A former solicitor and property expert has penned a book on how landlords can avoid litigants and potential crippling fines once the Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law.

Patricia Ogunfeibo wrote ‘Be Prepared: Renters’ Rights & Residential Landlords in England’ to help others understand the potential impact of the proposed legislation currently going through Parliament. The book is available for Kindle on Amazon and all proceeds go to youth homeless charity Centrepoint.

“I realised that no one was writing about some things which I thought were completely unacceptable, like tenants being able to challenge initial rents from day one,” she tells LandlordZONE. “I saw all of this as the beginnings of a perfect storm that would drown the unwary landlord.”

Understand

Ogunfeibo - who also produces her Maximising Property Values podcast - explains that she sought to understand the worst that could happen and then find ways to “guard against any perceived potential calamity”.

She points out that some of the clauses in the Bill could be financially devastating if a responsible landlord is unfortunate enough to have a tenant who wants to manipulate the law, or has to deal with a heavy-handed, ignorant local council.

Authorities

“A crucial aspect of the Bill is that local housing authorities will now have a ‘duty to enforce’ landlord legislation and will be effectively funded to do so. This will be a complete game-changer,” she adds.

There are a number of useful courses and online conferences that landlords can join to understand how the Renters’ Rights Bill will impact them including Propertymark, Goodlord, Training for Professionals, Guild of Lettings and Management, Landlord Law Services, and the NRLA. LandlordZONE also has two courses in its Renters’ Rights Bill series where landlords can learn about the new databases, PRS ombudsman, enhanced council powers, the Decent Homes Standard and the impact of Awaab’s Law on private rentals. Join the forum to access this for free: https://bit.ly/3YULFJQ

Experts

Other experts and organisations with vital insights include property lawyer at JMW, David Smith, The Independent Landlord Suzanne Smith, property expert Julie Ford, and the UKALA.

Head of redress at Property Redress, Sean Hooker (pictured), says: “Landlords and agents should be greedy for knowledge, so I’d encourage them to get as much information as possible on the upcoming legal changes, be that from the NRLA, Propertymark, LandlordZONE or experts such as Patricia.”

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