Minimising Risk and Maximising Potential – 5 highlights from the GLM conference 2015
Professional agencies stand ready to meet the challenges of industry change.
The theme of this year's conference was Minimising Risk and Maximising Potential. As many would have expected, discussions homed in on the imminent changes to lettings legislation taking hold in October. Particular hot topics were Section 21, Immigration and the Right to Rent, Smoke Alarms and Legionnaires Disease. Whilst the industry as a whole is struggling to get to grips with the change, the members of the professional bodies seem confident of achieving compliance from day one, and ready to advise landlords of their new responsibilities.
This informal-yet-professional conference was packed full of interesting discussion. Here are my top 5 highlights:
- Everyone knows a rogue agent
- PRS in London is twice the size of Birmingham's total households
- Most people just want complaints put right
- Immigration Act changes look likely to be rolled out further
- Increase in paperwork continues
1. Everyone knows a rogue agent
A show of hands in Paul Shamplina's informative talk, 'How to retain your landlord when a tenancy goes wrong', proved that every delegate could identify an agent in their area who did not meet the ethical standards of a professional body.
The sad fact that there are still so many giving our industry a bad name increases the likelihood of further red tape and regulation remaining on the political agenda; current government not withstanding.
Landlord Action actively encourages landlords to use reputable agents to ensure they can meet their obligations, and believes government should do more to highlight and support the good landlords and agents, whilst making blacklists of those letting the industry down more widely available.
2. The sheer size and scale of the PRS in London continues to set it apart from the rest of the country
My favourite statistic of the day was from Rhona Brown, from the Greater London Authority. There are twice as many households in the private rented sector in London than there are households in any tenure in Birmingham.
When it comes to the challenges of implementing new legislation in the capital, the Greater London Authority fears that the pressure on services, landlords and agents will be significantly greater than in the areas trialled in the West Midlands. As a result, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a call for further trials.
3. Most people just want complaints put right
According to Property Ombudsman, Peter Hamer, 74% of people making complaints to agents just want the issue put right, 44% want an apology and (this one surprised me) only 27% seek financial compensation. Unsurprisingly, the longer a complaint goes on, the more likely it is to move toward a financial conclusion. So, equally unsurprisingly, the message here is simple: the faster a complaint is resolved the better it is for everyone.
4. Immigration Act changes: Wider rollout seems imminent
The results of the trials of the new Immigration Act changes look set to be released soon after parliament returns from recess. Although content of the report was not discussed, it seemed to me as if the Home Office was expecting a positive outcome. This would mean that the new legislation which places increased responsibility on landlords to check the immigration status of future tenants and to evict tenants at the direction of the Home Office, is likely to become effective across England very soon.
Several speakers and delegates expressed concern that the new immigration requirements need to be backed with adequate support, since neither landlords nor agents can be expected to correctly identify all the many different immigration documents a person might have. There is serious risk that vulnerable people may be refused the right to rent, if landlords always err on the side of caution to protect themselves when inspecting immigration documents.
Tim Raymer from the Home Office promised to ensure that the new requirements were well publicised both to landlords and tenants. He also explained the Landlord Checking Service, enabling landlords or agents to confirm the right to rent of an individual whose documents are currently being processed by the Home Office. No response within 2 days can be taken as approval for right to rent.
5. Increased need for tracking, documentation and audit trails
In almost every talk discussing the new industry changes, the speakers described the importance of keeping a good audit trail of your actions, from answering complaints, to checking immigration status. As the world becomes ever more complex, every industry, especially our own, needs to become more able to show that they acted reasonably and responsibility at every interaction with their clients, suppliers and the government. The challenge we face is to do this adequately, whilst at the same time keeping cost overheads low.
This was Keyzapp's first Guild of Lettings and Management conference. It was great to speak with so many people there, many confirming that managing keys can be a huge headache for lettings agents and property managers. It was a very enjoyable conference; warm and friendly with an informal yet professional atmosphere. We'd definitely like to come again in future years.
Image credits: Guild of Letting and Management (Title imagery)
Did you attend the conference? What were your thoughts? What do you think are the main issues for lettings property management professionals to discuss today?
Disclaimer: The above post represents my personal interpretations on what was said and does not necessarily reflect the views of other individuals. If you have any corrections, questions or challenges, please contact me or use the comments below.