Rent Officer Handbook: Fair Rent Registration

Section 6: tenancy information

Information about the tenancy which the Rent Officer considers under an application to register the rent.

Services – Changes to Services

(V1 2024) 

The requirements 

When making an application for registration of fair rent, Section 67 of the Rent Act 1977 sets out the requirements for a valid application. Where the landlord alone is making the application and services are provided the application must state so, and it must also give details of those services and landlord actual costs incurred in providing those services. This may be in the form of a separate schedule or document which lists the individual services provided and a breakdown of costs for each. In some cases the number of services may be limited and the information may be supplied on the RR1 document itself. 

If an application is received without any breakdown of costs it should be rejected. If unclear information is provided, an RR3 notice should be used to clarify the issue. Information obtained after the service of an RR3 request for further information is deemed to form part of the application. The RR3 and any response must be copied to both parties to the application to allow the opportunity to make representations. 

Change since last registration 

There may be valid changes to the services under the tenancy since the last registration of rent. If it appears that the terms of the tenancy may have changed to introduce or to remove services under the tenancy, clarification of the contractual arrangement between the tenant and the landlord may be sought by serving an RR3 request for further information. This is only necessary if the evidence required does not accompany the application.  

Changes to services under a tenancy may have been agreed between the landlord and tenant, or may have been imposed by a landlord serving a notice of variation of the terms of the tenancy. It is this information which an RR3 request may ask for. 

The basis of the registration should reflect the contractual arrangement between the parties. If there is a contractual obligation for the landlord to provide services under the tenancy, this must be reflected in the rent officer’s registration of rent. Only where there is no such contractual obligation may the rent be registered without services. 

Any RR3 served should clearly state the consequence of receiving no response within the deadline stated. This may be a rejection of the application to register a rent on the basis of insufficient information being provided, or it may be to proceed to registration on the basis of certain clearly stated assumptions. 

Where services are included under the contract but there is no written agreement, the rent officer is to proceed according to the best evidence available. This should reflect the contractual (albeit unwritten) arrangement which is agreed or uncontested between the parties. Where application information is copied to both parties and no representations are received by the rent officer, the information may be assumed to be agreed because it has not been contested. 

If the application sets out changes to services compared to the existing registered rent, and the rent officer is uncertain as to how to proceed, they should contact the guidance helpdesk for advice and assistance. 

Related pages 

• Services Pages 
• Further information required

Tenancy Information

(v1 2024) 

General Rules 

The rent officer has no right of entry to a property and can only carry out an inspection with the tenant’s consent. If the rent officer who will determine the fair rent carries out the inspection, natural justice demands that landlords have the opportunity to be present so they must be told about any proposed inspections and consultations. But it is for the landlord to arrange access directly with the tenant. 

Rent officers should make all reasonable efforts to re-arrange inspections or consultations for first-time registrations unless access is denied by the tenant.  

Access Denied 

Where a tenant denies access, they should make sufficient notes of the outside of the premises to allow them to make a valuation. The rent officer must then register the rent on the basis of the information available. They do not make a further appointment.  

If the tenant denies access to the rent officer, but a consultation has been requested, this should be re-arranged.  A consultation may be held by telephone, or at a neutral venue, such as a  VOA office… 

Access Unobtainable 

The following procedures apply where, having given advance notice of an inspection or consultation in writing, the rent officer gets no answer at the door: 
 

The rent officer should leave an “access unobtainable note” addressed to the tenant in a sealed envelope. The note advises the tenant that they called, but that they will decide based on the information available. The rent officer should make sufficient notes of the outside of the premises to allow them to make a valuation If the tenant contacts the rent officer after registration the rent officer should not arrange a further inspection or attempt to re-open the case. The only option in these circumstances is for the tenant to object to the registered rent, and for a First-tier Tribunal to reconsider the case.  

Cancelled inspections 

If a tenant, landlord, or agent cancels an inspection or consultation appointment prior to the date of the visit the rent officer should try to arrange a further appointment. However, they should not allow one of the parties to continually cancel appointments and therefore delay the registration unreasonably. The number of re-arranged appointments is left to the discretion of the rent officer and will depend on the circumstances in an individual case, but guidance should be obtained initially from the Hub Manager. It is suggested that a maximum of 3 appointments are made for any individual case. When re-arranging a visit for the final time the rent officer must make it clear that the registration will go ahead, even if one of the parties is unable to attend. It is worth explaining to landlords and tenants in these circumstances that they can be represented by someone else (perhaps a friend) and they do not have to be there themselves.  

If the rent officer is unable to gain access a decision will be made on the basis of the information available. 

Tenant Vacated  

If it appears to the inspecting rent officer that a tenant no longer lives at the property they should initially make reasonable efforts to check if the applicant still wishes to go ahead with the registration. But if they are unable to contact the applicant they should go ahead and decide based on the information available. The only time the rent officer should not proceed to registration is if the applicant asks (in writing) for the application to be withdrawn and the rent officer agrees. Jurisdiction is decided as at the date the application for registration is received. So, if a tenant moves out, dies or terminates/relinquishes the tenancy in any other way during the registration process this does not invalidate the original application, and the rent officer should continue to register the rent, unless the application is formally withdrawn. 

Related pages

• Inspections - Policy 
• Inspections - Practice 
• Time Management – FR Process

Consultation

(v1 2024) 

What is a consultation? 

A ‘consultation’ is a meeting between the rent officer and the parties (and/or their representatives) to an application for registration of fair rent. The purpose of the meeting is to enable the parties to present relevant evidence about the dwelling and discuss the rent to be registered.  

The rent officer acts as a “tribunal of the first instance” at the consultation and gives everybody the opportunity to present evidence, ask questions and make personal statements about the dwelling and the rent.  

The consultation is informal and both parties can provide the rent officer with as much information as they wish, and the rent officer will chair the meeting and take notes to refer to when determining the fair rent. 

Statutory right/duty 

Either the landlord or the tenant (or both)  may ask for a consultation but must do so within 14 days of the date of the RR2 or RR2s notification letter. The request should be in writing; by letter or email, though there are separate requirements under the Equality Act for customers with accessibility needs which must be taken into account.   

If either the landlord or the tenant requests a consultation, then the rent officer MUST arrange a consultation. This is a statutory requirement under Schedule 11 of The Rent Act 1977. If the rent officer fails to arrange a consultation where one is requested in writing, s/he will be in breach of Schedule 11, and their decision could be open to challenge.  

In certain circumstances, a landlord or tenant may make a telephone request for a consultation, and whilst this is not a valid request under Schedule 11, it is agency policy, and good customer service that rent officers should hold the consultation as a rent officer request.  There is separate guidance on “Verbal representations” which must be followed and the correct pro-forma used. 

The rent officer may, in the absence of a request by the landlord, tenant or their agents, decide that a consultation is required. 

The purpose of the consultation is for the rent officer to consider, with the parties, what rent should be registered as a fair rent. 

Joint applications 

Where a landlord and tenant jointly apply to have a rent registered, the rent officer should assess whether or not the rent requested is likely to be registered. The rent officer must take into account any effects of the Rent Acts (Maximum Fair Rent) Order 1999.  If the rent officer is unlikely to register the requested rent, they should normally arrange a consultation with the parties. 

