Category: Facilities

The government’s plans for the rental market will see some big changes in the coming years. In fact, landlords have started to make their homes more energy-efficient. Rental properties must already have an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) rating of band E or better.

However, the government wishes for rental properties to be better insulated and rated in band C by 2026 for all new tenancies. Existing tenancies have until 2028 but for landlords with a large property portfolio, that means beginning to consider changes now.

Data from March 2021 shows that 63% of existing dwellings have an energy efficiency rating of D or worse. This represents a considerable chunk of the property market and presents a challenge to landlords to improve their ratings. It may even see some landlords step away from the rentals market as the costs involved to upgrade their ratings no longer make it financially viable.

Proposed rental reforms plan to introduce lifetime deposits for tenants and to ban Section 21 evictions. The introduction of this bill has been delayed due to the pandemic but it is expected to be published in 2022. So, what can landlords do to tackle these proposed changes and make their properties more compliant?

Making homes more energy efficient

Landlords have an extra year to ensure their new-let properties achieve band C after it was extended from 2025 to 2026. That still requires plenty of work to be done to upgrade the efficiency of these homes. And, the 2028 deadline date for existing lettings looms large. A fifth of landlords have already improved their energy ratings and here are some ways to improve yours.

Bolstering insulation

One of the easiest ways to make your property more energy-efficient is to improve insulation. Poorly insulated windows, walls, doors and roofs cause the largest amount of heat loss in the home. Windows, doors and walls contribute to approximately 35% of heat loss, while the roof is estimated to lose a further 25% of generated heat.

Heat escaping from poorly insulated homes is incredibly inefficient as it costs so much more to keep heating a room. Rather, retaining the generated heat for longer means tenants can lower their heating bills and therefore their costs of living.

With the costs of living beginning to spiral to the point of unaffordability for many, it’s important landlords make their homes efficient for their tenants. Ways to upgrade your insulation include replacing windows and doors, and taking the time to insulate your roof.

Regular servicing of boilers

Energy efficiency comes in many forms but one of the best ways to improve your property’s rating is through regular servicing of your boiler. If your property’s boiler is over 10 years old then it’s worth looking into its efficiency. This might mean replacing the entire boiler or just installing newer parts to ensure it is running smoothly. The same applies to homes that use oil tanks for heating.

“Annual boiler services remove sludge deposits that can clog your system, increasing heating costs and reducing heating efficiency”, says oil tank experts, SG Tanks. “If your boiler is well past its best, investing in a modern and better model is the way to go. Modern boilers are more energy-efficient and fail less often than old ones”.

Look at your lighting

One of the aspects of a property that EPC surveys check is the lighting. An assessor looks at the number of fixed light fittings plus how many low energy light bulbs are fitted. Low energy lightbulbs include CFT and LEDs.

“The average LED lasts 50,000 operating hours to 100,000 operating hours or more”’ says LED light installation company Stouch Lighting. “That is 2-4 times as long as most fluorescent, metal halide, and even sodium vapour lights”.

LED light bulbs, for instance, require just 3.3 watts to produce 400 lumens which is the equivalent of a 50-watt incandescent bulb. To put the costs into perspective, that 50-watt incandescent bulb, running at 8 hours a day, would cost £21.90 to run for a year if you are charged 15p per kWh.

The LED bulb, by comparison, costs just £1.45 per year for the same usage and rate. Now, consider how many bulbs are in your property and do the maths on the savings tenants could make on their yearly energy bills.

Preparing for the proposed rental reforms

While there are things we can do to improve how energy-efficient rental properties are, it’s a tougher task to prepare yourself for the incoming rental reforms. Although the rental reform bill hasn’t come into effect yet, one of the biggest challenges to come from it will be the proposed abolishing of Section 21. This section allows landlords to end rolling tenancies with two months notice without giving a reason.

Legally evicting tenants will become much more difficult so it’s important for landlords to be satisfied with the people living in their properties. This might mean introducing a stricter background check process that gives you a better indication of who is moving in.

Another proposed change to the rental industry is the removal of security deposits for tenants. Instead, a ‘lifetime deposit’ will be introduced that is supposed to stay with the tenant, wherever they move to. This could make it harder to withhold a security deposit and require better evidence of the tenant doing something against their terms of tenancy.

Speculation surrounding the Renter’s Reform Bill includes proposals for an independent industry regulator or a national landlord database. Both would require the actions of landlords to be better documented.

