The majority of landlords in the UK are finding it hard to keep up with the raft of regulatory changes and get to grips with complex compliance issues that have affected the private rented sector.
New research reveals that almost one in 5 landlords, that is 18.2%, said they find it impossible to keep up with constant regulation changes with a further 29.9% saying they find it very difficult and another 31.2% finding it quite difficult.
There are over 145 individual laws and more than 400 regulations relating to the private rented sector, making it harder than ever for landlords, particularly accidental landlords to keep up with change and compliance.
The survey from property marketplace The House Shop found that just 5.4% found it fairly easy to keep abreast and 3.6% found it was very easy, while 11.7% said it was neither easy nor difficult.
According to Nick Marr, co-founder of The House Shop, the survey results clearly show that landlords are being overwhelmed by the sheer volume and complexity of rules and regulations in the rental market.
In fact, compliance with law and legislation was listed as the most challenging aspect of managing a rental property by 63.4% of respondents. And while using a letting agent to manage properties could remove the stress of compliance, many landlords said they simply don’t want to hand over 10% to 15% of their rental income to secure a full management service.
Landlords are also wary of the fact that the cost of using a letting agent could increase even further when the tenant fees ban comes into force in England later this year.
‘It’s a really difficult environment that landlords are operating in at the moment. The Government have undertaken a range of measures to try and drive up standards in the rental industry, and while this is by no means a bad thing, it does mean that landlords have increasingly complex and wide-ranging responsibilities to deal with,’ Marr pointed out.
The firm is now introducing a fixed fee property management service for landlords which it hopes will mean that landlords no longer have to choose between losing out on rental income and spending hours and hours dealing with compliance issues.
As well as the standard property management duties, such as dealing with tenant enquiries, arranging repairs, handling compliance responsibilities and managing rent collection, landlords using the new service are also given access to a free legal advice helpline.