Notice of consultation 

When arranging a consultation the rent officer must serve a notice on both parties telling them the proposed date, time and place of the consultation. At least 7 days notice of the meeting must be given, but this is extended to 14 days notice where the application includes services. If the required notice is not given, this would be a breach of Schedule 11 and their decision could be open to challenge.  

It is therefore essential that where a consultation is requested by the parties, a consultation is arranged, and that whenever a consultation is arranged, the correct notice is given. 

All time limits start from the date the notices are posted, however, it is good practice  to ensure that the parties have enough  time to receive and respond to the correspondence and to make allowances for any postal delays. 

Consultation venue 

Rent officers should normally hold consultations at the premises on the same occasion as any inspection. If the rent officer arranges an inspection before receiving a consultation request they should try to arrange the consultation at the same time, and they must serve written notice of the consultation appointment, giving 7 or 14 days notice as appropriate and attaching a copy of any consultation request letter. 

Rent officers may arrange multiple or group consultations for more than one dwelling-house. This might happen when they are dealing with more than one application, for a number of properties owned by the same landlord, such as a block of housing association flats in a sheltered scheme.  If the scheme has a communal hall or lounge then this might be a suitable group consultation venue. 

In some instances rent officers may experience problems arranging a suitable time and location for the consultation; tenants and landlords occasionally are unwilling to meet, and tenants may not wish to admit landlords to their home. If this situation is encountered, then rent officers must adjourn the consultation and re-arrange it on neutral ground at the nearest VOA office or other suitable venue.  

Telephone / virtual consultations 

In exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate to hold a consultation by telephone / conference calling or Microsoft Teams. This may be where one or both of the parties are unable to attend an appointment at the dwelling, or perhaps where the dwelling has already been inspected and there is no need to inspect on this occasion. 

There is a bespoke letter template to arrange a telephone consultation, and it will be necessary to obtain a telephone contact number for all parties prior to making the arrangements. 

The consultation itself should follow the same format as a face to face consultation meeting.  Notes should be made using the standard proforma.  The meeting should not be recorded using teams. 

Cancelling or re-arranging a consultation 

Cancelling (as opposed to postponing) a consultation requested by one of the parties can only occur with the agreement of both parties and the rent officer.  The other party to the cancellation request must therefore be informed and allowed the opportunity to ask for another meeting to be arranged. 

Where the consultation has been called by the rent officer alone, s/he has the ability to cancel the meeting, though s/he must notify the parties of the cancellation of the meeting in writing.  

The statutory duty to arrange a requested consultation is fulfilled when the rent officer gives notice of the consultation. If one or more of the parties cannot or does not attend at the time, date and venue arranged, this does not result in a breach of Schedule 11 as long as they had been given the opportunity to attend.  

Rent officers should try to accommodate the parties if they request a consultation to be re-arranged.  If repeated requests to re-arrange the consultation are received, then the rent officer should make arrangements to hold the consultation in a suitable venue one final time, making it clear that the consultation will not be re-arranged again, and invite the parties to send a representative if they cannot attend in person. This is to avoid unnecessarily delaying the case. 

Natural justice 

Natural justice is a phrase summarising the approach of fair and equal treatment of parties, and in this context it refers to ensuring that both landlord and tenant are given equal opportunities to make their case in respect of the application to register a fair rent. 

The rent officer should not attend the consultation with any pre-conceived idea of what the fair rent should be or what comparables (market evidence and information) they might use when making their decision. 

To meet the demands of natural justice, the rent officer must allow both parties to present their case and make any submissions. If these are in writing they should be made available to the other party. Any rental evidence should be accepted and considered. All parties must have the opportunity to make statements and ask questions about any statements made.  

At the consultation the parties may attend in person or be represented by anyone they choose. This may be a neighbour, friend or relative, but may include professional representation from a surveyor, estate agent or solicitor or anyone else the parties may care to choose. If the parties choose to engage professional representation, then this is a matter for them and VOA is in no way liable for professional fees or expenses incurred by the parties in any circumstances even where meetings are cancelled and re-arranged. 

There is no specific statutory requirement, but there is an assumption throughout the rent registration process that “the rent officer” dealing with the case will remain the same throughout the process. This means that the rent officer who holds the consultation should be the same rent officer who completes the valuation. 

Approved consultation pro-forma 

During the consultation, the rent officer must ensure that both parties are given the chance to speak and question each other. The rent officer must also make adequate notes of the meeting on the approved consultation pro-forma which must be attached to the case afterwards.   

The approved consultation pro-forma and aide memoire can be found on the intranet and must be used in all cases.  This is to ensure consistency and that the rent officer advises the parties of the process and next steps following registration. It also clarifies what can and cannot be taken into account during the process. 

The pro-forma will be sent to the First-tier Tribunal  in the event of an objection being received to the registered rent, and a copy may be requested by either of the parties at any time. 

Related pages

• Natural justice
• Equality Act – making our service as accessible as possible
• Consultation notes pro-forma (forms and letters)

Consultations – Procedure and Practice

V2 2014

First scrutiny

It is essential that the rent officer checks the RR1 application and any correspondence received with it against the details recorded on VICTER as soon as the application is allocated. Correspondence submitted with the RR1 forms part of the application and must be copied to the other party when the RR2 is issued. This checking process prevents any errors further down the line after the rent has been registered, such as the landlord address being incorrect or improvements being made to the property but not taken account of. It also allows early planning action to be taken if a consultation or inspection is required or requested by either party.

Representations

Where any representations are received from the parties they must be copied to the other party under the principles of natural justice. So where CSC have notified the RO that correspondence has been received it is the rent officer’s responsibility to acknowledge the correspondence and send a copy to the other party. However, prior to doing so, CSC or the rent officer must check that the correspondence is not defamatory. Where any information is considered to be defamatory it should be redacted prior to being copied to the other party, or returned to the sender and a request made for information that is strictly relevant to the property and registration. Guidance should be sought where there is any doubt over the course of action to take in this regard.

Requests to Record the Consultation

Rent officers may receive a request from one of the parties to record the meeting with either audio or video equipment. Whilst there is no reason to reject such a request, it can only be carried out with the agreement of all present at the meeting. If any person present at the meeting disagrees then the request should be rejected. A compromise which may then be offered to the parties is for the rent officer to send them each a copy of their consultation notes. Due to the equipment and technology available today, the best way to approach any consultation meeting as a rent officer is to treat every meeting as though it is being recorded.

Role at consultation

At the consultation the rent officer should start by explaining the valuation process to the parties. The applicant should then be invited to make representations and the other party should be allowed to respond. It is important to give the parties the opportunity to express themselves freely, but at the same time the rent officer should also maintain some control so that the parties do not end up talking over each other or launching personal attacks. The rent officer should also explain that the parties must keep to relevant issues only and no personal circumstances or defamatory remarks will be considered. After allowing the parties to make their representations the rent officer should sum up by advising that all the relevant points will be considered in accordance with the legislative framework, and inform them of their right to object to the registered rent once they have received notification of it. Notes should be made throughout the consultation of any relevant points and these should then be attached to the VICTER case. A consultation pro-forma is available for rent officers to use, it can be found under forms and letters on the rent officer guidance homepage.

