Letting Your Property

Letting your property, be it an investment, or your home, should be a profitable exercise. At Simpson Brebner Lettings we want you to get the most from your property and give you the best advice available, giving you peace of mind that your property is being marketed, let and managed to the highest possible standards by a friendly and professional team dedicated to helping you achieve what you want from your property. 

The Regulations - ‘Legal Requirements to Let’ 

1. Landlords Registration – All private landlords must register with the local authority if letting residential property. Failure to register is a criminal offence and subject to severe penalty. The fee to register is £55 plus £11 for each property. Landlords can register directly online by logging on to www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk. 

Simpson Brebner Lettings Registration number for:-
Aberdeen City Council – 10505/100/22580
Aberdeenshire Council – 34646/110/19230

2. Energy Performance Certificate – It is a mandatory requirement that all rented properties require an Energy Performance Certificate. The EPC is a document which states the energy efficiency of a building. The main focus of the certificate is the amount of CO2 which is estimated to be released from the building. The certificate must be fixed to the dwelling and will be valid for a period of 10 years. 

3. The Gas Safety (Installations and use) Regulations 1994 – This requires a Landlord to ensure that all gas fittings and flues are maintained in good order, and requires gas appliances and flues to be checked for safety by a GAS SAFE registered engineer (The Landlords Gas Safety Certificate). This must be carried out before a tenant takes occupation, and thereafter yearly. A copy of the certificate should be kept at the property at all times and a copy should also be provided to us for our records. 

4. The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 – This regulation requires that all electrical appliances, equipment and supply must be safe. Where their safe use requires, appropriate instruction booklets must also be provided. Plugs and sockets that are newly installed must conform to the appropriate British Standards approved alternative. Unlike the gas safety, there is currently no statutory annual testing interval. Yet, in order to meet the requirements, it is still important that the electrical equipment be tested regularly. Simpson Brebner Lettings recommend that PAT testing be carried out annually together with a visual inspection.

5. Smoke

1. Smoke Alarms – Section 20 (1) Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 – if you are renting out a property in Scotland you must ensure you have a smoke alarm in the property before the tenant moves in. The main points relative to smoke detectors as set out in the statutory guidance are:-

• There should be one or more functioning smoke alarms installed in the property
• The number and position of alarms is to be determined by the size and layout of the property
• There should be at least one alarm on each floor
• If there are multiple alarms they should be interlinked
• An alarm installed prior to 3rd September 2007 can be mains powered or battery powered
• Any smoke alarm installed or modified after 3rd September 2007 must be mains powered, including replacement alarms

6. The Furniture & Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 – Landlords letting residential property must make sure that all upholstered furniture complies. Generally, these cover the need for fire-resistant filling material to upholstered articles and the passing of a match-resistant and cigarette-resistant test. Failure to do so could result in up to 6 months imprisonment and/or fines up to £5000. The correct method of displaying compliance is to check that a permanent label is present on all items of furniture. Any items not labelled may not conform to the regulation and will have to be removed from the property. It should be noted that any furniture manufactured prior to 1st January 1950 is exempt from the regulations.

7. The Repairing Standards – From 3rd September 2007 there were important changes in the laws covering responsibilities of private landlords to carry out repairs.

Private landlords already have legal obligations to repair the properties they rent out, but these are difficult for tenants to enforce. The new Repairing Standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 modifies and extends these obligations and the establishment of the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP) makes it easier for a tenant to enforce them. Most private landlords keep their properties in good repair and ensure that they meet their legal obligations. Enforcement action through the PRHP will only be necessary for the small minority of landlords who fail to do so. The Scottish Government wants to ensure that everyone has access to decent, affordable housing and the new Repairing Standard will contribute to this.

The new Repairing Standard is more extensive than the previous statutory duty to repair and maintain in Schedule 10 of the 1987 Act, and takes in some of the standards of the social rented sector introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, as well as some obligations that would previously have been contractural. A landlord will have to ensure that:

The house is wind and water tight and reasonably fit for human habitation (taking account of the extent to which the house falls short of any building regulations, because of disrepair or sanitary defects);

The structure and exterior of the house (including drains, gutters and external pipes) are in reasonable repair and proper working order (having regard to the house’s age, character and prospective life and the locality). Where the house forms part of premises (eg. a flat), this criterion includes any part of the premises that the owner is responsible for maintaining, solely or communally, but the Repairing Standard only applies if any part of, or anything in, the premises that the tenant is entitled to use is adversely affected;
The installations in the house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation, space heating and heating water are in reasonable repair and proper working order (including installations outside the house but serving it, and which the owner is responsible for maintaining, solely or communally);

Any fixtures, fittings and appliances provided under the tenancy are in reasonable repair and working order;
Any furnishings provided under the tenancy are capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed; and
There is satisfactory provision for detecting and giving warning of fires.

