Update from the Labour Conference on the PRS England

 

Update from the Labour Conference on the PRS England   Dear Landlords, After the Labour conference, we wanted to update you on some feedback. The government is set on its trajectory for the Renters Rights Bill, and they are already well underway with the background work preparing for the raft of regulations that will come with the Bill, for example, details around the Landlord Portal and the Decent Homes Standard. At times like this, the name of the game with lobbying is to focus on constructive feedback on the unintended consequences rather than fight against the concept, which we shall focus our efforts on. There was much talk of net zero and the EPC grade C by 2030. the good news is the proposed modification of the EPC system and the MEES system that underpins the EPC grade will hopefully make things a little more sensible for the specific properties. We hope they will retain a cap of circa £10K and plan to start a consultation on this soon. They have also released details of a new Warm Homes grant scheme to local authorities which if it comes to fruition, will allow Landlords in the PRS access to a fully funded grant of up to 15K to get a property up to a C grade and a potential 15K for low carbon heating. The eligibility is based on the property falling within specific postcodes, or having a low income tenant. The funding will be in full for the first property if it also fulfils the property criteria e.g. it is a band D to G currently (amongst other criteria) but Landlords with more than one property can apply for other properties that fit the rules for 50% funding. There is a limit to this number but it is probably circa 10 – 20 properties). There will of course be an application process and limited funds for councils! To be clear this is not accessible yet. It is at the stage for councils to apply for funding, but it is a useful message for Landlords that the government is planning support measures to help achieve their goals. For those of you who like the detail please see the Guidance note here. The Decent Homes Standard as we know will be part of the new regulations but there is a consultation, being launched imminently, on how the current one will be amended. As such there is little point worrying about the current one as it stands. Labour has confirmed the social sector will have mandatory levels of competency for their staff but they have not included PRS agent competency at this point so we will watch this space on that one. As always we will keep you informed, Regards Chan Khangura BA (Hons) DipRLM MARLA MNAEA Managing Director Whitegates Estate Agents