Group Consultations

When dealing with applications to register the rents for a block of flats or for a batch on a development, most likely to be (but not exclusively) a Housing Association, the rent officer may receive consultation requests from multiple tenants. In such circumstances the rent officer may decide to hold a meeting to deal with the representations made all together. This is known as a group or joint consultation. It is the rent officer’s decision whether or not to hold a group or joint consultation. The rent officer’s decision will be based on all of the circumstances, including an assessment of the most practical way of dealing with several tenants seeking to raise the same issues.

It should be noted that in relation to the protection of personal data, each tenant is a third party to all other tenants, and that the VICTER notice of consultation does not include a warning about this. The rent officer should open a group consultation by explaining that individual private consultations are available. If any tenant objects to their application being discussed in open forum, the rent officer should implement the option of a separate consultation to be held after the group consultation. The rent officer should also reassure attendees that we take data protection matters very seriously and that personal data will be retained only for the purposes for which it has been provided.

Prior to commencement of the consultation the rent officer should check that those present are in fact the persons that either requested the consultation or have been invited to the consultation, or are their legitimate representatives. The tenant and landlord are allowed representation on their behalf which should have been notified to the rent officer prior to the consultation. Anyone representing the landlord or tenant must be there only for that purpose. Anyone who is not entitled to be present should be excluded from the consultation. (An example may be a representative of the press.) If in any doubt the consultation should be adjourned and guidance sought.

During a group or joint consultation it is important to retain control and invite individuals to make comments when it is their turn, ensuring that everyone present gets their turn. Anyone attending a group consultation is entitled to make notes of the meeting but the meeting should not be recorded without prior notification. The rent officer will also take notes which must be attached to (or at least accessible from) each case.

Consultation v Jurisdictional hearing

A consultation is not a hearing to determine whether or not a fair rent can be accepted. The purpose of a consultation is for the rent officer to consider, with the parties, what rent should be registered as a fair rent. One of the parties may request a consultation or the rent officer may decide that a consultation is necessary. Where the landlord or tenant makes that request in writing the rent officer MUST arrange a consultation or he/she will be in breach of Schedule 11 and their decision could be invalidly made, or at least open to challenge.

Where there is doubt about a particular fact, rent officers must make enquiries to satisfy themselves as to their jurisdiction. They should do this by holding a jurisdictional hearing (not a consultation). This allows both parties to state their case, be questioned by the other party and/or make submissions about the applicable law. The rent officer must then decide after establishing all the facts at the hearing whether to proceed with the application.

The rent officer may quite legitimately decide to hold both a jurisdictional hearing and a consultation at the same time. The important thing is that the separate meetings are clearly delineated, and the rent officer makes it clear that the

• jurisdictional hearing (usually held first) is in order to hear representations concerning jurisdiction to register a rent, such as tenancy status and history, and then separately, the
• consultation meeting purpose is in order to hear representations in relation to the level of rent to be registered, such as tenant’s improvements and state of repair.

Related Pages

• Consultations
• Challenges to jurisdiction
• Deciding jurisdiction
• Re-arranging consultations

Re-arranging Consultations

(v1 2024) 

Occasionally rent officers may be contacted by the parties to cancel a consultation. Where the reason for cancellation is reasonable and at least 24 hours notice has been given, then rent officers should agree to cancel the meeting and attempt to contact all parties by telephone advising that the meeting has had to be re-arranged.  

Rent Officers can re-arrange a consultation by writing to the parties with a new date and time, giving the required 7 days notice, or 14 days if services are included. The appointment should be re-booked on VICTER.  

Rent Officers can also agree to an earlier meeting but only by agreement with both parties to the application. So a consultation could potentially be re-arranged for the following day, if both parties were in agreement. If the new consultation date is notified in writing this could constitute a notice and the 7 or 14 days notice requirement in Schedule 11 would still apply. Therefore appropriate wording that clarifies that both parties have agreed to the date must be used when you confirm the appointment by letter or via email.  

A standard letter has been provided in the RO Guidance pages of the intranet for use when confirming a rearranged appointment in writing that has been re-arranged within 7/14 days by phone or email with both parties, and you wish to confirm the new date in writing.  

Where an appointment is re-arranged verbally the rent officer should still physically re-book the appointment on VICTER selecting “phone booking” on the book appointment screen. This means it is still recorded on VICTER but no documents are produced, a case note with the date and time should also be added to explain that the appointment has been rebooked verbally, if there is no letter or email confirming the appointment. If there is such an email or letter this should be attached to the case and no case note is required.  

If “phone booking” is not selected a letter will be produced and will go into the CSC print queue and it would be necessary to contact the CSC and have the letter removed.  

Related pages

• Consultations

Full Repairing Leases

 (v1 2024 )

Valuation Approach

This handbook page looks at issues surrounding the valuation approach to differing repairing obligations in leases. 

Leases that the rent officer commonly encounters include: 

• Assured Shorthold Tenancies, here in the majority of cases the landlord retains the repairing obligations 
• Assured or Regulated Tenancies, here the tenant often only retains the internal repairing obligation because Section 11 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 applies 

Section 11 applies to leases granted on or after 24 October 1961, for an initial term of less than 7 years. So unless a tenancy agreement was for 7 years or more, or started before 24 October 1961, Section 11 will generally apply. This is probably the case for the majority of the regulated tenancies (although not all) that we deal with.  

Section 11 says that landlords of tenancies to which the section applies must:

1. Keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),  
2. Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and  
3. Keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water.  
   This would normally be the minimum standard expected in terms of a landlord’s obligations and a landlord cannot opt out of a statutory duty to maintain.  

The rent officer will occasionally come across cases where there are express covenants within a lease relating to repairing obligations of the landlord and tenant. The majority but not all of these will be shared ownership cases because they are normally let on long leases of more than 7 years. These leases will be outside the provisions of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 Section 11.  

In practice this means that a tenant with a full repairing and insuring lease (FRI) may be required to spend money on internal decorations, minor repairs, as well as replacement windows or roof, which is a much greater financial liability. The rental value will reflect this liability, with a relatively low rent.  

If either party has an obligation to repair that is different from standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) terms then there is more than likely to be a difference in value from the more common AST terms lease. Established practice in fair rent valuation is to use the open market value (OMV) and make adjustment for differences in the tenancies. 

The starting point and primary unit of comparison is the OMV of an assured shorthold tenancy; here the landlord is normally responsible for all repairs and decoration. ROs are well versed with using the market rent and making allowances for the differences in the tenancy from a standard AST. The rent officer will know an appropriate level of allowance when they are experienced, but this will always be subjective because different purchasers/renters will make different allowances for things such as modernisation, and the cost of repair and amenity. The skill of the valuer will be required to make an allowance in rental terms for such differences. 

Basic principles are to value like with like. In an ideal situation we would be able to assess the rent of an unimproved dwelling with current market rents of other unimproved dwellings in the same vicinity. However rarely do we find such perfect comparables. 

Rent Officers should use their judgement and experience to identify and exclude “special bids” which may be high or low comparables, for example unusually high amounts paid by individuals prepared to exceed the going rate for personal reasons or very low rents agreed between friends or family. Valuations should be determined in line with the more general level of rents in the locality.  

Adjustments may need to be made to the market rent. Invariably the subject property/tenancy details will be different from the comparable evidence. Additions/deductions should be made to take account of these differences (for example, many assured shorthold tenancies include carpets and white goods, and many regulated tenancies do not. There may be a lack of central heating in regulated properties whereas modern lettings are almost always let with the benefit of heating). 

