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Cardiff property legislation
If you are a landlord with property in Cardiff, then there is a large amount of legislation that you will need to be aware of before you are able to rent your property out in Cardiff. With all of this legislation, the penalties for not conforming vary, but they are all strict, and enforced by different bodies from trading standards to Cardiff County Council.
As Cardiff letting agents, CPS Homes deal with all of this legislation and periodically check properties in Cardiff to ensure on-going compliance with the legislation where we are managing the property reporting back to landlords with necessary works. If you are managing the property in Cardiff privately then it will be up to you to ensure compliance.
Gas Safety Check
Often referred to as a landlord safety check, or a gas safety certificate, the following legislation that all properties in Cardiff are checked by a CORGI registered engineer. CPS Homes arrange this for our managed landlords at a cost of around £35, although typically for a private landlord this will cost between £45 and £65 in Cardiff.
Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 all gas appliances and flues in rented accommodation must be checked for safety within 12 months of being installed, and thereafter at least every 12 months by a CORGI registered gas engineer.
Maintenance: There is a duty to ensure that all gas appliances, flues and associated pipe work are maintained in a safe condition at all times.
Records: Full records must be kept for at least 2 years of the inspections of each appliance and flue, of any defects found and of any remedial action taken.
Copies to tenants: A copy of the safety certificate issued by the engineer must be given to each new tenant before their tenancy commences, or to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being carried out.
Electrical Lettings Regulations
Electrical legislation is probably the area that causes landlords in Cardiff the largest confusion. Partly this is due to the lettings legislation leaving this area open to interpretation by Cardiff County Council and by individual letting agents and landlords. CPS Homes have taken steps to ensure that our clients, both landlords and clients are protected and we insist on electrical installation certificates, and PAT on all landlord appliances. We also carry out visual safety checks on a regular basis, the frequency depending on the classification of the property in Cardiff. Below we have summarised the regulations relating to electrical lettings regulations.
There are several regulations relating to electrical installations, equipment and appliance safety, and these affect landlords and their agents in that they are 'supplying in the course of business'. They include the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, the Plugs and Sockets Regulations 1994, the 2005 Building Regulation - 'Part P, and British Standard BS1363 relating to plugs and sockets. Although with tenanted property there is currently no legal requirement for an electrical safety certificate (except in the case of all HMO's) it is now widely accepted in the letting industry that the only safe way to ensure safety, and to avoid the risk of being accused of neglecting your 'duty of care', or even of manslaughter is to arrange such an inspection and certificate.
Fire & Furniture Lettings Legislation
Furniture is often an area overlooked in property lettings legislation, but a very important one nonetheless, and this will be particularly enforced by Cardiff County Council in the case of licensable HMO’s. CPS Homes negotiators are able to provide advice of what furniture and furnishings are suitable for letting, both from a legislative perspective, but also from what the rental market expects in terms of quality.
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989 & 1993) provide that specified items supplied in the course of letting property must meet minimum fire resistance standards. The regulations apply to all upholstered furniture, beds, headboards and mattresses, sofa-beds, futons and other convertibles, nursery furniture, garden furniture suitable for use in a dwelling, scatter cushions, pillows and non-original covers for furniture. They do not apply to antique furniture or furniture made before 1950, bedcovers including duvets, loose covers for mattresses, pillowcases, curtains, carpets or sleeping bags. Items which comply will have a suitable permanent label attached. Non-compliant items must be removed before a tenancy commences.
Smoke Alarms in rented accommodation
Cardiff County Council have recently updated their guidelines for property in Cardiff in February 2009 clarifying, what types of smoke alarms are required. If your property was built since June 1992, if was a legal requirement that the property must have been fitted with a mains powered smoke detector, but additional legislative changes may have occurred.
All properties managed by CPS Homes will adhere to these standards set by Cardiff County Council.
What is important to realise, is that the below legislations are subject to change, and that they should be checked with Cardiff County Council before commencing any works. There are other pieces of legislation that relate to fire safety, which are not detailed below.
In more generic terms, the changes that Cardiff County Council are moving more towards assessing risk in rented properties, and focussing less on the differences between HMO’s and licensable HMO’s. Other alarm systems may be required, such as incorporating emergency lighting where escape routes are complex.
Single Household Occupancy – Two to four storey building.
Grade D LD3 Alarm system, i.e. interlinked smoke alarms to escape routes, plus the cellar / basement.
Shared House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) – Two storey building
Grade D LD3 Alarm system (i.e. interlinked smoke alarms to escape route plus lounge and cellar/basement, and interlinked heat alarm to kitchen).
House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) with shared cooking facilities – Two storey building
Grade D LD2 Alarm (interlinked smoke alarms to escape route plus lounge and cellar/basement and heat alarm in each shared kitchen). Interlinked Grade D smoke alarms in each bedroom.
Two storey bedsit – cooking facilities in bedrooms
Grade D LD2 Alarm (interlinked smoke alarms to escape route plus lounge and cellar/basement and heat alarms interlinked to each bedsit). Non-interlinked mains wired smoke alarm to each bedsit.
Shared House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) – Three to four storey building
Grade D LD3 Alarm system (interlinked smoke alarms to escape route plus lounge and cellar/basement, and heat alarm to kitchen.
House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) with shared cooking facilities – Three storey building
Grade A LD2 Alarm System (interlinked smoke detectors to escape route plus each bedsit, lounge and cellar/basement, and heat detector to shared kitchen. To include control panel, call points and min 75db at bedhead).
