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National Conveyancing Week 2023 and Changes to EPC Rules For Landlords.

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It is National Conveyancing Week on 20th March to 25th March 2023.

The Adams Harrison conveyancing team work hard to provide the best service not only to residential homebuyers but also for landlords purchasing buy-to-let properties.

This article below informs you of new changes coming into force on 1st April 2023 regarding Energy Performance Certificates.

It is essential that landlords comply but it is also useful for new and existing tenants to be aware of their landlords’ responsibilities.

If you have any questions about this article, or would like a quotation for the sale or purchase of a property please use our contact form.

Or call any of our offices to speak to a member of the Conveyancing team.

We also have experts in Commercial Property work so please do contact us for more information.

Incoming changes to Energy Performance Certificates on 1 April 2023 and its effects on landlords and tenants

Old Rules

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a certificate that measures a property’s energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. The latest Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards apply to all existing tenancies. Since 1st April 2018 (for new lets and renewal tenancies) and 1st April 2020 (for all existing tenancies), the rules required an EPC rating to be E or higher meaning a tenancy could not be granted to new or existing tenants if the property has an EPC rating of F or G, unless the property is exempt, after these dates.

New Rules

All landlords and tenants must be aware of the incoming changes to the EPC requirements as there are criminal offences for breaching the new rules. From 1 April 2023, it will be an offence to continue to let or rent out a property if it does not have a rating of at least E, unless a valid exemption applies. The penalty is based on the rateable value of the property and will be between £10,000 – £150,000 per breach. Details of the breach may also be made publicly available.

From 2025, all newly rented properties will be required to have an EPC rating of C or above. Currently properties only require an EPC rating of ‘E’ or above. Existing tenancies will have until 2028 to comply with the new rule changes.

What does this mean for landlords?

1 in 7 (15%) landlords surveyed have no knowledge of the upcoming changes to the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rules, according to new research from Shawbrook Bank. Landlords currently unaware of the level of work needed on their property could lose rental income until all necessary work is carried out. Landlords will need to prepare for these costs to bring their properties up to the required rating.

What does this mean for tenants?

As a tenant, you are entitled to a copy of your home’s EPC and must be provided with one when you move in. If your landlord undertakes an EPC assessment for your property, they must give you at least 24 hours written notice of a visit from an assessor.

If you want to find your property’s EPC rating, simply go to the Government’s Energy Performance of Buildings Register, type in your postcode and click on your address.

CQS Re-accreditation July 2021 to 2022

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We are delighted to announce that we have been reaccredited from July 2021 – July 2022 by the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), which is a recognised quality standard for residential conveyancing practices.

This shows our clients and other third parties that we have the expertise to deliver nationally recognised quality residential conveyancing advice; use standardised processes to recognise and reduce risks and that we inform clients about what to expect when using our conveyancing services.

The accreditation also gives greater access to lenders, and demonstrates that we can provide residential conveyancing advice of the level expected by clients, lenders and the wider residential conveyancing community.

The award is testament to the dedication and expertise of our Conveyancing department who have worked through the additional challenges of the Pandemic, as well as managing additional high volume workflows due to Stamp Duty Land Tax reductions over the past year.

Adams Harrison CQS Certificate july 21-22

CQS Scheme Successful Review 2020

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We are pleased to announce that we have recently been successfully reassessed against the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS).

The award recognises the expertise and professionalism of our Conveyancing Department and allows potential residential buyers and sellers to benchmark us against others. We are recognised to be working to national standards, linked to residential conveyancing practice, using processes and systems to recognise and reduce risk. Clients and others in the buying or selling chain can thus have the confidence and assurity of the high standards of our work.

Please contact us to discuss your residential conveyancing needs.

Warning about new housing estates, management charges and administration fees.

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Buying a property on a new estate? Be wary of the estate management charges and administration fees.

If you are considering purchasing a property on a newly built estate, you should carefully consider the estate management fees being charged by managing agents for maintaining communal facilities and areas on the estate as well as administration fees for providing information to buyer’s when you sell the property. This area of housing is currently unregulated and in many cases disproportionate or unreasonable fees are being charged to property owners.