When the tenant has a greater repairing obligation, for example when the property is let on a full repairing and insuring lease, the best comparable would be a property let in the open market on similar FRI terms; where such properties are found it is good practice to keep a local record of the letting and make colleagues aware of the transaction simply because they will be rare. 

As a valuer we are simply trying to identify the prospective renter’s bid; to do this we need to be aware of market trends and the expected impact of the repairing obligation on the rent. 

A property let on FRI terms  in good condition with no structural or other defects would let for a higher rental than one that is in poor original condition with perhaps a watertight but dated roof that is reaching the end of its useful life. Whilst the obligations to repair will be the same the incidence of necessary repair will be very different. In the first instance the tenant will only have to budget for redecoration, perhaps on a cyclical basis to maintain the property to a similar standard, in the second example not only will the tenant have to budget for decoration but will also need to budget for roof repair/renewal and other associated repairs. 

It is also important to consider the property’s location when considering the cost of complying with the lease terms; the cost of repair to, say, properties in Central London where access would be difficult will be much higher than in the provinces. In addition many of the developments in London will have specific requirements covering the nature of repair and maintenance e.g. frequency of decoration, when repairs can be executed, materials to be used, etc. 

Case study 1  

Property to value is a detached 3 bedroom house in a rural location, originally let on a 7 year lease with the tenant having a full repairing obligation. As originally let the property was in good repair and remains in good order with no obvious defects.  

A property in the vicinity identical in age and character also in good order was recently let on the open market on a full repairing lease. 

The starting point for this fair rent valuation is the comparable open market rent.

Note: With limited open market lettings on full repairing terms this evidence may be used to support valuations in other areas where no evidence is available; to do this the market differential method will need to be considered. (See handbook page on extrapolation and other techniques.) 

Case study 2  

The very same property as above, but over the past few years the roof has deteriorated and requires replacement. Under the terms of the lease the tenant is responsible. 

There are no direct comparable lettings available as the estate that let the property mentioned above always put their properties in good order prior to letting.  

The rental bid for this property would need to reflect the repairs necessary and would be likely to be lower than in case study 1. The level of adjustment would need to be judged by the rent officer, but in this example a reasonable approach may be to determine the cost of works and spread them over the expected life of the works. The full cost of works must not be deducted at each registration, it is an ongoing obligation with the tenant having the obligation from the start of the lease from which time the tenant should have considered setting up a sinking fund to cover the obligation. 

Case study 3  

Modern flat close centre of town, tenant retains full repairing liability although the building structure is maintained from common maintenance and service charge costs. As a modern flat built and let in the early eighties it is in sound structural order and has modern fittings; other than repairs and maintenance due to normal obsolescence the ongoing maintenance liability is relatively low. Open market AST rental value £100 per week.  

In the absence of direct comparable letting evidence an adjustment from the AST comparable type of property level of rent is likely to be relatively small. Adjusted market rent say £90 per week. This equates to 10% in this example. 

Case study 4  

Situated in a small west country village the detached listed building has a stone flag roof requiring constant maintenance as do the windows that have stone frames with hand crafted opening wrought iron casements. Access to the building is difficult and any repairs have to be carried out by skilled craftsmen. 

It is very unlikely direct comparable evidence will be found with the rent officer having to use knowledge and experience of properties in the vicinity to arrive at realistic rental values. Having regard to the level of maintenance required to keep such a property in good order and the increased costs involved in carrying out specialist work of this nature the necessary adjustments are likely to be fairly high. In addition to the cost of work there is also the requirement to obtain listed building consent prior to works commencing, this is an added expense and should be included within any adjustments made. It is anticipated an adjustment from an AST open market rent could be fairly high where significant costs may be incurred in maintaining the property. Open market rental £100 per week, adjusted market rent to reflect obligations say £80 per week (equating to 20% in this example). 

Key Point

The adjustment in rental value is to reflect the obligation or liability to repair and each case must be looked at individually. It is an adjustment for ongoing maintenance and repair only. An obligation that is likely to incur great expense will attract a greater adjustment than a liability that is low cost and easy to achieve. 

Clearly each case should be judged on its merits; please contact the guidance team to discuss individual cases as necessary. 

Related pages

• Extrapolation Interpolation and Market Differential
• Repair liability
• Repairing obligations
• Repairs/Improvements?
• Shared Ownership

Further information required

(v1 2024) 

Having received an application to register a fair rent, Rent Officers may need more information. They can obtain this by serving an RR3 notice on either landlord or tenant (or both)  requiring further information about anything included on or missing from the application. The request for information should be made promptly and ideally during first scrutiny checks. 

The nature of the information received in response to the RR3 may be substantially material to the application, and  should be treated as though it were part of the original application.  

Where service schedules are concerned, for example, where the Rent Officer has asked for details of the landlord’s costs incurred in supplying the services. In these circumstances the information received by the Rent Officer in response to the request must be copied and issued to the other party to the application (unless there is defamatory content)  and they must be given sufficient time to make their representations.

Where new information is being provided to the parties, sufficient time should be given for the information to be considered and any representations received. The period is not defined in schedule 11 but up to 14 days may be reasonable for example where new details of services are being provided,  it is good practice to wait at least 7 days before registering the rent.  

When the information is copied to the other party a covering letter should clarify the earliest date on which the Rent Officer intends to register the rent, so the parties are given a clear and equal chance to make any representations, to the Rent Officer. 

If the Rent Officer issues an RR3 asking for missing or additional information, and receives no response, it would be acceptable for the Rent Officer to reject the application. Prior to taking such action, reasonable efforts must be made to contact the applicant to explain the Rent Officer’s position, for example, some Housing Association applicants prefer to be contacted by email rather than post or phone.  

If the application for registration of fair rent contains insufficient information for the Rent Officer to make a decision on rental value or jurisdiction, they may choose to ‘withdraw’ that application, and send it back inviting the applicant to re-apply when the missing information may be included in a new application. This may be a reasonable approach if the missing information is, say, the landlord’s costs incurred for the provision of services and it is a landlord application, but not necessarily if the missing information is less vital, such as clarification of a  tenancy commencement date. 

If the Rent Officer is any doubt as to how to proceed, the guidance helpdesk should be emailed for advice. 

Related pages

• Natural justice
• Time management – FR Process

Inspection criteria

(V1.1 2023)

The Rent Act 1977 does not require a Rent Officer to inspect a dwelling at all, but it is good practice to have at least some idea of the dwelling and its condition in order to properly carry out a valuation in accordance with s70 of The Rent Act 1977.

Whilst there is a general policy aim to improve data collection through increased inspection rates, Inspections should only be carried out where the inspection is likely to have a material benefit to the case and provide relevant up to date information that is not already held.   

Inspections at Consultation hearings

Schedule 11 of the Rent Act 1977 only requires a Rent Officer to hold a consultation at the request of the parties. There is no requirement for an inspection to be held at the request of the parties.

Where a consultation is being held at the subject property, the Rent Officer should also inspect the dwelling at the same time and update the Victer file records to ensure the most up to date inspection details are held.

Requests to inspect

If either party requests an inspection stating that there has been a material change to the dwelling since the rent was last registered, the Rent Officer may consider an inspection is appropriate.

