As the government publishes its initial proposal on the new rules that seek to combat rogue managing and letting agents in the private rented and leasehold sectors in England, we take a closer look and what these new rules are really going to mean for residents.
With the view of helping tenants challenge unfair fees and service charges and to crack down on the problem of unexpected costs, deliberately vague bills or poor quality repairs, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government plan to bring in an independent regulator and a code of practice that managing and letting agents will be obliged to sign up to.
It is proposed that the new independent regulator will be responsible for monitoring the practices of agents and will be given strong powers of enforcement against those that fail to comply. Criminal sanctions could also be brought in for those agents that continually or severely breach the code.
One key focus of the code is giving support to residents on switching managing agents when their existing agent fails to perform or breaches the terms of their contract. Most residents feel stuck with their existing agent (that has usually been selected by the original developer or freeholder) and are deliberately kept in the dark on how to change to a more suitable agent. The code focuses on educating leaseholders on how to go about this and will offer support and guidance for any residents that are feeling backed into a corner by their existing agent.
The new code will be developed by a working group comprising representatives of letting, managing and estate agents, as well as tenants and regulation experts, which is a refreshing change. The only current regulatory bodies are made up of directors of the largest managing agent companies in the country, meaning there is a clear conflict of interest between the authoritative body and the companies that they are proposing to regulate.
As well as offering assistance on how to change agents, the group will also examine unfair additional charges for freehold and leaseholders and whether they should be capped or banned. This includes the use of restrictive covenants, leasehold restrictions and administration charges.
Here at Mandeville, we are 100% transparent with service charge costs, make it easy for residents to switch both to and from us and do not incur any additional costs above the already agreed budget without consent from the residents. We therefore very much welcome these new regulations, which should be in place by early 2019, and hope that the new rules will flush out the rogue agents and leave the more professional, ethical, agents in place to look after residents in the way we should.
If you like any further information on these new regulations, on how to switch agents or would just like to chat about any leasehold issues, please do not hesitate to contact us.
