We have a new voluntary accreditation scheme launched for student accommodation. This is a collaboration between the website service Accommodation for Students and the student charity Unipol, and is supported by the National Union of Students.
It sounds pretty good.
The scheme in a nutshell
- First the landlords have to commit to the code of practice (this document also sets out how the scheme works in detail), join the scheme for three years and pay a fee.
- Landlords then have to do a course of study which is provided by online modules and tested by an online multiple choice test. Once they have passed each module they get a certificate.
- A selection of the landlords properties then get a physical inspection. 1:3 for landlords with 10 or less properties and 1:5 for landlords with 11 or more properties
Landlords are provided with a report after inspection and if there are any problems are given these as ‘action points’ with a time limit to get them sorted
- Once the landlord is fully accredited he will get a certificate and marketing material.
The scheme is designed to fit in with other accreditation schemes and where a landlord is already a member of another scheme this will be taken into account in the accreditation process and fees paid.
The scheme is aimed fairly and squarely at students, many of whom are forced to rent on the open market. It is hoped that this scheme will provide standards which students can trust and make the process easier for them. Many students have had problems with rogue landlords and this scheme will make it easier for them to be avoided.
Although with the general shortage of property at present I suspect that there will not be enough afs/unipol accredited properties to meet the demand.
I would have thought also that a better name could have been made for this scheme. Afs/Unipol does not trip off the tongue easily and many people won’t have a clue what Afs or Unipol are. No doubt they are better known among the student community though so maybe it will work.
The patchwork quilt
However good this scheme is though, it is still another in a complex mix of different schemes operation in different ways in different parts of the country. I hope that this scheme will work, and it sounds as if it will provide the best protection going for student tenants.
However when there are a number of different schemes, all working in different ways, it cannot help but be confusing for the public.
I suppose in an ideal world there would be one single mandatory code which ALL landlords would have to comply with as a condition of being able to let at all, and then additional schemes (such as this one) could build on that and provide extra guarantees of quality.
However that is not going to happen, not for a long time anyway, so this scheme is to be commended.
Good news but probably for the future. If council’s social lettings agencies partner up on this we can encourage landlords to sign up.
I wonder if many student landlords will see anything in it for them. We have Goldsmith’s Uni on our patch, which depsite it’s internationally renowkned reputation is at the intersection of New Cross and Deptford. Ever seen the film ‘Nil by mouth’?, it was filmed there (I’m a background extra in the pub scene with Ray Winstone, shot in the 5 Bells.
The area isnt known for it’s decent property standards. Around our way I think professionalising and raising standards in the HMO side of lettings is going to be our biggest challenege.
Sorry guys, but this is neither new nor useful. Over 10 years ago London University was running a similar scheme (the word “accreditation” wasn’t a buzzword back then, but other details were similar). It didn’t work then, and it won’t work now, simply because it is designed to fit in a world that doesn’t exist. 10+ years ago students had to buy Loot & rent from any old Landlord, now they will have to read Gumtree & rent from any old Landlord – plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. There isn’t enough space in a comment to detail why the scheme didn’t & won’t work, but trust me it won’t.
It looks better than most of this type of scheme; I’m particularly pleased that the disclosure of property addresses and landlords personal data etc are not so batty as those operated by landlord accreditation schemes I have looked at (which usually amount to a complete neutralisation of the Data Protection Act).
It remains to be seen whether students are happy to have this on top of the £50-70 a year they are already all paying for the HMO paperwork.
A small hole: sprinkler systems are not mentioned.
I don’t buy the ‘voluntary’ claim. In my area Universities have adopted a policy of telling students not to look at properties which are not accredited.
And at least one very notable hole:
What are the qualifications of the “Verifiers”? I get nervous when it only talks about “experts in their field”.
For example, are they properly qualified to do HHSRS with it’s randomness? And I mean better qualified than the people who normally do HHSRS.
HHSRS? ROFL – did you know there is a the average likelihood of harm of 1 in 12 from only having 1 lock on a door? And that the only way of challenging such a ridiculous assessment is to go to The Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber)?
No wonder renting is such a farce, if the law is blantantly stupid people start ignoring it.
In the Midlands we have had Midlands Landlords Accreditation Scheme (mlas-online.co.uk) since 2007. Our scheme is based on education, fit & proper person & code of conduct but no property inspections. There is a robust arbitration system to deal with complaints and some landlords have been expelled from the scheme because they broke CofC others are suspended while they address the issue. Landlords attend a foundation seminar and must continue to learn over the 5 years of their accreditation in order to gain renewal – this is evidenced by collecting 50 continual professional developement (CPD) points over the 5 years. The scheme has worked very well because none of the universities or local authorities will work with landlords who are not MLAS.
Landlords, who are often resentful, attend the seminar and NONE of them has ever said that they regretted attending. Once a landlord knows what he did not know he feels empowered.
MLAS do not do property inspections as part of the scheme but any local authority can ask a member to provide details of his properties at any time and thus they can check that the landlord is meeting the CofC.
I would like to see a national accrediation scheme for all landlords but a scheme based on education and CofC not random property inspections carried out by unqualified people who differ in their standards.
Once a landlord knows what he is expected to do he should be allowed to carry on with his business unless or until he breaks the CofC – isn’t this how it works in other professions?