Government backs mandatory EICR's every 5 years for landlords.

[ferg]

Unfortunately it's near on impossible to make sure EICRs are not drive by affairs.

Just about everything that can be done is being done.

The EICR is already about 100 pages long with tick boxes for what you've got in your lunch box.

It's up to the contractors to make sure that it's done correctly.

Just about the only way to enforce it is to have a council bod follow you round while you are doing it.

If carrying out EICR's very frequently with a team of 2 guys you can get the time and cost right down. It's then less than what it's worth me charging for it .

I don't mind a race to get costs down as long as it's legitimately done.

 

[Toneyz]

The EICR is already about 100 pages long with tick boxes for what you've got in your lunch box.

That's because of the inspection not being done properly.

 

[ferg]

That's because of the inspection not being done properly.

That was precisely my point.

 

[StephenRowley]

Tenants have to speak out, you can't do nothing and expect something to happen.

Problem is that if you speak up as tenant, LL issues you notice at your next renewal and then you have the expense of finding a new house. Estate agent fee's are ££££.

 

[Michaelwgroves]

Problem is that if you speak up as tenant, LL issues you notice at your next renewal and then you have the expense of finding a new house. Estate agent fee's are ££££.

Agents fee's will be banned from Sprint 2019.
Tenants are protected from retaliatory evictions, there's usually another hidden reason for eviction. But most landlord evict using section 21 (no fault) as it's easier and just swallow lost rent and damage.
Evicting tenants cost the landlord a lot of money, so they try not to do it unless forced. So you had to spend a few hundred quid on a repair. It's a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of evicting a tenant. You have void costs, repair costs and agent fee's. Way better to keep the tenant unless they are not paying rent.

 

[littlespark]

In Scotland, landlords need to be on a register, as I am as I have a second home (up for sale now, dodgy tenant put us off)
The property had an EICR done, its insured properly and any tenancy agreement is done properly.

There are however still unregistered landlords undercutting the legit ones by not spending the money and having lower rents.
A 5 yearly EICR as well as a change of tenancy EICR is another cost to add to the rental income. The unregistered landlords simply will not comply.

 

[Octopus]

Agents fee's will be banned from Sprint 2019.
Tenants are protected from retaliatory evictions, there's usually another hidden reason for eviction. But most landlord evict using section 21 (no fault) as it's easier and just swallow lost rent and damage.

As you are a landlord, out of interest and assuming you are happy to share this information, how much, as a percentage of gross income per year, per property, do you budget for repairs and testing like this?

 

[Michaelwgroves]

I'm happy to share my experience but there is no hard and fast rule. But to reinforce what I said previously I try very hard to keep my tenants as it's much more cost effective to keep them than evict. If they accidentally break something I just fix and swallow cost.
In the grand scale of things maintenance is only slightly higher than owner occupier, generally you only do maintenance on change over, so like I said above, best to keep them.
There is a lot more regulation today, but I see this as a good thing as it helps push out the rogue landlords which makes room for the good ones. Unfortunately it's also pushing out many greylords who are good people, they just can't keep up with the regulations and get caught by the no win no fee solicitors chasing landlords who give good accommodation and look after their tenants, but might forget to cross the T's.
The industry is moving away from single lets to portfolio landlords, which I think is a shame.

 

[JK-Electrical]

EICRs for private lets in Scotland have been compulsory since December 2015. Although the Scottish Government's statutory guidance decrees that only SELECT or NICEIC members should be carrying-out EICRs, the guidance is generally ignored by many landlords and letting agents who hire solely on cost rather than competence.

In Scotland, landlords need to be on a register, as I am as I have a second home (up for sale now, dodgy tenant put us off)
The property had an EICR done, its insured properly and any tenancy agreement is done properly.

There are however still unregistered landlords undercutting the legit ones by not spending the money and having lower rents.
A 5 yearly EICR as well as a change of tenancy EICR is another cost to add to the rental income. The unregistered landlords simply will not comply.

SELECT calls for more stringent controls on electrical safety in privately rented accommodation.

 

[Squid]

Better off renting rooms out in a house off the grid in this day and age.

Small LL's are getting screwed over the and the deposit the tenant pays should be a lot higher, just look at how car hire companies work when it comes to the damage to a car should be same as with your property, in my time I have seen what nasty tenants can do to a property costing £1000's to put right with no compensation to the LL.

I prefer Rachman's way of dealing with tenants, bounce them down the stairs.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

There is a agent around this way who takes smaller deposits or rent upfront but gives the tenant the choice of there own insurance or they must obtain it themselves prior to the tenancy starting that covers any damage caused outside of the deposit. cost about £70 for a flat £100 for a house. it also gives the tenant a month i think of rent in the event they loose there job, or cant work due to illness etc.. seems quite a popular option as it means they tenant needs only pay 4 weeks upfront without a large deposit aswell.

 

[StephenRowley]

There is a agent around this way who takes smaller deposits or rent upfront but gives the tenant the choice of there own insurance or they must obtain it themselves prior to the tenancy starting that covers any damage caused outside of the deposit.

That does seem like a better way of doing, you could also add in a no claims type bonus for tenants, that way tenants who look after the properties they rent get some kind of reward for doing so and LL don't end up out of pocket for bad ones.

On a side note estate agents fees are rip off for both LL and tenants. 12% commission a month of doing sweet FA most of time and £300 on top of the fee the charge tenants at the start of the of tenancy, for sending a few email/phone calls and signing a bit of paper.

 

[buzzlightyear]

what do the goverment know. Because they know nowt .now ,
they dont listen to us why listen to them .

 

[Squid]

There is a agent around this way who takes smaller deposits or rent upfront but gives the tenant the choice of there own insurance or they must obtain it themselves prior to the tenancy starting that covers any damage caused outside of the deposit. cost about £70 for a flat £100 for a house. it also gives the tenant a month i think of rent in the event they loose there job, or cant work due to illness etc.. seems quite a popular option as it means they tenant needs only pay 4 weeks upfront without a large deposit aswell.

With his way of thinking he then gets decent tenants, I find that in the smaller towns there is less scum then in the larger cities as they live local and don't move away, being a LL in the cities is tiring, luckily for 14 years I had decent tenants but in he past for my Mum I had to chase down the debtors far and few in between but I got the money back that was owed.

 

[mydigitalhome]

I find it interesting the amount of electrical insurance policy's that do not automatically allow you to carry out Periodics on work you did not originally install. Without charging you loads more on your policy due to the higher risks involved. Have any of you guys checked your policy recently to see if its covered?