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Before I begin the update I would like us to Remember a young lady who died tragically doing something most of us do without thinking.
Suzy Lamplugh
“On the last Monday of July 1986, in broad daylight and in the middle of a working day, the unthinkable happened. Suzy Lamplugh, a 25-year-old, disappeared during the course of her work as an estate agent while showing a client round a house in Fulham.
At 12.40pm on 28th July, Suzy had left her office – Sturgis and Sons, 654 Fulham Road – taking her house and car keys and a purse with £15 and credit cards, but leaving her handbag behind. 10 minutes later she was seen waiting outside an empty property, 37 Shorrald’s Road, which had only been on the market for one week. At 1.00pm, she was joined by a man (presumably the “Mr Kipper” she had written in her diary) and minutes later they were seen walking away from the house. At 6.45pm, her manager reported Suzy’s disappearance to the police.
Suzy’s company car was discovered by the police about a mile from her office in Stevenage Road, Fulham just after 10.00pm. There were no signs of a struggle – no fingerprints unaccounted for. The driver’s door was unlocked, the handbrake off and her purse was in the glove compartment, but her keys were missing.
Despite a police reconstruction and extensive media coverage no information was forthcoming on Suzy’s fate. As Diana (her mother) wrote five years later, “there has not been a single trace of her. Nothing. Just as though she has been erased by a rubber”.
Suzy’s body has never been found, but she has been presumed murdered and was legally declared dead in 1993.”
Extracts from Suzy Lamplugh story
Her parents died never knowing what had happened to their daughter, they started a charity in her name The Suzy Lamplugh Trust where you will find advice and training on how to protect yourself in different situations –
“We campaign heavily to raise greater awareness of personal safety and stalking issues, demand systematic change where needed, influence public policy and promote a society in which people are safer and feel safer. Our longest running campaign has been the licensing of the operators and drivers of minicabs and private hire vehicles, which began back in 1998. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust campaigning and policy work has also been pivotal to changes in legislation and practice nationally – including the introduction of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which introduced specific offences for stalking, and the Stalking Protection Act 2019, which introduced Stalking Protection Orders in 2020.
The reason that I was reminded of this tragic loss is that national news papers published on 22nd November –
“John Cannan, who many consider the prime suspect in the murder of Suzy Lamplugh, has died in prison aged 70 without admitting his guilt or providing any clues about what happened on that fateful day in July 1985.
He was never convicted of her murder, despite multiple investigations by the police and, some 40 years later, the location of Lamplugh’s body remains a mystery.”
If you have never given a thought to the potential danger of meeting strangers in empty properties please think about that now and go to Suzy’s website for advice on staying safe.
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From H.M. Land Registry a Free Service to Protect Properties from Fraud
“Mid November was #InternationalFraudAwarenessWeek – no better time to enrol in our Property Alert service to help keep your property safe! It’s simple to do and cost-free. For more information and tips, read the new blog by our Deputy Head of Counter Fraud, Chloe Evans. She also reveals what HMLR is doing to help combat property fraud”
https://hmlandregistry.blog.gov.uk/…/keeping-a-close…
Unencumbered properties are most at risk from this type of fraud because where there is a lender they usually have a warning system set up with Land Registry but do you really want to wait to here from the lender that there is a potential issue when you could receive that warning quickly from Land Registry? I know of two case first hand:
Last year I got a phone call from a landlord colleague. He was very upset. In a nutshell
- He bought a house for cash
- The house is in London in an area he knows well
- The price was fair for a cash purchase
- He used his usual solicitor to carryout the conveyancing
- The sale completed
- He went to the house on the date of completion.
- A neighbour came out and asked who he was
- He explained that he was the new owner
- The neighbour told him that he was certain that the owner, who was abroad for a while, had not sold the house and he was keeping an eye on it.
- What the neighbour said proved to be the truth and my colleague had parted with a BIG chunk of cash for nothing.
- The bogus seller had left the country taking the money with him
- My colleagues only option was to sue his solicitor who clearly hadn’t done his job properly
I was so sorry to hear all this but not shocked because this is the second case I have come across.
About 10 years ago I was speaking at an event when a young lady asked if she could speak to be afterwards. In a nutshell
- She had bought a house with a mortgage
- When she arrived at the house on the day of completion she was met by a person who was very puzzled – this was their house and they hadn’t sold it
- As often happens this was Friday afternoon – I never complete on a Friday – and the solicitor was closed until Monday.
- She was in shock and went to stay with friends taking all her furniture and belongings in the van
- On Monday things got worse when she discovered that the people living in the house were the owners and they have not sold the property. They had been on holiday when she viewed it with the person purporting to own it!
- She began a battle, the solicitor blamed he lender – the lender blamed the valuer – the valuer blamed the solicitor….
- Meanwhile she was homeless with a mortgage and lenders who were chasing payments.
- She put up a Web site called Mystolenhome.co.uk which no longer exists but I was surprised to find the number of similar sites where people had also had their homes stolen one way or another – a frightening read
- I heard from her a couple of times after our meeting and she was still paying and still fighting. I don’t know how it ended but I hope that she got her money back from the insurance of one of the professionals which she paid to protect her while buying this property.
Click on the Land Registry link above and protect your properties at no cost.
The Renters Rights Bill Part 3
Its are very timely to discuss two of the items which are included at this time of year in this Bill to further protect tenants. Both relate to the control of unacceptable property conditions.
Awabs Law and Decent Homes Standard
Both these pieces of legislation are already in place for social housing and have now been included in the Renters Reform Bill for the private rented sector.
Social housing and Awaab’s law
Following the coroner’s report into Awaab Ishak’s death, the government announced plans to make major changes to the law on damp and mould. These changes are due to be introduced through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act, with other regulations already planned for the private rented sector.
