Handling additional costs

Sad, but ultimately true. With additional requirements come additional costs, many of which should be passed onto residents where appropriate. Passing on the additional costs related to new legislation isn't always popular, but it is the right thing to do.

That said, it is absolutely a responsibility of landlords to ensure that when meeting the requirements, they are considering the value that they can add to the process.

If we're going to need to send out more documents to residents - then lets ensure they do more than just comply with the legislation; lets create things that add value. If we're going to need to provide a summary of factual findings or similar regardless of the lease terms, lets make sure the process drives better controls and results. These are just two examples; there will be so many more that we need to consider and offer us opportunities for improvement.

Residents don't like additional costs, but they hate additional costs which bring no value and just tick boxes. It's right that leaseholders and others who are responsible for their properties contribute fairly to the additional costs created by legislation.

It's not right that they should receive no perceivable benefit from it. Of course we need to be compliant, but we need to move the sector's maturity from just compliance to opportunity.