HHSRS - help needed from our resident inspector

clutton_2

i cannot recall who it is who is qualified in this area, but, i need a bit of advice please.

i recently applied for Council Accreditation for a property because the new tenant was going to appoly for a Bond from the Council. She does not now want a bond.

i have now received the council surveyors schedule of works - all risks assessed and most are recommendations - one is a compulsory item (uneven back yard - falling hazard)

my question is - if i do not sign to apply for the Small Works Grant which is available under their Accreditation scheme, will the council be able to legally enforce me to do the compulsory works, AND the recommended works if i am not a member of their Accredited landlords scheme.

i would rather phase in the works myself over a period - as some of their requirements are nit-picky to say the least

it is very difficult to apply modern building regs to early edwardian property and come up with a compromise.

Bungarm2001

Is it compulsory to be accredited to have a tenant be able to apply for a bond? I thought accreditation was optional in all cases, or is it a regional thing?? Sorry for the questions, but I truly don't understand this...or are you mixing this up with Landlord Registration? My sincere aplogies if I've read your post wrong...it's a bit late for me!

PS I agree wholeheartedly with the modern building regs and Edwardian properties... !

clutton_2

""Is it compulsory to be accredited to have a tenant be able to apply for a bond? I""

with this particular council in lancashire - yes it is

i guess my bottom line question is - if i withdraw from my application for accreditation with the council - will i still have to do the Level 1 Hazard works (compulsory) and the other recomended works - ie now that the council has discovered that one of my properties does not comply with HHSRS do they have legal teeth to force me to comply with their compulsions and recommendations whether i am an accredited landlord or not.

teeni

clutton wrote: »

""Is it compulsory to be accredited to have a tenant be able to apply for a bond? I""

with this particular council in lancashire - yes it is

i guess my bottom line question is - if i withdraw from my application for accreditation with the council - will i still have to do the Level 1 Hazard works (compulsory) and the other recomended works - ie now that the council has discovered that one of my properties does not comply with HHSRS do they have legal teeth to force me to comply with their compulsions and recommendations whether i am an accredited landlord or not.

Hi Clutton,
I think you will find that they do have the power to force you to do the work because it is a category one hazzard irrespective of whether you withdraw the application fro accreditation, as they now know about the problem you could be in trouble if you rent the property without having had the work done.

The compulsory work will be dealt with differently to the recommended work as this obviously does not cause such a risk.

My understanding of whether a hazzard is a cat 1 or not also relies upon who will be using the property. The uneven back yard would be section 20 falling on uneven surfaces,could cause someone unsteady or a child to have an accident and therefore is more of a danger to them than to say a fully fit 20 year old.

I believe that they could issue an enforcement order for this if the work not carried out.

Why dont you talk to the officer who compiled the report, You have always struck me as a good landlord who thinks it is important to do things correctly and unfortunately in my job i tend to meet the other sort so it is apleasure to read the advice you offer on here.

clutton_2

thanks very much teeni - (blushes !!)

i have an 18 year old moving in with her twin babies - the LAuthority surveyor said the yard was Cat 1 hazard "in case she hangs out washing in the dark and trips".


The tenants boy friend was helping me move out old rubbish from the yard, left by the previous tenants - and i stumbled and yelled out "Help I'm falling i think i shall be wanting compo - think i'll sue myself" to everyone's amusement !!!



The surveyor has been very supportive in only recommending that i need to raise the ceiling on the staircase by a few centimeters - as it would be prejudicial to the babies health to have such dusty works done at the moment.

what amazes me about these HHSRS regs is that folks who own their own homes are living in non-HHSRS standard properties a lot of the time and seem to get on absolutely fine ..... there's the nanny state for you i guess

and dont get me on ERC's ...............


rant over =

many thanks for the helpful advice

teeni

what amazes me about these HHSRS regs is that folks who own their own homes are living in non-HHSRS standard properties a lot of the time and seem to get on absolutely fine ..... there's the nanny state for you i guess

The same applies to a lot of housing issues, I brought up 6 children in a three bedroom house , and had a resident grandparent too, it was difficultas times but we had to manange as we owned our own house, now i regularly have clients who complain they are overcrowded ( local authority accommodation) and need rehousing as they can not possible let their children share a room, I had 4 to a room at one point.

With regard to the yard I suppose you answered your own question,, if one of your tenant falls and sues you would have no answer, Is it an expensive job or can it just have a levelling concrete laid, not the most attractive solution i suppose.

I have no idea about building work only the housing law, My dad was the builder in my family.

Bungarm2001

What makes me totally angry, on top of all the other nonsense that goes hand in hand with the HHSRS's is the fact that local authority housing doesn't have to comply!!

It's not beyond possibility to find an ex-council property now in the private rented sector right across the road to identical housing with the same hazards, but the local authority gets away with not enforcing it's own rules on it's own housing stocks. It's beyond me and makes my blood boil frankly.

AND Don't get me started on the ERC'S either!! :mad: :mad:

PS I think once they have you in their sights and on a clipboard/file or whatever somewhere, they'll enforce whether you are now accredited or not. That was the whole point of accreditation I think...to get all LL's out of the long grass (particularly the bad ones..who wrongly or rightly had the nous to keep their heads down and are probly still there..!) and provide work for the jobsworths...cynical? moi?? :rolleyes:

teeni

Bungarm2001 wrote: »

What makes me totally angry, on top of all the other nonsense that goes hand in hand with the HHSRS's is the fact that local authority housing doesn't have to comply!!

It's not beyond possibility to find an ex-council property now in the private rented sector right across the road to identical housing with the same hazards, but the local authority gets away with not enforcing it's own rules on it's own housing stocks. It's beyond me and makes my blood boil frankly.

AND Don't get me started on the ERC'S either!! :mad: :mad:

PS I think once they have you in their sights and on a clipboard/file or whatever somewhere, they'll enforce whether you are now accredited or not. That was the whole point of accreditation I think...to get all LL's out of the long grass (particularly the bad ones..who wrongly or rightly had the nous to keep their heads down and are probly still there..!) and provide work for the jobsworths...cynical? moi?? :rolleyes:

Not quite true local authority housing department does have to comply, whilst the environmental health department can not take action against themselves, tenants can take action privately to challenge them and legal aid could be applicable if tenant eligible.

Bungarm2001

Thanks Teeni... that does make sense, however I have to say that at several meetings with the council in my area, it was pointed out by a few LL's that as this was the case (environmental health not going to take action against themselves etc etc) there would be nothing stopping them from dragging their feet over putting their own houses in order before forcing the private sector to comply.

When one member of the team was asked this question directly, he just shrugged his shoulders and said 'so be it...!' They are therefore not accountable to anyone. True, a social housing tenant can take private action, but lets face it, who ever does?

Sorry, bit of a rant there but it does rile me when we see rundown council housing with obvious hazards and no-one doing anything about it while the EH's gleefully chase us around over what are sometimes utterly ridiculous trumped up 'hazards.'

Oh the joys of landlording...:rolleyes:

clutton_2

one of my tenants moved into local HA property when her teenage grandson came to stay and she needed an extra bedroom which i could not provide - the housing association took 9 months to plaster the bedroom walls - and replace 3 unsafe stair treads - if that had been me Environmental Health would have had the rule book out a bit sharpish !!!!

teeni

too many people do not realise that s11 of the landlord and tenants act relates to local housing property as well, I usually find that once the letter before action falls on their door miraculously the repairs are carried out.

It is not fair that you have to resort to threats all the time but unfortunately you often do.