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Disrepair
Property disrepair can be hugely detrimental to a property portfolio. It doesn't just affect your tenants’ quality of life: it can lead to significant damage, reduction of property value and costly legal issues.
That’s why proactively addressing disrepair is crucial for protecting your investments and maintaining positive tenant relationships, and why Resisure’s intuitive property platform has been a game-changer for landlords, housing associations and investors across the UK in actively preventing disrepair.
Key features
Explore how Resisure can help detect and prevent disrepair...
How Resisure Prevents Housing Disrepair
Property disrepair can have a severe impact on the value and performance of your investment portfolio. Not only does it decrease the market value of the affected properties, but it can also lead to escalated tenant disputes and Property Disrepair Claims, resulting in unnecessary stress, additional expenses, and increased management challenges.
At Resisure, we understand that the key to maintaining a healthy and profitable portfolio is to prevent property disrepair before it occurs. That's why we've developed an innovative monitoring platform designed to continuously monitor critical factors such as temperature, humidity, damp, mould, heat loss and air quality in your properties. By providing real-time data and insights, we empower you to take proactive measures to address potential issues before they escalate.
Our advanced monitoring platform collects and analyses data every 30 minutes across your entire portfolio, allowing you to detect concerning trends, such as rising humidity levels, increased mould risk, or sudden temperature fluctuations. With this information, you can make informed decisions to safeguard your tenants' well-being, enhance their overall satisfaction, prevent any Property Disrepair Claims, and ensure your investments remain in peak condition.
3.5M
In 2020, 15% (3.5 million) of occupied homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
15%
During the 2019-20 period, about 15% of private renters—approximately 683,000 households—considered filing a complaint against their landlord or letting agent.
56
Among the 56 users surveyed by the Ministry of Justice via the Housing Disrepair Online Signposting Tool (OST), 29 reported problems with their gas, electricity, boiler, heating, or hot water supply not working properly.
What Is Housing Disrepair?
Housing disrepair refers to any rented property in need of repair to be deemed safe and suitable for tenant occupation. Common issues can range from structural concerns to faulty installations, all of which can put your property and its inhabitants at risk.
By law, landlords must ensure their properties are in a proper state of repair and fit for habitation, including:
- Structural and Exterior Maintenance: This covers the property's structure, drains, gutters, and external pipes.
- Utilities and Installations: This includes water, gas, electricity, and sanitation systems, such as basins, sinks, and baths.
- Heating Systems: Space heating and water heating installations must be fully operational and safe.
Who Is Responsible For Housing Disrepair?
Landlords are legally responsible for addressing disrepair under several key pieces of legislation, including:
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985: Requires landlords to maintain the property’s structure, exterior, and installations.
Defective Premises Act 1972: Holds landlords liable for personal injury or property damage caused by disrepair.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: Mandates that rental properties must be fit for human habitation.
Social Housing Act 2023: Keeps landlords accountable for the functionality, safety and standards of social housing.
Not abiding by these pieces of legislation that encourage landlords to keep their properties in decent shape not only puts tenants at risk, but can cause huge amounts of unnecessary hassle, time and money.
In severe cases, tenants living in properties in a state of disrepair that is not being addressed by the property owner can complain and start the Disrepair Protocol which warns landlords of a tenant’s intention to initiate court action. Landlords have 20 days to respond and should the response be unsatisfactory, or no response is provided, a tenant is able to initiate court proceedings. Other tenants will approach the Property Ombudsman or Redress Scheme in order to escalate their disrepair queries. Tenants can even ask for compensation for inconvenience, financial loss, damage to belongings, or health problems caused by or made worse by inadequate housing conditions. This is not only time consuming and stressful to property owners, but can cost huge amounts of money.
Awaab’s Law
New legislation has been released following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020 as a result of abundant damp and mould in his family’s social housing, with the aim to hold social landlords more accountable for the condition of their properties. However, Awaab’s Law isn’t just relevant to social housing, as it is anticipated that the private rented sector will soon be implementing similar regulations.
Under Awaab’s Law, tenants are able to hold their social landlords accountable should issues of disrepair, mould or water leaks arise and remain unresolved or poorly handled, firmly placing the onus for the condition of the property on the landlord. Social landlords can now face legal action if they fail to address such problems, making it crucial for them to regularly monitor and maintain their properties to comply with Awaab’s Law.
Keep Property Disrepair At Bay With Resisure
Property disrepair can be exceptionally damaging to your portfolio. It not only devalues the property in which you have invested, but escalated tenant proceedings can cause unnecessary stress, costs and hassle.
At Resisure, we strongly believe that prevention is key to avoiding property disrepair. That's why we've created our innovative property monitoring platform to provide vital information on temperature, humidity, damp, mould, heat loss and air quality of your properties before they become problematic. Our data-driven insights help identify any concerning trends or fluctuations, allowing you to address them early on. This approach safeguards your tenants, enhances resident satisfaction, and keeps your investments in optimal condition.
Ready To Be Empowered By Proactive Property Management?
Join the increasing number of property businesses who rely on Resisure to safeguard their portfolios and keep tenants in a safe environment with our proactive prevention device. Reach out to us today to discover more about our solutions and how we can customise them to fit your unique needs.
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