Students have now finished the spring term, and most are heading home for the Easter break. In this issue we will update you on recent news from Sulets.
Changes to Premium Service for 22/23 tenancies
In response to increasing energy bills, we have taken the decision to make some changes to our Premium Service for 22/23 tenancies, and have removed the all inclusive bills element of the offering
This will not be applied retrospectively. Any house on the Premium Service that has already been let for 22/23 will keep the all inclusive bills option, but going forward, any new tenancies will just have the 6 cleans and contents insurance included as standard. We have reduced the advertised rent to correspond with the bills no longer being included.
In terms of landlord income, this will NOT affect you, as we do not take the bills portion of the rent into account when calculating the management fee, so whether utility bills are included or not, your income will remain the same.
We are in touch with a number of utility suppliers such as Unihomes, Split the Bills, Glide and The Bunch, to offer as competitive a price for utility bills as we can, and once an agreement is made between the students and the supplier, the weekly charge will be fixed for the duration of the tenancy, so there will be no surprises for the students later on, when prices are likely to increase again.
We have updated our landlord information pages which can be read here – www.sulets.com/landlords-area
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to get in touch.
Upcoming Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Regulation Changes
Currently, the minimum energy efficiency standard for rental properties is a Band E. In a consultation document in late 2020 it was suggested that the minimum EPC rating is to be raised to Band C for all new tenancies by 2025.
Recent surveys show that 60% of homes in the UK have a D rating or lower, so this change will affect the majority of landlords in the UK. The changes are to ensure homes are more energy efficient and to reduce carbon emissions.
Under the new EPC regulations, if you want to advertise your property for rental from 2025 onwards (for Sulets, this would be for 2025/2026 tenancies, with a tenancy start date of 1 August 2025) you will be required to have an updated and compliant EPC showing a C Rating.
You can keep up to date with the current EPC guidelines here: www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-private-rented-property-minimum-energy-efficiency-standard-landlord-guidance
Additional reading can be found here: www.propertyweek.com/feedback/landlords-should-beware-change-in-epc-regulations/5119206.article
You can download a copy of the EPC for your property here: www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate It is strongly advised that you take a look at the recommended changes contained in the document to improve the rating of your property.
These are some of the improvements you can make to increase your rating, but your own EPC for the property will give you specific recommendations:
- Install LED lighting
- Insulate the walls and the roof
- Improve windows with double glazing
- Install an energy efficient boiler
- Install a smart meter
Our EPC assessor has also said that a couple of good areas to improve are under floor insulation and, if your property has an offshoot that doesn’t have access into the loftspace, this can have a detrimental effect on the rating, as the assessor will have to assume that this area has no insulation. Cutting a loft hatch into this area and insulating the roofspace will improve the rating.
Below is an image of a house with an offshoot, for information.
Staffing updates
Angela White will be moving on at the end of April, we wish her all the best for the future. We have a new Property Management Officer (Joshua Findlay) who will be in post after Easter, Joshua will be taking on most of Angela’s houses.
Landlord referral offer is still available – £100 cash per referral
If you know someone who could benefit from the Sulets service, then please let us know. The more landlords like you that we have on board, the more students we can help and the more successful we will all be. If you are able to recommend someone to us then to say thank you for your help, if the person, or persons, that you recommend sign up to Sulets we will give you a gift of £100 for every property that they list and go on to successfully let through Sulets. Please contact Emma Godsell or Jake Lewis, or your Sulets Property Manager and they will take care of the rest.
Easter opening hours
The Sulets lettings shop & offices will be closed for the Easter weekend from 5:30pm on Thurs 14th April and will re-open at 9am on Weds 20th April 2022. Happy Easter!