Further rental reform proposals

The government is looking to give renters more of what they want and further proposals include:

• Making it easier to rent with pets

• Better enforcement on criminal landlords

• Making open-ended tenancies the norm

Landlords may no longer have the peace of mind of knowing that their tenant is going to occupy their property for a certain period if open-ended tenancies become the norm. That might mean putting procedures in place to replace tenants unexpectedly. This could be done by associating yourself with an agency or creating a bigger financial buffer to cope with the loss of income.

Renters looking for a property that allows pets have struggled in the past and the new proposals would seek to change that. It is implied that landlords will have to object to pet requests in writing and this can only be rejected if there is a ‘good reason’. An example of a ‘good reason’ would be if the property is too small and the pet’s introduction would be impractical.

Households bought 3.2 million pets during lockdown, creating a huge rise in demand for pet-friendly living. It’s something to prepare for in advance by introducing more durable flooring, enclosed gardens and less exposed electrical cables into your properties.

In today’s day and age of technological advancements, smart properties are becoming more and more popular throughout the UK.

However, while advances in technology may generally be seen as a good thing, the increased connectivity of smart devices can create a haven for wannabe hackers, creating all sorts of vulnerabilities when fitted incorrectly.

For property managers, landlords and letting agents, taking advantage of smart tools and installing them with security in mind is crucial. As such, when it comes to installing a smart property or using smart-home technology, it is imperative to consider all these potential challenges – especially from a security point of view.

Here are some helpful hints and tips around property technology to help you manage and install smart-home technology and facility-management devices more safely.

Don’t make outdoor smart devices obvious

With reasons to prioritise building security already, the chances are that you will have fitted a fair few video doorbells and smart cameras in recent times. However, did you know that – while they may have been designed to make properties more secure – certain reports have found they can actually do the opposite?

According to Consumer Reports, video doorbells were found to have more than 11 security vulnerabilities, potentially exposing homeowners and property managers to issues like hacking and data breaches. What’s more, while video doorbells may have been used to deter burglars, certain wannabe criminals have recently been specifically targeting homes with video doorbells, believing them to be a sign of wealth.

As such, you should use this knowledge to your advantage, installing doorbells and smart cameras in areas of the home that are out of sight yet retain a clear view of the front of the property.

If you haven’t done so already, it is also time to take advantage of other low-cost, but valuable contactless technology. To keep track of key security, download a simple and smart key fob solution on your smartphone to know instantly what a certain key is for and who is responsible for its use. Such essential smartphone technology can benefit facility supervisors, agents and property managers alike.

In general, you should encourage your client to make improvements to their property’s security, ensuring their Wi-Fi network is set to private and that they are using a strong password as a sign in for the smart devices’ associated software.

Isolate smart networks

Smart devices are defined as ‘smart’ for a reason, utilising the latest technology to stay interconnected with other devices around the home.

However, while it may be easier to set properties up with one continuous network, it’s important – from a security perspective – to isolate smart networks from existing networks within the property.

Say, for example, you are setting up the security profile for a smart fridge. By creating this as its own isolated network, this will – in turn – render it unable to access the client’s emails or bank account details should anyone manage to infiltrate it, since it will be operating separately from the network housing that information.

Likewise, improving the router setup in a property will significantly improve the security profile of the smart property network. Regular routers often fail to offer decent security features, making it a good investment to purchase a replacement that is capable of identifying and combatting any potential threats.

Going one step further, it could also be worth getting a professional in to do a penetration test or ethically hack the existing smart home setup. This, as a result, will help identify any existing vulnerabilities, enabling you to source the relevant solutions.

Smartphone vulnerability

When setting up a smart property, all the devices will need to be connected to a smartphone of some kind. As such, it stands to reason that, the less secure this smartphone is, the more vulnerable it will be as well. Therefore, it’s imperative to set smartphones up in a way that is as safe and secure as possible – even in the event of being stolen.

From simple things like updating to the latest security patches to investing in fully-fledged smartphone-based security software, there are a wide number of things you can do to protect smartphones against potential hacks.

However, while it may sound fairly obvious, one of the most effective things you can do is ensure strong passwords are being used across the smart home network – whether that be on each individual smart device app or on the home screen itself.

This defence, coupled with a router system that has its firewall enabled, its main computer account set to an administrator-level and WPA authentication turned on, will provide your client with the best possible defence against potential smartphone-focused hacks.