Three storey bedsit – cooking facilities in bedrooms
Grade A LD2 Alarm System (interlinked smoke detectors to escape route plus each bedsit, lounge and cellar/basement, and heat detector to shared kitchen. To include control panel, call points and min 75db at bedhead). Non interlinked Grade D smoke detectors in each bed-sit.
Two storey houses converted into self contained flats
Grade D LD2 Alarm system (interlinked smoke detectors to common escape route plus heat detector in entrance hall of each flat). Non interlinked Grade D smoke detectors in hallway of each flat.
Three to four storey houses converted into self contained flats
Grade A LD2 Alarm system (interlinked smoke detectors to common escape route plus heat detector in entrance hall of each flat. To include control panel, call points and min 75db at bed head). Non-interlinked Grade D smoke detectors in hallway of each flat.
LD3 – A system incorporating detectors in circulation spaces that form part of the escape route from the dwelling only.
LD2 – A system incorporating detectors in circulation spaces that form part of the escape route, and in all rooms that present a high fire risk to occupants.
Grade D – A system of one or more mains powered smoke / heat alarms each with a battery standby supply. There us no control panel.
Grade A – A system of mains powered smoke / heat detectors, which are linked to a control panel to give information on the location of the fire or any fault. In general the system must incorporate manual call points, which should be located on each floor level and at final points of exit.
Is your property a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)?
Again, this is an area that causes confusion to many private landlords in Cardiff, with one of the major areas of confusion being the difference between a licensable HMO’s and a non licensable HMO. For property in Cardiff your first call to clarify any issues should be Cardiff County Council, as each local authority has the ability to change which classifications of properties licensing applies to.
A property will require an HMO licence where the property is three or more stories, it is an HMO and is occupied by five or more persons. Cardiff County Council have the power to change, which properties are licensable, and there are exceptions to the above rule such as if the property is completely in self contained flats (subject to other regulations), or if there basement is in commercial use and there are only two stories above this.
Cardiff County Council have defined the following properties as HMO’s, although only if it meets all of the above criteria, would it be a licensable HMO. The numbers at the end of each bullet point refer to the part of the 2004 Housing Act that this applies to.
Your property in Cardiff will be an HMO if:
- It is a shared house lived in by people who belong to more than one family and who share one or more facilities. S254(2)
- A house in bedsits lived in by people who belong to more than one family and who share one or more facilities. S254(4)
- An individual flat lived in by people who belong to more than one family and who share one or more facilities.
- A building of self contained flats that do not meet 1991 Building Regulations Standards. There are a number of exceptions to this, which Cardiff County Council will be able to further advise on.
Please contact Gwyn at our Albany Road branch for more on HMO licensing or contact Cardiff County Council.
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
The HHSRS provides an analysis of how hazardous a property is through assessment of 29 potential hazards found in housing. Landlords have to maintain their properties to provide a safe and healthy environment. The HHSRS is enforced by Cardiff County Council. Click here for further information. Realistically The HHSRS is only of concern to landlords who let the standard of living diminish to the point where Cardiff County Council have an Environmental Health Officer inspected the property.
The Tenancy Deposit Scheme
From 6 April 2007, all deposits taken by landlords and letting agents under Assured Shorthold Tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. Landlords and letting agents must not take a deposit unless it is dealt with under a tenancy deposit scheme. To avoid any disputes going to court, each scheme will be supported by an alternative dispute resolution service (ADR). Landlords and letting agents will be able to choose between two types of scheme; a single custodial scheme and two insurance-based schemes. Learn more here.
The penalties for not protecting a deposit within 14 days of receiving is that the landlord looses the right to repossess the property through a Section 21 notice, also known as a no fault notice, and that the tenant can apply for a court order to order the landlord to pay the tenant three times the deposit as compensation. There is no leniency or discretion allowed by the courts in awarding this.
CPS Homes automatically protect all tenants’ deposits, which are taken when the contract is signed. In the case of a let only tenancy we require confirmation of membership of one of the three deposit protection schemes. With the custodial scheme, the deposit protection service we will transfer the money directly to the Deposit Protection Service under your account. With the insurance based protection schemes, once we have confirmation of your membership we will send the deposit to yourself to register.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The DDA 2005 addresses the limitations of current legislation by extending disabled people's rights in respect of premises that are let or to be let, and commonhold premises. Landlords and managers of let premises and premises that are to let will be required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Under the new duties, provided certain conditions are met (for example, that a request has been made), landlords and managers of premises which are to let, or of premises which have already been let, must make reasonable adjustments, and a failure to do so will be unlawful unless it can be justified under the Act. Landlords will only have to make reasonable adjustments. And they will not have to remove or alter physical features of the premises. Learn more here
This is information is not to be taken as legal advice, and we take no responsibility for any actions taken from the above advice. We will only take responsibility when we are acting in an official capacity as your managing agent as per our terms of business.
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Since 1st October 2008 all properties available to rent now must require an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). The good news is that an Energy Performance Certificate lasts for ten years, and if you have recently bought the property, you should have received one as part of the Home Information Pack (HIP).
The Energy Performance Certificate rates the energy efficiency of the property, and also the carbon emissions of the property to give tenants an informed decision on what property they would like to rent in Cardiff.
The cost of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) varies depending on the size of the property but they start from £55 where CPS Homes manage the property in Cardiff.