If the Rent Officer decides not to inspect following a request from the parties, they must advise the parties of their decision not to inspect.  

If there are no material changes to the dwelling since the rent was last registered stated on the application or correspondence and the Rent Officer decides that they have enough information on file or from other means they may proceed to registration.

No mandatory inspection criteria

Rent Officers are entitled to value on the basis of information supplied on the application form, any representation from the parties and any existing known facts on the case file.

Ultimately, whether a property requires an inspection or not rests upon the judgement of the Rent Officer.

Whilst there are no mandatory inspection criteria, Rent Officers should consider an inspection:

• If the rent is being registered for the first time and / or there are no records of previous inspection on file (or in the case of a scheme, no evidence of an inspection of a similar dwelling type on the scheme).
• Cases that were first registered during the COVID 19 period and not inspected at that time.
• If the application, representations or our records indicate a material change to the dwelling such as improvements or disrepair since the last registration.
• Where an application is received as part of a Housing Association scheme and mentions material changes since the rent was last registered such as renovation works, new kitchen / bathroom etc., a sample inspection of each dwelling type should be held on file. Those cases not inspected may be annotated with a note providing details of the inspected sample dwelling.
• Where a consultation hearing is being held at the subject dwelling.

External Inspections

There may be occasions where a RO has attempted to arrange an inspection but was unable to do so, because access was not provided or the appointment was cancelled. In those circumstances Rent Officers may externally inspect dwellings either physically or “virtually” bearing in mind that images held on electronic mapping tools may not be up to date. The date of the image is usually displayed on screen.

Inspection reasons

The Victer system holds inspection reasons within the appointment booking screen – where an appointment is being made, the appropriate selection should be made from the options shown:

• Improvements
• New Registration
• No Original Documents
• RO Decision
• Sample Cases

Other options that are shown must not be used. The selection of inspection reason from the drop down list negates the need for an inspection reason case note.

VOA Policy

When arranging inspections, Rent Officers must have regard to any overriding VOA policy restrictions, such as a general suspension of inspections such as during a public health emergency.  A case note should be attached to any case where VOA policy has prevented the RO from carrying out an inspection that they would otherwise have done. Where inspections are permitted any overriding risk assessment policy and procedure must be followed.

Related pages

• Inspection policy
• Inspection practice
• Information retention policy

Inspections - practice

(v1  2021)

The Rent Act does not specify that Rent Officers must inspect any of the properties they deal with. But it is not good practice to value any property without having relevant information about what exactly is to be valued. 

For more information see the inspection criteria (FR) page.

Properties are inspected to gather and record information about the dwelling. This is to help Rent Officers assess and register a fair rent for the property. Keeping an accurate record of the property enables future applications to be processed more quickly as information is already on file.

Any inspection may meet all or some of the following criteria:

• provide additional information about the property and the area;
• make it easier for the Rent Officer to value the property;
• add to the database of property specific data (this is not market evidence); and
• provide additional information about the housing market that the Rent Officer would not normally have access to.

The inspecting officer should inspect all of the accommodation let, together with any other accommodation used by the tenant.

The main reason for the inspection is to provide:

• further information about the property, especially condition, state of repair, etc, and
• other information that may affect the valuation process, for example, the vicinity and locality of a property.

Inspecting officers should record a brief but clear description of the property and collect all the information needed for them to complete the approved worksheet. The report needs to give:

• a broad indication of the quality of the property (where furniture is provided by the landlord the report should also give a brief indication of the quality and quantity of this furniture);
• condition and state of repair (level of modernisation, details of any improvement/repairs made since the last registration );
• details of any tenant’s improvements
• details of any disrepair or defect caused by the tenant’s failure to comply with any term of the tenancy
• the services provided (for example, porterage, cleaning, fuel, etc);
• the property specific amenities (mains for gas, water, drainage etc);
• details of any local amenities (schools, shops, and public transport);
• location details, particularly for properties in rural areas.

The person making the inspection should decide whether to produce a sketch plan but in most fair rent cases detailed measurements and scale drawings are not necessary but are useful where the size and/or design of the accommodation could impact greatly on the valuation.

Where sketch plans and detailed drawings are produced they should ideally conform to the RICS Code of measuring practice 6th Edition. There is no “accepted” standard for measurement of residential properties, but valuers should state their basis of measurement on any plan or drawing.

Agency policy is to measure to EFA (Effective Floor Area), for flats and maisonettes, as well as attics and basements, which includes all habitable rooms measured wall face to wall face excluding skirting boards. Bathrooms, toilets, halls, corridors and stairwells are excluded under the RICS code, though have historically been included by rent officers. (See handbook page Inspections – Measuring Standard.)

Agency policy remains that houses and bungalows should be measured using the RCA (Reduced Covered Area) method, which is similar to the RICS code GEA (Gross External Area) method. This involves taking external measurements for the ground floor footprint, and adding an appropriate equivalent external measured amount for each floor footprint.

Rent Officers do not normally inspect a property just to check the information provided on the application form. But, at an inspection, they should always check and verify information about the accommodation let and the tenancy details (viewing the tenancy agreement if possible). They should give the occupier the opportunity to ask questions but should not enter into discussions about issues affecting the valuation. These are more properly dealt with in a consultation.

The Rent Officer should always show their ID card without being asked, act in a professional and courteous manner and remember that they are a visitor in someone’s home.

The Rent Officer has no right of entry to a property and can only carry out an inspection with the tenant’s consent. Natural justice demands that landlords have the opportunity to be present. It is good practice to send the landlord a copy of any letter sent to the tenant requesting access at a particular time. It is for the landlord to arrange access with the tenant.

Rent Officers may have to deal with situations where landlords attend inspections but the tenant refuses them access. They will need to deal with each case as it comes. The general rule is that they should not deal with one party without the other having the opportunity to be present. Rent officers should make it clear that, if either party wants to make detailed representations, they can hold a consultation on another day, at the property or on neutral ground which would usually be their office, or a room, for example, at the local town hall.

In most cases comments made by tenants during an inspection will be of a minor, incidental nature or will be in response to questions of a factual nature. This falls short of detailed representations requiring the arrangement of a separate consultation.

The Rent Officer should not seek to unnecessarily institute a consultation which will cause delay.

The Rent Officer should use their discretion as to whether to inspect the property if the tenant has refused access to the landlord. This may involve asking the landlord if he is willing for the inspection to go ahead, and explaining the benefits of basing the determination on up to date information, which could be made available to the landlord in due course.

An external inspection should be made if a Rent Officer considers that their personal safety may be compromised by entering a property.

Related pages

• All other FR pages

Guidance on inspections

(v1 2024) 

When an application for registration of fair rent is received, the rent officer should make their own judgement as to which cases need to be inspected. However the guidance provided to rent officer teams is to arrange to inspect those cases that meet the inspection criteria.  

Inspection visits should be arranged as soon as possible. It is not necessary to wait the fourteen days allowed by the notice for requests for consultation. Inspection letters are produced and issued at the Customer Service Centre (CSC). 

Wherever possible, consultations should be held at the same time as property inspections. Written appointment letters should be sent to both tenants and landlords or their agents. If the rent officer is calling a consultation at the same time there is a separate combined “inspection / consultation” letter.  