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act received royal assent in July 2023. After the coroner’s report was published, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) announced in February 2023 that new measures on damp and mould would be included in the bill. This will be known as ‘Awaab’s law’.
More information about how this works in Social Housing is here
Social housing regulation – what, why and when – Shelter England
Awaab’s Law will now be included in the Renters Rights Bill so that the same level of maintenance will be expected in private rentals as is expected in social housing in relation to Damp and Mould because the death of Awaab Ishak was caused by the damp mouldy social home that he was living in.
At this time of the year my face book group is full of posts from both landlords and tenants about the levels of damp and mould in properties and each blames the other for the cause.
I wrote an article which included how to prevent/reduce this issue last February and the same advice stands.
Advice for Landlords on Dealing with Utility Increases – Landlord insider
“Government to consult on a new Decent Homes Standard for the rented sectors
Awaab’s Law legislation for the social rented sector will be brought forward, and protections will be extended to private rented sector through Renters Rights Bill
The government will consult on a new Decent Homes Standard for the rented sectors.
The consultation, which will launch as soon as possible, will look to ensure safe, secure housing is the standard people can expect in both social housing and private rented properties.
The government will also bring forward legislation for Awaab’s Law in the social rented sector, so hazards such as damp and mould must be investigated and remedied to set timescales. Implementing this legislation for social housing and extending protections to the private rented sector will support tenants to secure faster repairs, reducing health and safety risks.”
Measures to ensure decent homes for all – GOV.UK
The actual standards are currently under review but the original standards as they apply to social housing at the moment were last updated in 2006 here
A Decent Home: Definition and guidance for implementation
“Housing Health and Safety Rating System
2.19 The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) came into effect on 6 April 2006 and replaces the fitness standard as the statutory element of the Decent Home Standard. However, HHSRS is a risk assessment procedure and does not set a standard.
2.20 To be decent, a dwelling should be free of category 1 hazards, and the existence of such hazards should be a trigger for remedial action unless practical steps cannot be taken without disproportionate expense or disruption. Landlords should consider the circumstances very carefully in the interests of the occupiers of the dwelling before concluding that a hazard cannot be dealt with effectively, and in such cases should ensure that the occupiers are fully aware of the position.”
Summary of the standards which will apply once the Renters Rights Bill becomes law. We have probably got 6 months to bring our properties to these standards OR decide that it makes no economic sense and remove them from the rental market but it is not an option to do nothing if we own a property which does not meet the definition of a Decent Home under the regulations
I will list a few items as guidance because many landlords are concerned that we will be made to upgrade our buildings to a level which is uneconomic and in fact that is only going to be the case the case where a property is of a very poor standard:
“The definition of what is a decent home has been updated to reflect the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which replaced the Housing Fitness Standard on 6 April 2006. (see link above)
A decent home meets the following criteria:
a) It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those containing one or more hazards assessed as serious (‘Category 1’) under the HHSRS.
b) It is in a reasonable state of repair Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those where either: one or more of the key building components are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair; or two or more of the other building components are old and, because of their condition, need replacing or major repair.
c) It has reasonably modern facilities and services Dwellings which fail to meet this criterion are those which lack three or more of the following:
- a reasonably modern kitchen (20 years old or less); a kitchen with adequate space and layout;
- a reasonably modern bathroom (30 years old or less); an appropriately located bathroom and WC;
- adequate insulation against external noise (where external noise is a problem);
- adequate size and layout of common areas for blocks of flats.
Housing Act 2004, Part 1. Statutory Guidance has been given to local authorities under section 9 the HHSRS Operating Guidance and Enforcement Guidance– and is available at www.communities.gov.uk/hhsrs
A Decent Home: Definition and guidance for implementation
A home lacking two or fewer of the above is still classed as decent, therefore it is not necessary to modernise kitchens and bathrooms if a home meets the remaining criteria.
a.It provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort This criterion requires dwellings to have both effective insulation and efficient heating.
b: It is in a reasonable state of repair A dwelling satisfies this criterion unless: one or more key building components are old and, because of their condition need replacing or major repair; A building component can only fail to satisfy this criterion by being old and requiring replacing or repair. A component cannot fail this criterion based on age alone.
Building components are the structural parts of a dwelling (e.g. wall structure, roof structure), other external elements (e.g. roof covering, chimneys) and internal services and amenities (e.g. kitchens, heating systems). A full list of building components is given in Annex A of this guidance” Link above
Key building components are those which, if in poor condition, could have an immediate impact on the integrity of the building and cause further deterioration in other components. If any of these components are old and need replacing, or require immediate major repair, then the dwelling is not in a reasonable state of repair and remedial action is required. Other building components are those that have a less immediate impact on the integrity of the dwelling. Their combined effect is therefore considered, with a dwelling not in a reasonable state of repair if two or more are old and need replacing or require immediate major repair.
A component is defined as ‘old’ if it is older than its standard lifetime. Components are in poor condition if they need major work, either full replacement or major repair. A building component which requires replacing before it reaches its expected lifetime has failed early. Under the terms of the definition, this early failure does not render the dwelling non-decent but should be dealt with by the landlord, typically on a responsive basis.”
I used to believe that there were very few privately rented properties which were not of “decent homes standard” but unfortunately reading tenants posts in my Facebook group has shown me that where a property doesn’t meet the standard it misses by a mile and it doesn’t need minor repairs but often very major works. For those of us who do let properties of a good standard its difficult to imagine but this is the reason for the extra legislation and, as always happens, with new legislation the innocent are made to jump through hoops because of those landlords who have failed to provide homes fit to live in.
2025 is going to be a very interesting year for those of us who hope to remain in the business and I will continue to keep you up to date with important changes
Happy Christmas