More frequently, developments are being built where roads, footpaths and communal areas and facilities remain private. This arrangement is agreed between the developer and the local authority and, as all responsibility and costs for maintenance of these areas sit with the developer and not the local authority, this benefits the developer in obtaining the grant of planning permission for their developments. The developer employs a managing agent to carry out the repairs and maintenance to communal areas and facilities on the estate and the costs of this are recouped from all of the property owners.

Whilst the importance of the communal areas and facilities being maintained is acknowledged, the issue appears to be that property owners have little involvement in deciding which contractors undertake the work, the extent of the work undertaken or is required and that there is little incentive for the managing agents to keep the costs of the work to a minimum. Currently, property owners have little or no recourse if they are unhappy with the level of the estate management charge being demanded from them.

Similarly, when a property on an estate which has privately maintained areas is sold, typically the buyer’s solicitor will ask for information about the estate management charges, what areas or functions they cover and for any registration requirements of the managing agents for acknowledging the transfer of property ownership. More often than not, managing agents are charging excessively high administration fees for providing this, often, standard information. As the buyer’s solicitor needs to know this information, sellers are finding themselves feeling forced to pay it.

Below is a list of questions you may wish to ask when looking at properties on a newly built estate so that you can make a better informed decision whether you want to buy there:

  • What communal areas and facilities are on the estate and whether or not these are or will be adopted?
  • Whether a managing agent has been appointed or is intended to be appointed?
  • What will the managing agent be responsible for?
  • What are the likely costs for each property owner?
  • Is it anticipated these costs will rise significantly?
  • What costs do the managing agents charge for providing a ‘sales pack’ when a property on the estate is sold?

The Freehold Properties (Management Charges and Shared Facilities) Bill was proposed to introduce a cap on estate management fees and allow property owners the opportunity to self-manage communal areas as resident groups; however, the bill did not successfully pass through Parliament and so this issue remains unregulated.

Conveyancing Referral Fees

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You may or may not be aware that a lot of Conveyancing legal firms pay referral fees to estate agents. In exchange for this estate agents refer Conveyancing work to them.

Typically a legal firm will pay between £40 – £200 per transaction to an estate agent, who will then refer the clients to them.

There are two main issues with this.

  • The first is that the estate agents may not refer the clients to a particular firm based on that firm’s reputation but based solely on the fact that they are being paid a referral fee. In addition the client may not always be advised that a referral fee is being paid in respect of their matter and therefore may not be aware that the solicitors are effectively paying for their work, and will believe that the reason they are being referred to that practice is because they are good.
  • Secondly the client also needs to be careful that they are not being charged for any referral fees by way of increased legal fees, again this is not always disclosed when applying for costs.

Adams Harrison do not pay referral fees. We pride ourselves on the fact that much of our work is repeat business from satisfied clients, or that a client has come to us having been referred to us by a member of their family, or a friend, who has used Adams Harrison for legal services in the past. See our testimonials on the website.

If a referral fee is being paid by the estate agents to your legal advisor then your legal advisor should advise you of this fact and seek your consent to the same. You need to think carefully whether you would wish to instruct a firm that has to pay for it’s work rather than relying on its reputation.

Tracy Spilsbury

Head of Residential Conveyancing

Law Commission Proposes Major Modifications to the Enfranchisement Rules for Leasehold Houses

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In December of 2017 the Government announced it would prohibit nearly all future sales of new build leasehold houses and would be proposing modifications to the existing rules applicable to leasehold properties to circumvent what it has referred to as “feudal practices” and “unnecessary leaseholds, unjustifiable charges and onerous ground rent terms.”

Although for flats leasehold ownership is often practical, the Government sees little reason, other than additional profits for developers, for houses to be sold on a leasehold basis.  A ban on leasehold house sales will only protect future purchasers of newly built properties and would not present any respite for the millions of people in the country who already own leasehold houses.

