Assetz® News » HOME | RSS Feed FEED | LIST ALL ARTICLES | ASSETZ HOMEPAGE
Investment Property News from Assetz

Assetz® Property News Service

Action on Housing Act 'needs cooperation'

17th November 2005 | back to article listings BACK    print this article PRINT

Landlords and environmental health officers need to work together to implement the Housing Act to prevent it from becoming "expensive and stressful for all parties", according to the National Federation of Residential Landlords (NFRL).

The Housing Act gained royal assent last year, and is designed to creating a fairer housing market for all those who own, rent or let residential property, according to the government. Key parts of the Bill were the introduction of a scheme to safeguard tenancy deposits and the imposition of fixed-penalty Rent Repayment Orders for the letting of unlicensed properties.

But many landlords have been angered by the actions of environmental health officers implementing new rules on the upkeep of buildings under the legislation. The new Housing Health and Safety Rating System brings previous regulations up-to-date, and gives provisions for assessing and enforcing risks to health and safety in residential premises.

Maxine Fothergill, vice-chair of the NFRL, is reported by Environmental Health News as telling a recent conference that landlords and local authorities needed to work together: "The new act provides an opportunity for landlords to professionalise their industry, and for authorities to assist this process by re-orientating their approach.

"It was interesting to find that environmental health officers are virtually qualified surveyors," she said. "I now appreciate the work they do and understand the potentially positive effect of these new powers, and the frustration they have experienced with the old ones. But it is very expensive and stressful for all parties."

Other have criticised the government's lack of funding for the new rules on upkeep. Housing barrister Simon Reed is also reported by Environmental Health News as telling the conference that research had shown two-thirds of local authorities now had inadequate environmental health resources to implement the change.

"The new duties are quite onerous, but there is no reference in the legislation to the staffing and financial resources required for implementation," he said.

The government considered the new law to be an important modernisation of ancient practice, and a good way to bring landlords and tenants into the 21st Century. The housing fitness standard, which had been the backbone of safety and environmental checks, was based on criteria first introduced 80 years ago before last year's legislation was introduced.

Assetz® is a UK and International Property Investment Specialist. Please visit our property sites shown below.

Assetz for Investors UK Assetz Hotels Assetz Homes Assetz International Assetz France Assetz Spain Assetz Cyprus Assetz Germany Assetz Portugal Assetz Ski Assetz Cape Verde Assetz USA Assetz Finance Assetz Fund Management

Accessing the news service

You can view all of the Assetz® UK, International and UK Property Investment Articles and News here.

We also provide an RSS Feed Feed of the news service, or you can view all articles. Click here to view more information on RSS readers and how they make reading online news more convenient.

eXTReMe Tracker