LETTINGSnews
DEPOSITS
Clear the courts!
Solving deposit disputes without ending up in court is a tried and tested
option and it should be rolled out further to minimise costs and stress and avoid disproportionate justice, believes Steve Harriott, Chief Executive of the Tenancy Deposit scheme, operated by the Dispute Service.
He said that the Scheme has
resolved 42,000 cases in four years. He revealed this following the proposals by the Ministry of Justice to move 80,000 cases a year away from the courts to a simple small claims mediation service. The Dispute Service Chief
has called for the Tenancy Deposit Scheme model for
ADR is a more proportionate form of justice
Alternative Dispute Resolution, to be widened from damage and dilapidations rows at the end of a tenancy to other areas such as rent arrears and housing disrepair.
“Going to court is time consuming and expensive and it is easy for costs to far outweigh the value of the money in dispute,” Steve Harriott pointed out. Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ADR) by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme offers a more proportionate form of justice and resolves 98 per cent of all disputes in less than 28 days, compared to an average wait of six months for small claims cases to be heard. ADR is a paper-based
process with no oral hearings. “It is the oral hearing that racks up the cost of litigation in court,” said Steve Harriott. “In a typical dispute, where the average sum in dispute is less than £500, these costs usually result in disproportionate justice.”
44 APRIL 2012 PROPERTYdrum
TRENDS Void periods hit two-year low
Research by Paragon Mortgages has revealed that rental void periods are at a two- year low.
Landlords who have taken part in the quarterly Paragon Mortgages’ PRS Trends survey have reported a steady decrease in void periods from Q1 2009 – Q4 2011. Last year saw the lowest void
period figures for the past two years, with the average time a property remained empty being 2.8 weeks. This compares to an average of 3.2 weeks in 2010 and 3.3 weeks in 2009. Professional landlords experienced slightly higher void periods, on average 2.9 weeks in
QUALIFICATIONS Northwood gets Edexcel status
Private lettings agents,
Northwood UK, the largest
provider of guaranteed
rent to landlords nationally, has joined the ranks of The Premier League, nPower, FlyBe and First Group by being awarded Edexcel Registered Centre status. Northwood is the first property company in the UK to achieve this status. The certification means that Northwood will be able to deliver and award BTEC qualifications in Customer Service and Workskills at Levels 2 and 3 to its lettings agents as part of the company’s ongoing training and development programme.
Jane Moore, Head of Learning at Northwood, welcomed the news: “This is a stepping stone to our ultimate goal of delivering our own apprenticeship scheme. However, being awarded Edexcel Registered status is about more than demonstrating our dedication to delivering high quality training to our staff. This news is not only an important milestone for Northwood, but is an equally significant landmark for
the lettings industry as a whole. It proves that the industry is proactively taking positive measures to raise standards through improved service and skills. “It’s testament to the
professional set-up we have at Northwood that we are leading the way in this area. As an established agent with a comprehensive training and development offering, we have a responsibility both to our staff and to our landlords and their tenants, to continue to raise the bar higher and strive to deliver the highest professional practices.”
As part of this commitment to pushing the boundaries and leading in the field of innovation in learning, Northwood has also recently implemented its own virtual learning environment, modelled on the same MOODLE infrastructure as the Open University. It is currently being used by Northwood employees studying for the Level 4 BTEC Professional Diploma in Residential Letting and Management, with plans to ultimately make more training available online.
2011 – but they also achieved a decrease from 2009 when the average was 3.4 weeks. A void period is the length of time that a rental property is empty, usually in between tenancies.
John Heron, Managing Director
of Paragon Mortgages, said, “The decrease in the average void period can be attributed to the surge in demand we have seen for private rented property in the past 12 – 18 months. “Tenant demand has increased
at a rate never experienced before so it is positive that rental properties are being let quickly and there is less of a gap between tenancy agreements. This is positive news for the
tenant and also the landlord too, ensuring their portfolio remains profitable.”
Risk Management Specialist, Leaseguard Ltd, has launched a new Tenant Online Referencing Service for existing and new agents. Veronica Allison, Operations Manager, said, “We pride ourselves in providing a tailored service to our agents and have developed this facility as a result of feedback received.” Leaseguard Ltd has worked with agents to develop an efficient, yet still personal, Tenant Online Referencing Service. From their feedback Leaseguard found that their agents would save more time if the tenant could fill out application online. Veronica said, “Our Leaseguard elves have worked hard over the past few months to ensure that the system lives up to the requirements set out by our agents.”
In support of their new
Tenant Online Referencing Service, Leaseguard worked with Equifax, to enhance the application process for their agents. Equifax credit data is playing a key role in enabling the team at Leaseguard to verify the identity and credit status of an applicant as swiftly as possible to avoid delays in their decision-making process. The Equifax data is also crucial in ensuring that only the most suitable tenants are accepted by agents. “We chose to work with
Equifax because they offer the best quality consumer credit data solutions for the Leaseguard Tenant Online Referencing Service,” said Veronica. “Credit information plays a vital role in checking that tenants are who they say they are and that they will be able to pay their rent. The Equifax data will give our agents the best possible risk management support.”
www.leaseguard.co.uk
REFERENCING
New system for online tenant Referencing
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