To assist existing leasehold homeowners the Government has asked the Law Commission to prioritize modifications to the current enfranchisement scheme.  Leasehold property owners have “enfranchisement rights” which include a right to purchase the freehold interest in a property or to extend the leasehold term.  However, at present, the rules relating to enfranchisement are complex, technical and burdensome.

The Law Commission has published a summary of proposed modifications to the leasehold enfranchisement scheme relating to leasehold houses.  The modifications proposed are aimed at simplifying the regime to make enfranchisement more accessible for leasehold property owners and include recommendations for the removal of unnecessary technical hurdles, modifications to the eligibility rules, and simplifying the enfranchisement procedure.  Under the current scheme a leasehold owner must have owned the property for at least two years before the rights can be exercised, however, the proposed changes would do away with this time requirement to allow leasehold house owners to seek immediate relief.

At this stage the proposed modifications are just that, proposals, however the Law Commission has advised that an in depth Consultation Paper will be published this month and it is our hope that the proposals will lead to substantive changes in the enfranchisement regime which will make the enfranchisement process simpler and less expensive for our clients.

If you have any questions please contact our Conveyancing team.

The Importance of Identification

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Buying and selling property can be an exciting time and as soon as you have found a buyer or a property to purchase, you will want your solicitor or conveyancer to review the legal paperwork and proceed with property checks as quickly as possible. But before your solicitor or conveyancer begins working on your behalf, they will request various forms of original identification from you. Such forms of identification might include passports, driving licences, utility or bank statements received recently by post. They may also undertake identity checks and searches on you and, as a result, request further identification. This procedure is more than a formality or for record’s sake, it is a preventative against fraud.

The recent cases of P&P Property Ltd v Owen White & Catlin LLP (2018) and Dreamvar (UK) Ltd v Mishcon de Reya and another (2018) both involved fraudsters posing as property owners in selling vacant properties. In both cases the purchase money paid by the buyers to the fraudsters could not be recovered. You will appreciate, therefore that it is in all parties’ interests to make sure proper ID checks are carried out so that fraud can be avoided wherever possible.

Solicitors and conveyancers are now undertaking stringent identity checks on their clients, when clients are selling vacant properties, to ensure as best they can that the persons who have appointed them are legitimately who they say they are. This can sometimes take time and require the need for further identification to be provided. Rest assured, the checks are being undertaken for the benefit of all parties involved.

Lisa Thornhill, Conveyancing Solicitor, Adams Harrison

Budget 2017; Stamp Duty Changes For First Time Buyers

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The government announced yesterday that it is abolishing stamp duty land tax for first time buyers purchasing homes up to a value of £300,000.  If a property is purchased up to £500,000 there will only be stamp duty payable at 5% on the amount between £300,000 to £500,000.  This change in stamp duty provisions is hoped to assist first time buyers to get on the property ladder.

It is worth noting that a first-time buyer is defined as someone who has never owned a freehold or leasehold interest in a residential property before and who is purchasing their only or main residence. If someone has owned a residential property anywhere in the world previously then they won’t be counted as a first-time buyer. All purchasers in a joint purchase must be first-time buyers to avoid having to pay stamp duty.

Our conveyancing team will guide you through the home buying process, including advising on any liability to pay stamp duty.

 

Adams Harrison Conveyancing Quality Scheme, CQS, Membership

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Adams Harrison have once again successfully secured membership of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme – the mark of excellence for the home buying process.

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This is the sixth year in a row that Adams Harrison has achieved the CQS accreditation.  AH underwent rigorous assessment by the Law Society in order to continue to hold CQS status, which marks the firm out as continuing to meet high standards in the residential conveyancing process.

Law Society President Andrew Caplen said that the CQS accreditation is the hallmark of high standards and establishes a level of credibility for regulators, lenders, insurers and consumers.

Welcome to Richard Booth

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Richard Booth Adams Harrison Profile PictureWelcome to Richard Booth who has joined the Conveyancing Team.

Richard qualified as a solicitor in 2000 and has practiced in the local area.

He specialises in residential and commercial property law and is based at our Saffron Walden office.