Legal blog

03/05/2006 Solving landlord-tenant disputes

The government-backed Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) runs tribunals that are able to resolve a range of housing related disputes.

These tribunals are quicker and cheaper than the County Court system and are available locally to landlords, leaseholders and tenants alike. Applications cost between £50 and £500 depending on the nature of the dispute. Certain disputes can be resolved free of charge.

The RPTS is one of 70 tribunals in England and Wales. It is able to settle a wide range of disputes, including disputes over rents and some assured tenancies, as well as issues regarding leasehold enfranchisement and service charges.

The RPTS is strictly impartial and every case it handles is decided on its merits.

Hearings take place locally or at one of RPTS’s five regional offices. If applicants have mobility problems, panel hearings can even be held in their own homes. Panels are typically made up of a valuer, a lawyer and a lay person. Seventy percent of disputes are heard within 20 weeks or, in urgent cases, even sooner. Panel members usually undertake property inspections.

The service is both efficient and cost-effective. You don’t have to hire a lawyer or valuer to represent you as the hearings are semi-formal and user-friendly, although you may appoint a lawyer at your own expense if you wish.

The RPTS’s powers were extended as a result of the Commonhold & Leasehold Reform Act 2002. Leasehold Valuation Tribunals, which form part of the Residential Property Tribunal Service, now have the
ability to settle disputes on service charges, the right to manage, admin charges and variation of leases.

RPTS National Helpline 0845 600 3178
Regional office 020 7446 7700

26/06/2006 HMO rules introduced

Landlords who have a house in multiple occupation (HMO) will soon have to conform to new rules

Mandatory licensing for HMO landlords aims to raise standards of accommodation in the private rented sector. HMOs provide essential affordable housing for many tenants who need it. HMO licensing is intended to ensure that all these properties enjoy a decent minimum standard of management.

Raising standards of management will benefit tenants and the wider community as well as landlords who already manage their properties well. Collectively, badly managed properties can drive down values in an area, which many landlords find frustrating.

Who do the new standards affect?

Landlords letting the largest HMOs, those on three or more storeys with five or more people in two or more households living in them, must apply for a mandatory licence. Some councils may choose to license landlords with smaller HMOs as well.

For the purposes of licensing a household comprises any tenants who are members of the same family8 living together including couples (whether married or not), relatives and half-relatives or step-relatives, adopted and fostered children. A group of friends sharing a house will not be a single household.

How do I get a licence?

You should contact your local authority for an application form. The local authority will grant a licence if it is satisfied that:

The proposed licence holder and any manager of the property is a fit and proper person
Proper management standards are being applied at the property
The HMO is reasonably suitable, or can be made suitable, for occupation by the number of tenants allowed under the licence. To determine this the local authority will consider the number, type and quality of bathrooms, toilets and cooking facilities available for the occupants.

How much will it cost?

Each local authority will set its own fee level for licence applications. You should contact the local authority for the area where your properties are situated to find out the cost of licensing them. Licensing fees should reflect the actual costs of licensing a property, with a fee structure that is fair and transparent.

03/05/2006 Exchange and completion

Exchange of contracts and completion are the two main events in the legal process regarding property purchase.

Exchanging contracts

Once you are ready to proceed with a sale (you are happy with the survey results and the right finance is winging its way in your direction) your solicitor will carry out all the necessary searches, which exist to check that there are no hidden issues that might affect your decision to purchase (such as a motorway planned for the bottom of your garden), that the property you are buying is the one you have actually looked at and offered on, that there are no problems on the deeds, that everything you expect is included in the sale and so on. Once the small print is sorted out and the contract terms agreed, the solicitor will draw up a contract and you will agree with the vendor a date when contracts will be exchanged.

Exchanging is a very important moment because from this time the sale becomes binding – the seller must sell, the buyer must buy and everything must be done at the price set out in the contract. Until contracts are exchanged nothing is binding – either party can walk away from the transaction with no penalty. At the time contracts are exchanged a deposit is handed over from the buyer's solicitors to the seller's solicitors (with the balance handed to be over on the completion date). So by the exchange date you should ensure that you have your deposit monies ready, that you have all the papers on your building insurance and that you have been given all the answers to your queries on the property.

Completion

Completion is the date that ownership of the property passes from the seller to the buyer and the full amount of the purchase price (minus any deposit) will be transferred between the solicitors. The seller and buyer should agree a preferred date for completion through their respective solicitors. If, however, there are unforeseen delays – for example, if a mortgage offer does not come through in time or the 'cash buyer' turns out to have a dependant sale – then the completion date may have to be revised.

For this reason you should not make any firm commitments such as giving notice on a job, arranging removals or making holiday bookings without first contacting the solicitor so that they can advise whether or not you are in a position to do so.

Only when contracts are exchanged and a completion date is fixed can you be virtually guaranteed that the completion date will be met. On the agreed completion date the two sides' solicitors swap the keys and the deposit. You can now move in.

HotProperty.co.uk

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