If the rent officer has made an inspection appointment based on the inspection criteria, but one of the parties requests a consultation, then the rent officer should use a standard template letter to re-schedule the inspection as an inspection / consultation. 

Rent officers should book inspection appointments between 09.00 and 16.30 in two hour time bands or at set times wherever possible. They should arrange specific times for appointments for fair rent inspection/consultations. Appointments outside of these times may be arranged in exceptional circumstances and only if agreed with managers, as there are health and safety issues. 

Landlords are parties to applications for registration of fair rent and must be told about proposed inspections by rent officers. Landlords have a right of entry to their tenants’ homes at reasonable times and with reasonable notice. If they want to attend inspections, they should arrange this directly with their tenants. 

Related pages

• Inspection criteria
• Inspections - practice
• Consultations

Reasons for inspection – use of the VICTER ‘drop downs’

V1.2 2011

When inspecting cases the reason for the inspection is required to be recorded by rent officers using a limited number of reasons from a ‘drop down’ list on VICTER. The below is a guide to the circumstances in which each reason should be selected.

Years

The inspection criteria followed by rent officers state that properties should be inspected regularly;

• for Fair Rent cases the property should be inspected if it was last seen more than 7 years ago
• for Housing Benefit cases, it should be inspected if it is an HMO, hostel, mooring or site rent, and it was last seen more than 12 months ago (6 months if it was deemed poor when last seen)

If the sole reason for inspection is the time elapsed, then this reason should be selected.

HMO

Housing Benefit HMO cases should be inspected when first referred to the rent officer. Further inspections should be made at the frequency suggested above.
If the sole reason for inspection is that the property is an HMO then this reason should be selected.

Change/Improvement

Fair Rent cases may be accepted within the normal 2 year period for re-registration when there are changes or improvements to the property, but such material changes which are value significant may also occur on Housing Benefit referral cases and on Fair rent cases which are applied for after the 2 year embargo period.
If the main reason for inspecting is that changes have been notified to the rent officer as having occurred since the property was last seen, then this reason should be selected.

LA Request

Sometimes in Housing Benefit cases the Local Authority may ask the rent officer to inspect for some reason. It should be noted that the rent officer is in no way obliged to inspect whenever requested to do so by the LA.
If the rent officer considers the LA’s reason valid and inspects mainly as a result of this request, this reason should be selected.

In Fair Rent cases it is agency policy to inspect when requested to do so by either party to the application.
If a landlord or tenant request is received to inspect and this is the only reason for the rent officer to inspect then this reason may be chosen.

MED

When dealing with Housing Benefit cases referrals may sometimes be received from areas where we have little lettings information, or for an unusual property type for which we are seeking lettings information, or from a landlord from whom we are seeking lettings information, etc.
If this is the main reason for the rent officer to inspect then this reason should be selected.

New Registration

Rent officers should always inspect a case if it is a first time application for registration of rent from a property unfamiliar to us.
When dealing with a first time rent registration application this reason should be selected.

No Documents

Rent officers may sometimes come across a Fair Rent case which we have dealt with before but for which no documents are to be found on record. This is effectively like a first time registration, with no information about the tenancy or property.
In such a rare instance when this is the main reason for inspection, this reason should be selected.

Old Case

When dealing with an old case, the reason to inspect will generally be years elapsed above.
It is recommended that the rent officer does not use this option on VICTER.

Problem Area

If a Housing Benefit referral case is received in an area which is known to contain a large proportion of boarded up properties, or it has other particular problems which affect localised rental values, then this would be a valid reason for inspection.
In this circumstance, this reason should be selected.

New Let

There are some categories of letting which it is policy to inspect when they are first referred to the rent officer. These include lettings of a room with board, lettings of moorings, and lettings of site rents.
If a referral case falls under these categories and has yet to be inspected, the rent officer may select the new let reason.

RO Decision

Sometimes an RO may inspect a case in order to increase their local market knowledge and familiarity with an area, or because of known changes in that area, such as a new retail development for example, or unexpected movements in the lettings market. Equally the rent officer may decide to inspect to investigate particular terms of the tenancy which may be unusual and/or potentially ‘value significant’.
Additionally, Redeterminations Officers may want to inspect to address tenant’s representations, or at 2nd or 3rd Redetermination stage as a matter of course.
In the above circumstances, the RO Decision reason would be appropriate to select.

Sample

It is often good practice to inspect a Housing Benefit referral case where the property is a particularly unusual property type, and making a determination would be very difficult without seeing the property.
If the sole reason to inspect is an unusual property type, this reason should be selected.

If a rent officer wishes to inspect a property for any reason other than those set out against the above reason categories, s/he should only do so with the agreement of their line manager, and a case note added to the case on VICTER to record the reason to inspect. In such cases the drop down reason to choose would also be agreed with line management, but is likely to be RO Decision.

Related pages

• Inspection criteria – Housing Benefit
• Inspection Criteria – Fair Rent

Natural justice

Representations from the Parties to the Application and Natural justice

(v1 2017)

When dealing with any fair rent case, rent officers must comply with the two rules of natural justice. These rules are:

• no person may be a judge in their own cause - which is the rule preventing bias and
• no person may be condemned unheard - which means that both parties have a right to be heard

Rent officers must:

• not deal with cases where they have a personal interest or where they could be thought to be biased;
• not deal with one party without informing the other party; this rule must be applied at every stage of the proceedings
• make sure that they tell the landlord about any inspection appointment that they make

Written Representations

When a tenant or landlord or their representatives who are party to the application to register a fair rent write to the rent officer in response to the service of an RR2 or RR3 letter inviting representations, the rent officer must:

Make sure that both parties are sent all relevant documents and correspondence. Relevant means relevant to the rent being considered.

What is relevant is a matter of judgement but would certainly include any representations about:

• the level of rent
• comparable properties
• the condition of the property
• the amenities
• the quality and quantity of any furniture supplied by the landlord and so on

Care must be taken when copying representations to ensure that third party information and potentially defamatory materials are redacted from the copy sent to the other party.

This approach pertains to written representations received by email or letter, and in the unusual circumstance of representations received verbally by telephone, the same approach should be adopted. Verbal representations should be discouraged but where they are unavoidable, they must be similarly treated.

Verbal Representations

Parties to an application to register a fair rent will sometimes contact the rent officer directly and state that they do not require a consultation but then proceed to attempt to engage the rent officer in conversation about aspects of the application. In the first instance where this occurs, the rent officer should not be drawn in to discussion but should request that representations are made in writing. The representations can then be copied to the other party.

Despite the rent officer’s best efforts, verbal representations may sometimes be unavoidable. There may be circumstances where customers have accessibility needs that need to be accommodated, for which separate guidance is available on the handbook page “Equality Act – making our service as accessible as possible”.

Where verbal representations are unavoidable, the rent officer should make it clear that the conversation will have to be recorded in writing so that the other party may be made aware of the detail. The rent officer should then proceed to make a record of what is said on the standard pro-forma available for such purposes. It should be pointed out by the rent officer at the beginning that no defamatory comments will be tolerated or recorded. At the conclusion of the conversation the rent officer should read back those notes to the party. The rent officer should ask for confirmation that the details have been recorded accurately and a case note should be added to the file to this effect. If the other party disagrees with any aspect of the content, then the reason should also be recorded.

