number of exemptions which can be found at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2020/344/schedule/7A and allows travel to “move home or undertake activities in connection with the maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for”. Although it is advisable to postpone house moves in level 4 areas if possible, they can still take place if necessary and new tenants can still move to Scotland from other nations for the purposes of a house move.
Council tax: new student exemption
Many landlords have student properties unexpectedly empty as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and could have faced unforeseen council tax costs. This link is to the details of the student let council tax exemption which SAL successfully lobbied politicians to deliver to assist this situation.
Pet clauses in tenancy agreements
You may have read in the news that the English model tenancy agreement has recently been revised to encourage landlords to offer greater flexibility in their approach to pet ownership, and enable responsible pet owning tenants to find private landlords who will accept them.
In common with many aspects of letting, Scotland is different.
Scotland operates with its own model tenancy agreement and the wording of the pet clause in this has not changed. The clause states that the tenant will not keep any animals or pets in the let property without the prior written consent of the landlord.
Landlords can edit the wording of this clause if they wish. Many tenants in the private rented sector are permitted by their landlord to keep pets in their home and we encourage landlords to allow this where it is appropriate to ensure that tenants are happy in their home and have companionship.
I am not a pet person, which may not come across as I seem to mention pets and pet clauses frequently, but it is something that seems to come up frequently and is important to tenants, landlords and a huge percentage of people.
Todays is also Oatmeal Nut Waffles Day and Popcorn Lover’s Day, however I can’t eat nuts and not the biggest fan of popcorn, so didn’t feel that should be top bill, but my mum told me that just because it doesn’t affect me directly, doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t find it interesting! Every day is a school day!
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Please send any enquiries to admin@glasgowpropertyletting.com, contact number is 0141 221 3990 and our previous emails can be found at https://glasgowpropertyletting.com/blog/
Take care, stay safe and have a lovely weekend when it comes
Kindest Regards
Michelle O’Donnell
Branch Manager
17 Elmbank Street
Glasgow
G2 4PB
0141 221 3990
Registration number LARN1903009
VAT : 174415411
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