At the moment a tenant has to take court action to enforce the landlord’s repairing obligations. The 2006 Act creates a new mechanism for enforcing the landlord’s repairing duty: the Private Rented Housing Panel (PRHP), which will be an expanded version of the existing Rent Assessment Panel (RAP). A tenant who believes that the landlord has failed to comply with the duty to meet the Repairing Standard will be able to apply to the PRHP. The tenant must have notified the landlord that the work requires to be done and will have to provide the PRHP with details of how this notification has been made. An application cannot be made if the landlord is a local authority landlord (as defined in section 11(3) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001), a registered social landlord, Scottish Homes of Scottish Water, even though the Repairing Standard may apply to some of their houses. Tenants in these cases have access to a formal complaints system, backed up by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.

The PRHP will consider whether cases can be resolved by the tenant and landlord, including the possibility of mediation. Cases accepted by the PRHP will be heard by Private Rented Housing Committees, which have powers to require landlords to carry out repairs by issuing a repairing standard enforcement order. If a landlord fails to comply with an enforcement order, the PRHC may issue a rent relief order, which will reduce rent paid under the tenancy by up to 90%. If a landlord will not or cannot do the work, the local authority may carry it out and recover its costs.

It will be a criminal offence if a landlord fails to comply with a repairing standard enforcement order without reasonable excuse. It will also be a criminal offence for a landlord to enter into a tenancy or occupancy arrangement relating to the house subject to a repairing enforcement order without the consent of the Private Rented Housing Committee.

Information about the PRHP is available at www.prhpscotland.gov.uk

Statutory Guidance

Regard must be had to guidance issued under section 13(5) (and any building regulations) in deciding whether a house to which the Repairing Standard applies has satisfactory provision for detecting and giving warning of fires. Landlords must have regard to guidance issued under section 20(2) when carrying out their legal obligation to provide a tenant with written information about the effect of the Chapter 4 provisions (ie, the Repairing Standard and PRHP) on the tenancy. (Please note that the information requirement applies only to tenancies starting from 3 September 2007 onwards.) Guidance under both sections has been issued and is set out below.

Any enquiries about the guidance should be directed to Colin Affleck at Housing Markets and Supply Division, Scottish Executive, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.
(Email:colin.affleck@scotland.gsi.gov.uk)

HOUSING (SCOTLAND) ACT 2006: STATUTORY GUIDANCE ON THE REPAIRING STANDARD
Sections 13(5) and 20(2) of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 give the Scottish Minister powers to issue guidance in relation to the Repairing Standard. Guidance issued under those sections is set out below. This guidance has effect from 3 September 2007.

Satisfactory provision for detecting and warning of fires: statutory guidance

Section 13(1) of the Act sets out the criteria that must be met if a house is to comply with the Repairing Standard. At the moment, most of these criteria are either required under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 or are likely to be required to be contract. However, the requirement that “the house has satisfactory provision for detection fires and for giving warning in the event of fire or suspected fire” is new. As stated in section 13(5), in deciding whether this standard is met, regarding must be had to any building regulations and any guidance on the subject issued by the Scottish Ministers.

This criterion should be regarded as met if there is one or more than one functioning smoke alarm installed in the house, the number and position of alarms to be determined by the size and layout of the house. There should normally be at least one smoke alarm on each floor. If there are multiple alarms, they should be interlinked. Although it is best practice to install mains powered smoke alarms, an existing smoke alarm may be mains powered or battery powered. This includes replacement alarms. If there is a requirement for the house to meet a more stringent standard of provision for detecting and giving warning of fire (for example, in a house in multiple occupation (HMO) requiring to be licenced, or under building regulations), then the Repairing Standard on the design of fire detection installations for dwellings (BS5839 Part 6). The fitting of a hard-wired smoke alarm system may require a building warrant and landlords should consult the Building Standards department of the local authority.

Landlords should ensure that smoke alarms are regularly maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.