The standard pro-forma must be added to the file and a copy sent to both parties in the same way that other written representations are dealt with. If either party contacts the rent officer to make what may be factual comments about an application rather than a general discussion, then that information must also be communicated in writing to the other party.

Consultations

At consultation allow the parties, in as informal a way as possible:

• to call witnesses
• to ask questions
• to make submissions

Allow hearings to be postponed and adjourned so that both parties can be present or, for example, so that some new evidence can be studied. However, the rent officer must also make sure that postponements and adjournments do not cause undue delay which itself might create injustice. If rent officers feel that one party is deliberately attempting to delay proceedings unnecessarily then they must contact RO Guidance for advice on how to proceed.

In practice rent officers must not discuss the rent to be registered with any party without the other party having the opportunity to be part of the discussion.

Rent officers should not decide on comparables or values prior to attending a consultation. This is to avoid being seen to have made a decision which does not reflect the parties’ right to be heard.

Rent officers should be careful when leaving or arriving at a consultation with the landlord or his agent. This may lead a tenant to come to the wrong conclusion about the most innocent of conversations and sensitivity is needed here to avoid any accusation of bias.

Related pages

• Jurisdiction - Deciding jurisdiction
• Consultations
• Time management FR

RR2 letters

(v1 2009)

Where either a landlord acting alone or a tenant acting alone makes an application to have a rent registered, The rent officer must serve a notice on both parties. This notice is the RR2, or RR2S if the application includes services.

The leaflet, “Fair Rents – The role of the rent officer and the rent assessment committee”, should also be sent to both parties.

The following must also be sent to the non-applicant:

1) a copy of the application; and

2) a copy of any other papers received with the application

In addition, where the landlord makes the application and provides services, he must also:

1) specify a sum required to meet the expenditure in providing those services, and

2) provide details of that expenditure (see “RR1 - essential information” page)

Details of these services form part of the application and must be served on both parties.

The parties have fourteen days to ask for a consultation. Consultations are meetings between rent officer, landlord and tenant to consider what rent ought to be registered.

If the rent officer fails to send the notice to one or both of the parties it is in breach of the statutory requirements of Schedule 11 of The Rent Act 1977. The courts will, if asked, quash any registration made.

If, in response to the notice, one party sends in a letter containing information relevant to the assessment of a fair rent, the other party must be sent a copy, unless it contains libellous material.

Related pages

• Services - schedules
• Essential information – RR1
• Consultation

Services - schedules

(v1 2009)

If a landlord applies for a registration of a fair rent, and that landlord provides services to the tenant, the Rent Act requires the landlord to give certain information about the services and the cost. In the application the landlord must:

1) specify the sum payable for services and

2) include details of the expenditure incurred by the landlord in providing those services

The application is not valid unless this information is provided. Landlords often send in a separate service schedule. These details form part of the application; they are not just supporting evidence. This information must be provided before the rent officer can proceed.

Rent officers need an actual figure even if it is only £1 a year. An application form which says that services are provided but specifies “negligible” only is not acceptable. If the required statutory information is not provided the application should be rejected, but the Rent Officer should tell the landlord what information is required. If rent officers need further information they can make a formal request for it using an RR3 (available in the forms cabinet). The request should be specific and give a date by which the information is required by the rent officer.

Service schedules setting out these details can come in any format. They are all acceptable providing they give the required information and they are relevant to the property being considered. Audited accounts are rarely acceptable as service schedules unless they clearly show details of expenditure relevant to the application being considered. ‘Details’ of the expenditure does not mean ‘proof’ of the expenditure; rent officers do not need to see receipts or contracts, and have no powers to demand to see them..

Sometimes a landlord will submit two service schedules – one for the tenant and a more detailed one for the rent officer. Often this happens where there are resident staff and the landlord does not want the tenants to know how much the staff earn. To comply with the rules of natural justice, the rent officer must always send the whole of the schedule to the tenant. The tenant must see all the information that the rent officer will take into account in assessing the fair rent.

Service schedules are scanned onto Victer by CSC when the case is entered. The rent officer must check that the correct schedule has been provided and If they need any additional information they should ask for it at an early stage of processing the case so as to meet our performance targets and to optimise customer service.

The application form for registration of fair rent includes the following questions:

7. What rent do you want the rent officer to register as a fair rent? Include any amount for services and/or furniture provided by the landlord or superior landlord. Do not include anything for rates. Include council tax if this is payable under the tenancy by the tenant to the landlord.	£ per (eg per week, month, quarter etc)	The rent officer cannot deal with your application unless you answer this question
8. Are there any services provided under the tenancy? Such as cleaning, lighting, heating, hot water or gardening. If `Yes’, give details.	Yes	Tick one box
9. If you are the landlord (and this is not a joint application) how much of the proposed rent do you think is due to these services?	£ per (eg per week, month, quarter etc)	If this is a landlord’s application, he must attach details of the expenditure incurred in providing any services, otherwise the rent officer cannot deal with the application​​​​​​​

It’s only when the rent officer is dealing with the registration that they will have a chance to establish the value of any services, or if indeed they are so small as to be negligible or unquantifiable. It has nothing to do with whether the landlord thinks the services are negligible or not – it is a decision that only the rent officer can make. Only when the amount is too small to reasonably be able to quantify (for instance, a light in the communal hall serving 10 flats) that ‘negligible’ applies.

When rent officers are registering fixed amounts for services they are entitled to update these costs using their knowledge and experience to ensure, as far as possible, that the landlord will be able to maintain the services during the ensuing two year period. This would particularly apply when the statement of costs was already outdated, or when the authorities providing public services (gas, electricity, water etc.) had already announced future price changes.

Since April 2003 the government introduced the “Supporting People” scheme, which was intended to remove funding for certain services from the Housing Benefit budget. Many Housing Associations have been advised that services provided under the heading “Supporting People” are not the concern of the rent officer, and need not be included in the service schedules for “Fair Rent” applications. This is not the case, and rent officers should be vigilant.

Section 71 of the Rent Act requires that the registered rent includes “all sums payable by the tenant to the landlord, even where these sums are payable under separate agreements” So rent officers need to check that service schedules provided include ALL services including “Supporting People” charges if they are provided. If the Housing Association has not provided the information, then it must be requested before proceeding further with the application.

For more information about the way rent officers should treat claims for a sum for services, see the Services page.

Related pages

• RR1 Application
• Natural justice
• Further information required
• Glossary
• Services
• Housing association tenancy

Services - Apportioning

(v1 2009)

Once the total value of services for a scheme has been agreed, or calculated by the rent officer, this needs to be apportioned between each unit.

There are many different methods of apportionment, but generally rent officers only need to confirm the existing arrangements or, if dissatisfied with the reasonableness of the apportionment, apply a method they consider to be fair and reasonable.

Methods of apportionment

Rateable Value and Gross Value methods

These methods of apportionment are generally easy to understand, but the RV/GV list needs to be readily available, and they are only reliable for identical services. With the introduction of Community Charge and Council Tax, valuation lists have become obsolete as far as residential premises are concerned and these methods of apportionment have become inadequate. They cannot be used for new developments and the Valuation Office has now adopted global assessments for whole schemes most of the time. For these reasons these methods of apportionment are not recommended.

