Please note the following procedures if landlords use their own contractors.

 Gas Check Procedures:

1. PAD4U send letter to tenant & Landlord to advise of gas check expiry date

2. PAD4U pass over tenant details to landlord (with tenants permission) or arrange access to keys

3. Landlord arranges check with own contractor before the expiry date.

4. Landlord provides PAD4U with copy of gas certificate on or before the expiry date.

5. Landlord confirms it has been received.

 Please note if we do not receive a certificate on or before the expiry date (for whatever reason), we have to act as agent of necessity and carry out a gas check on your behalf to fulfill our duty of care to the tenant and to protect the landlord.

Maintenance Issues:

1. PAD4U take a call from the tenant for repairs

2. PAD4U contact Landlord by telephone or email to advise of repairs reported

3. PAD4U pass over tenant details (with tenants permission) or arrange keys to be available at office.

4. Landlord arranges work with own contractor

5. Landlord provides PAD4U with update or upon completion of repairs carried out.

 Please note that whilst we understand landlords sometimes use their own contractors, we cannot schedule their appointments, be responsible for them carrying out works, the quality of work, etc.

PAD4U contractors are all vetted, have Professional Indemnity Insurance where appropriate, are members of their appropriate standard bodies (Gas Safe Register, NICEIC) – checked annually, have their worked cross checked by our Project Manager regularly, leave the property clean and tidy. 

If for any reason their work is unsatisfactory we will arrange for another contractor to carry out the work free of charge.

It is for the above reasons that we recommended the use of PAD4U contractors where possible.

If you have any questions regarding these procedures please contact me donna@pad4u.com.

Alaine Bradbury, Estates Manager, PAD4U Letting Agents Manchester writes:

I am pleased to announce that Luke Elston has passed his Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) examinations in Residential Lettings and Property Management .Luke has been studying for a year to gain this qualification, the study consisted of four separate units in

Health and Safety, Security and General Law, �
Legal Aspects of Letting and Management,
Residential Property Letting Practice,
Residential Property Management Practice,

Four, forty minute examinations had to be sat and passed at the end of each unit.

We are looking forward to Luke putting his new skills into practice and providing our landlords and tenant’s with guidance using the correct up to date legislations.

PAD4U are committed to its our employees, landlords and tenants and the service we provide. We endeavor to train every member of our team to the highest of standards.

PAD4U are members of both ARLA and NAEA. We follow this standards and there associated code of practice.

Luke has many years of experience in both residential sales and residential lettings.

Luke has previously passed his NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) examinations in Residential Sales.

 David Boyd, Managing Director, PAD4U Letting Agents Manchester writes:

A private landlord has been successfully prosecuted by Cardiff Council for failing to licence a property under the 2004 Housing Act and may now be forced to repay rent.Sabiha Almas Siddique, of Rhydypenau Road in Cardiff, was sent a licence application pack by the council in 2007. Her three storey property in Mafeking Road has six tenants and by law, now needs to be licensed.

Failure to return the pack and relevant safety documents resulted in a council prosecution. Mrs Siddique pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates Court on Monday August 10 and has been fined £1,500 and £150 costs.

The former tenants of the property are now entitled to make an application to the Residential Property Tribunal for a rent repayment order under Sections 73 & 74 of the Housing Act 2004.

In the event of the tribunal making the order in favour of the former tenants, Mrs Siddique may be required to repay up to 12 months rent.

It’s important for PAD4U landlords to ensure that they have the appropriate licenses for their property. If a license is required you will have been contacted by PAD4U to go through this process.
However if you have any questions or believe that you may need a license and have not been contacted by ourselves, please email: alaine@pad4u.com.

Fines can theoretically be up to a maximum of £20,000, but the biggest cost, as in this case, could be loss of rent as this can be claimed back by the tenant for the period the property is not licensed.

David Boyd, Managing Director, PAD4U Letting Agents Manchester writes:

AN 82-year-old landlord has been fined £5,000 for supplying a faulty electric radiator which led to the death of a 33-year-old mother in a tragic accident.thisiscornwall.co.uk – 13 August 2009

Trading standards officers from Cornwall Council brought the case against Hilary Thompson from Portscatho, on the Roseland peninsula, following the electrocution of Thirza Whittall last year.

Mrs Whittall died just days after she had moved to the village with her husband and two young children.
During a trial at Camborne Magistrates Court on Thursday (August 6), magistrates were told that Mrs Thompson inherited Pettigrew Cottage in the 1980s and had let it as holiday accommodation until 2007.

She then decided to let it on a shorthold tenancy, which Mr and Mrs Whittall took over on March 9, last year.
Prosecuting, Emma Northey, from the trading standards department, said: “It was supplied furnished, so the electrical appliances should have been safe.”

Read more at:

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/homepagenews/Death-landlord-fined-5-000/article-1250072-detail/article.html

It’s a useful reminder to landlords that although electrical inspections are not compulsory (although in selective license areas they are usually insisted upon) that landlords are responsible for the electrical installation and appliances in rented property.

If you have any doubts over the electrical safety of your property or appliances you should have an electrical inspection carried out of the property and PAT (Portable Appliance Testing) of electrical appliances. Both can be carried out by PAD4U.

For information about electrical tests and PAT tests please contact donna@pad4u.com.

The argument can be made that as a landlord you should inspect your property for electrics as you do for gas. Ultimately the responsibility is yours.