Monday 29 May 2017

New courses launched to help landlords ‘minimise the risk of a dispute’

By Marc Da Silva

Buy-to-let returns continue to beat all other mainstream investments, including commercial property, UK government bonds and cash, while remaining a highly popular alternative to the volatility investors often risk when investing in the stock market.

But some landlords are putting their property investments - probably their biggest assets - at risk by failing to comply with basic legislation.

“In recent months, our adjudicators have reported seeing an increase in cases where appropriate documents and evidence aren’t available or are incomplete,” said Michael Morgan, director of dispute resolution at the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

To help landlords minimise the risk of a dispute arising with tenants, the TDS has announced new dates for its Academy courses, delivering training on disputes and adjudication to property professionals and landlords.

TDS’s popular Foundation Course and Adjudication Workshops, which will be held in major cities across the UK, will provide accredited Continued Professional Development (CPD) certification.

The Foundation Course is a full day training session focussing on the key points of tenancy deposit protection and is designed specifically for landlords, as well as property managers, administrators and inventory suppliers.


The training session will cover a wide range of topics covering legislation, tenancy agreements, check-in and check-out procedures, calculating damage and whether disputes are appropriate or not.

The Adjudication Workshop is a half-day course that teaches landlords how to ‘think like an adjudicator’. It will focus on TDS’s Alternative Dispute Resolution programme, discussing various scenarios and case studies.

Attendees will hopefully leave with a better understanding of what evidence an adjudicator looks for in disputes and provides tips for presenting a case, and resolving disputes.

Morgan added: “We still see cases where tenants raise the same arguments challenging the accuracy of check-in reports – claiming they never got one, never signed it, or that it did not show the property’s condition accurately. These are all issues that can be addressed in advance with good check-in and check-out procedures – and it’s not difficult to document that has happened in the event of a dispute.

“Our CPD courses are designed to help landlords and property managers to minimise the risk of a dispute arising by helping them create well-documented check-in and check-out report, supported by good quality photographs.”

Courses will run throughout the summer and into Autumn, at the dates and cities below:

Foundation courses                                                         Adjudication workshops

Manchester         31st May 2017                                     Birmingham         22nd June 2017

London                 14th June 2017                                     Manchester         19th July 2017

Newcastle            12th July 2017                                       London  13th September 2017

Exeter                    27th September 2017      

Cardiff                    22nd November 2017

https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/5/new-courses-launched-to-help-landlords-minimise-the-risk-of-a-dispute

No comments:

Post a Comment