Frost's blog

    Melanie Hughes, Head of Property Management at Frost’s Estate and Letting Agents in St Albans, has achieved the Propertymark Qualifications Level 4 Certificate in Residential Letting and Property Management.

Richard is a Senior Mortgage Consultant for Embrace Financial Services (EFS).   Richard started his career as an Estate Agent. He became a Financial Adviser in 2011 in Eastbourne and started providing advice at Frost’s in 2014.  After just 12 months Richard was promoted to Senior Financial Consultant recognising his commitment to excellent customer service.

On Wednesday 21 July 2021, Frost's together with estate agents across the country and with the support of the charity Agents Giving, participated in Acts of Kindness Day; an opportunity for colleagues to do one act of kindness within their local community.

Over the last month, we have spent time training our staff on the new Right to Rent checks that we need to carry out on behalf of our landlords, following the UK’s departure from the EU.

Running our busy property management department is no easy task.  With ever changing legislation, having to work around the various restrictions of the last year whilst protecting the interest of our landlords, our Head of Property Management; Melanie Hughes is a busy lady!

The English Housing Survey is a national survey of housing conditions and energy efficiency in England.   New data, just released, provides the findings from the 2019-20 survey which shows a dramatic rise in the energy efficiency of private rental property.   Some 38 per cent of homes in the private rented sector and 36 per cent of owner occupied homes were in EPC bands A to C in 2019 - that’s up from 13 per cent and eight per cent respectively in 2009.  

Whilst there is no legal requirement for landlords to take out a dedicated insurance policy, (although most buy-to-let mortgages come with the condition that you have to have it) a conventional home insurance policy will not cover you for rental activities.   Furthermore, if you have a mortgage on your property, it is more than likely your mortgage lender will require you to take out insurance before you take on tenants.

The Landlords safety pack will include 3 risk assessments covering the key issues of:   Legionella Risk Assesment  HHSRS (Housing Health & Safety Rating System) and  Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm Testing.   Detailed reports on each risk assessment will be provided upon completion, together with any identified works required.

From September 2021, the Government banned the sale of halogen light bulbs and from September 2023, legislation will also include the removal of fluorescent lights from shelves in a bid to tackle climate change.    

The Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017 claimed 72 lives, and exposed the dangers of inflammable cladding on residential tower blocks, and has become known as 'The Cladding Scandal'.  This triggered calls for changes to UK building regulations and the strengthening of fire safety measures.  

Meet Cherry Maddern, our move in progressor.  Cherry joined us in November last year, bringing a wealth of experience and superb customer focused approach from a career within the lettings market.  

Covid-19 may have left some tenants struggling to pay their rent, and this new law will ensure they have some "breathing space", giving them time to find a way to pay off their debts.  The Debt Respite Scheme came into effect from 4 May 2021.