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5 Examples When a Letting Agent or Landlord Might Need Our Help- Robinsonsfs
November 25th, 2019
Last updated: November 1st, 2022
A key issue that any private landlord or letting agent needs to be aware of is their legal responsibilities with regards to health and safety. This differs considerably from what you are required to do in your own domestic property and is a critical and ever-changing feature of a landlord’s list of duties.
This is why many landlords and letting agents contact us at Robinsons Facilities Services and design an agreement which looks after all the important services in a property, with regards health, safety, security and the environment. A planned preventive maintenance agreement ensures that we keep all your equipment and installations in order and that you comply with your many and varied responsibilities.
But in terms of specific landlord or letting agent duties, how can Robinsons Facilities Services help?
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Boiler Service and Repair
The boiler is important to a property in terms of providing a reliable supply of heat and hot water, but it can also cause issues from a gas safety point of view. Robinsons Facilities Services can look after the safety of your gas supplies and installations and we can provide Gas Safe-registered engineers to carry out regular checks and servicing of your boiler and any other gas installations, such as fires or cookers. We can also carry out routine maintenance checks, deal with breakdown repairs and leave you with copies of all records, which it is your legal duty to provide to all tenants. Find out more about our boiler servicing and repairs.
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Security Alarm Maintenance
Security is very important to both tenants and landlords, as people need to feel safe and secure in their home and a property won’t be marketable if this is not the case, so Robinsons Facilities Services can look after your security alarm system and carry out routine maintenance as well as attending to problems if the system is not working for any reason. If you wish to go one stage further, we can also look after CCTV systems to ensure they are functional and operative at all times.
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Electrical Repairs
Robinsons Facilities Services can carry out testing and inspection of various electrical installations and appliances, such as fixed wiring, alarm systems, lighting, safety systems and portable appliances. You have a duty to provide safe electrical systems (ie. sockets and lights etc) and appliances, such as kettles and cookers, so we can work with you to provide regular servicing as well as 24/7/365 cover for emergency repairs.
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Fire Safety
You have many duties with regards to fire safety, not least the provision of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitoring alarms. Robinsons Facilities Services can look after these as well as servicing fire extinguishers in properties of multiple occupation, where these are required. As a starting point, we can also carry out fire risk assessments of your property, in which we can identify exactly what fire safety controls you need in place and then we can help you maintain those controls.
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Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
Any landlord or letting agent is required to provide a property with an EPC, which grades the property with an energy rating from A to G. The minimum rating required to legally be able to lease out a property changes, but from April 1st 2018 it is E. Robinsons Facilities Services can help you achieve and maintain this rating through carrying out repairs and servicing of your boiler or other gas appliances and your electrical supplies. We can also discuss alternative forms of energy usage which may improve your energy performance, such as low-energy lighting and renewable energies such as biomass boilers, where this is applicable or practical.
There are many ways in which Robinsons Facilities Services can work with landlords and letting agents to ensure you are complying with all your legal duties, and your responsibilities to the environment. Contact us today and we can design a package that works for you.
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We have relied on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for decades, in fact, the technology used dates back to the 19th century! The telephone exchange has allowed us to communicate for all of our lives, and though it is still used today, it has been superseded by newer technologies.
There is a switchover coming, and telephone lines that are fixed-line and not capable of VoIP will no longer be supported from 2025. This is about far more than making phone calls, though, a huge number of other services including alarms, gates, and more, have been designed and installed using the PSTN lines and other telephone services such as Integrated Services Digital Network (IDSN) lines and Wholesale Line Rental (WLR) lines. When these are no longer supported in 2025, those businesses who aren’t prepared are going to be disrupted.
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Read moreFire Safety (England) Regulations 2022: Explained
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 came into force in January 2023. In the wake of the Grenfell Inquiry, there have been many changes made to legislation to try and make residential buildings safer. The changes come in the form of regulations made under article 24 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (Fire Safety Order).
The Government’s website explains that “The Fire Safety Order applies to all premises including workplaces and the common parts of all multi-occupied residential buildings.” Already, there are restrictions and rules in place for commercial buildings, and the need to have a risk assessment completed and regularly updated, but this will mean that the responsibilities are much more clear.
Let’s get into what the new Fire Safety regulations mean, and some of the key takeaways and work that may now be required to stay compliant.
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