Discussion Title: New legislation now less than a month away

It’s now less than a month until the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 come into play on October 1. The new legislation will mean landlords, or the letting agent working on their behalf, must install a smoke alarm on every floor of any rented property where a room is used as living accommodation, while carbon monoxide alarms must be fitted in any room that contains a 'solid fuel burning combustion appliance'. Of course, it’s not enough for the alarms to simply be installed, they must also be 'in proper working order on the day the tenancy begins if it is a new tenancy'. This is where the expertise of a reliable, experienced letting agent can help; taking on the management of the property and removing the stress and hassle from landlords, allowing them to focus on building their portfolio knowing their rental property is in safe hands. A recent story about the prosecution of a lettings firm should act as a warning to letting agents and landlords not to put their tenants at risk. A court in Manchester heard that a mother and her young son had been put at risk of suffering carbon monoxide poisoning for seven years in their rental property. This came after an inspection of the gas boiler at the woman’s home in Ashton-under-Lyne, which found it was in a condition described as 'immediately dangerous'. Manchester-based lettings company Rent4U was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive, fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £7,000 in prosecution costs after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The government has claimed in the past that 90% of homes already have smoke alarms installed, but landlords might be less clear about their responsibilities when it comes to carbon monoxide alarms and organising annual gas checks. As the deadline nears, it might be an even busier time than usual for letting agents to ensure the properties they manage adhere to the new regulations. At Central Lettings Solutions, we provide lettings support and systems that enable you to outsource the majority of the time-consuming work that surrounds lettings management. We can help you to free up your time so you can concentrate on making the rental homes you look after as safe as possible. More time will also help you to grow your business. If you’re worried that outsourcing work to a third party might cause your business to lose its identity, don’t be. We can 'white-label' our services for you and we can also adopt your brand across all the communications we carry out on your behalf. For a clearer picture of what we offer, check out our service plans page. To find out how you can use our services to grow your business please contact our outsourcing sales team today on 0115 902 1006. https://www.centrallettingssolutions.com/