Industry comment, updates and news from the Websters team.
Jon Dickins in his blog ‘Digging the Dirt’ reports that the Office of Fair Trading has launched a consultation on draft guidance to estate agents and property developers, which aims to help businesses handling sales of property and land in the UK to comply with the law on misleading marketing and unfair business practices.
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Press Zoom notes that a new report from the London Assembly highlights issues within the service charges regime that affect more than half a million leaseholders in the capital and calls for a change of approach.
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The legal news from Out-Law.com points out that, according to a recent tribunal decision, residential service charges will not be recoverable if the address for service of notices contained in the demand letter is that of the landlord’s managing agent, rather than that of the landlord itself.
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Carl Brown of Inside Housing notes that sector experts have warned that proposed new rules could lead to fewer service charges being covered by housing benefit. Draft regulations for the universal credit, expected to come before parliament in the autumn following a consultation, redefine which service charges are eligible to be covered. Currently regulations list 10 types of service charge which are not eligible. The new regulations turns this on its head and instead lists just three types of charges which are eligible. As a result of the change, lawyers and housing consultants warn that a host of service charges could no longer be covered by benefit. This would mean extra cost to tenants or landlords, or a reduction in services for tenants.
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