John Robinson of Pearson Robinson Ltd previously fulfilled the role of ‘Asset Manager’ for a highly reputable Housing Association in Manchester;
‘The way in which Registered Social Landlords operate cannot be taken for granted by those who work outside of this industry. It is very much customer driven whilst functioning under the umbrella that is ‘Policy and Procedures’ and ‘Budget Management ensuring Health & Safety is being met at all times.’
Below is some key information that may answer some queries you are currently faced with;
Sales to sitting tenants under the right-to-buy and similar schemes where the property is not marketed will not require a HIP, but these sales will require an EPC to be provided to the potential buyer at the Section 125 notice. As this is not a HIP sale the EPC can be up to 10 years old.
The seller is responsible for providing the EPC to prospective buyers. On leasehold to leasehold sales, this will be the lease-holder, not the free-holder. If the freeholder is selling the leasehold, or the freehold then that person is responsible for providing and EPC.
The sale of shared ownership property is broadly treated as a full sale. The key exception to this is if the share % changes between the existing owners. If the share of ownership is changed between RSL and the shared owner this would not provide a trigger for the requirement for a HIP or EPC. Any subsequent selling on of the share to another party would require a certificate in the same way as a typical private marketed sale.
Stock transfers will require an EPC as of 1st October 2008. A certificate will have to be produced for every property when the transfer is complete because there is a charge in ownership. ALMOs will not have to produce a certificate for all their homes at the time of the management contract, provided that there is no transfer of ownership. They will have to produce certificates at the time of letting or sale of properties like any other landlord.
From previous exercises quite often landlords have sap information for housing stock or would prefer to use in-house surveyors to collate the information, this approach can reduce time and costs. Although the information can be used it will be the responsibility of an accredited DEA or HI to verify the accuracy of the information in line with dates in which work was carried out or information recorded, once satisfied the DEA and HI can then produce an EPC for that property or group of properties.
Where a specific property type is replicated through out the stock then there is the opportunity to replicate the information gathered to produce an EPC for properties of that type. This is only financially feasible providing information and improvement works have been carried out consistently to all the properties affected. Where there are inconsistencies in improvement work or the tenant has refused access then such properties may need to be removed from the initial grouping list and added to a subsequent group. This will continue to happen until tolerances have been met. There is a time and cost implication each time ‘goal posts’ are moved therefore in some cases it may be better economies of scale to simply survey the entire stock or as and when new tenancies begin. It is important to note that only a DEA or HI can validate the accuracy of the information and subsequently process this for certification.
For a free consultation please do not hesitate contacting us. The above is a general guidance, only by discussing in detail the profile of your stock can we give a more defined indication into the best way EPC’s can be delivered for your Trust or Association.