Floor area method

Accuracy is difficult with this method and there are some similar deficiencies to that above. For example, volume of rooms needs to be considered with ground floor rooms of many older houses having much higher ceilings than those of rooms on floors above.

Number of Radiators method

This is a simple method, but it must be viewed with extreme caution and rent officers would require detailed inspection of all units to apply it. Tenants sometimes add or remove radiators without the landlord’s knowledge and this would have quite a dramatic effect where there is a communal boiler.

Number of Rooms method

This is quite a useful method of apportionment, but again the volume of rooms should be similar as well as the floor area.

Equal method

This method can be inaccurate because all units are apportioned equally regardless of size. For example, a single person in a studio flat can end up paying the same charge as a family in a four roomed flat. It is not a fair or reasonable method and is therefore not recommended.

Conclusion

The majority of schemes developed during and since the 1960s have tended to provide uniform units of accommodation (usually varying from the one person studio to the two or three roomed flat), and it has been common practice to divide the cost of more general services, such as ground maintenance, equally amongst the number of units in the scheme.

It is generally considered that where accommodation is reasonably uniform in a scheme, and a similar occupation rate is achieved this method is to be recommended. It has been commonly used where open market conditions exist and is certainly favoured by most Housing Associations whose accommodation generally falls into this category. But, it is only general services that can be dealt with in this manner. More personal services such as heating and hot water still need to be separately apportioned.

The Valuation Office recommends assessing the value of services in each dwelling by a ratio of unit costs. Rent officers should consider all factors and determine a reasonable ratio between the flats or houses in a scheme. Every scheme is unique and by applying this method rent officers can apportion the services reflecting size of accommodation, ceiling heights (which in modern blocks tend to be uniform), number of radiators and any other relevant factors.

For example - take a purpose built block of thirty flats comprising:

10 Studio flats at 25m.sq.

10 Two room flats at 30m.sq.

10 Two room flats at 35m.sq.

Assume that the cost of provision of general services equates to £3,000 per annum and the rent officer decides that an equal apportionment is fair and reasonable at £100 per annum per flat. There is a communal boiler that provides heating and hot water to all flats with an annual cost of £8,000. The rent officer has considered all factors and has decided that the flat types relate in a ration of 3 : 4 : 5 for calculation of the other services.

In other words the larger two roomed flat will, in his opinion, use five units for heat and hot water in comparison to the studio flat that will use three.

The computation will work like this.
Calculate total number of units in scheme.

Studio = 3 units x 10 flats = 30 units

Smaller 2 room = 4 units x 10 flats = 40 units

Larger 2 room = 5 units x 10 flats = 50 units

Total number of units =120 units

Annual costs = £8,000

Therefore cost per unit per annum = £8,000 / 120 units = £66.66

So, the apportioned annual costs of heating & hot water are:

Studio £66.66 x 3 = £199.98 Say £200

Smaller 2 room £66.66 x 4 = £266.67 Say £267

Larger 2 room £66.66 x 5 = £333.30 Say £333

To these figures the £100 per annum for general services is added to give a final total annual amount for services for each flat type as:

Studio flat £200 + £100 = £300

Smaller 2 roomed flat £267 + £100 = £367

Larger 2 roomed flat £333 + £100 = £433

It is considered that this method will give reasonable and probably the most equitable results and should be used whenever possible.

Pooling of Service Costs

Some housing associations have ‘pool’ costs of the various blocks of flats under their control to produce an average cost per unit. This is clearly attractive for the landlord and some of the tenants, it does mean that one group of tenants is subsidising another group. Unless the terms of the tenancy specifically allowing for pooling of services, it is difficult to see how the costs of services incurred in one scheme affects the costs in another, can be considered fair or reasonable . It is a fact of life that a larger block of flats will usually be far more economical, from the point of view of the cost of providing services, than a smaller block. The number of units in a larger block generally produces economies of scale – in other words, the total cost of services is divided by a greater number of units. So, the cost of services for flats in block comprising forty units will usually be lower than the cost for a flat in block comprising twenty units.

But, this is only one element in the global rent for a property. Although the cost of services may differ from block to block, the global rents for similar flats with similar services etc., should also be similar although not necessarily identical. In the true market situation a tenant may prefer to reside in a small block and pay a slightly higher rent for that privilege.

Accordingly rent officers should always require the landlord to supply details of the actual expenditure incurred for the particular block or development under consideration. If such details are not forthcoming then the Rent Officer should proceed to deal with the matter based on his/her knowledge and experience of other similar sized developments provided with very similar services.

If the tenancy agreement actually provides for the pooling of certain service costs within a variation clause, the rent officer has to consider whether those terms of variation are reasonable..

The final factors must be reasonableness of costs and value to tenants.

Related pages

• Services - all pages
• Services - schedules

Services - Calculation of Services

(v1 2009)

Sometimes different types of accommodation receive different types and amounts of services. This makes it difficult to analyse and compare. It is therefore generally simpler if the services are grouped together under the following headings, which makes comparability easier:-

• Heating and hot water
• Wardens
• Lifts
• Common parts and communal facilities
• Other facilities

These groups of services are dealt with separately and include a breakdown of what should and shouldn’t be included.

Related pages

• Services – heating and hot water
• Services – Wardens porters and caretakers
• Services – Common parts and communal facilities

Services - Common Parts and Communal Facilities

V1 2018

Heating and Lighting

Generally all amounts reasonably expended on communal heating and lighting should be recovered by the landlord by way of services. The rent officer should compare costs with similar blocks of flats providing a similar service. Comparison with other schemes can also bring to light accounting errors.

Laundry Expenses

Some landlords provide a communal laundry room in a block or scheme. Running costs, and depreciation of plant and equipment, should be apportioned in accordance with the terms of the agreement. In the absence of such terms it is quite common to divide the cost of this service equally amongst the tenants, irrespective of use. If the landlords provide this service on a commercial basis, with coin-slot equipment, then any application for making good an imbalance between income and out-goings should be looked at carefully in the light of the agreement between the parties.

Upkeep of Grounds

Whether the costs for the maintenance of lawns, paths, play areas, car parks, borders and unadopted roads are considered reasonable depends largely on the size of the area, and the quality / frequency of care and maintenance. The quality of this service can be conveniently divided into three categories:

Factors such as distance that a contractor has to travel, the ease or difficulty with which he can dispose of garden refuse and the availability of casual labour are all factors likely to affect the overall cost. The charges for these services vary hugely - In some instances there are very low costs (for example, when a tenant or tenants do the gardening on a purely voluntary basis). But, in some larger schemes it is actually financially better to employ a full-time or part-time gardener.

Exceptional Expenditure

Maintenance and depreciation of gardening equipment should be dealt with in a similar way to other plant and machinery. Likewise the costs of any tree surgery should be spread over a number of years. In new schemes, the initial cost of stocking gardens with trees, shrubs, plants, etc. should not be charged in full in the first year, but should be spread over a suitable number of years.

Fire Fighting Equipment, Fire Alarms and Smoke Detectors

The provision of fire alarms could be argued as of equal benefit to landlords and tenants. However, it has been customary to allow this as a service. The annual costs of maintenance and repair are included as depreciation items. Be aware that there should be no allowance for a landlord’s supervision, administration and profit on any depreciation items.

The quality of firefighting equipment varies greatly from scheme to scheme. Some landlords may simply provide buckets of sand and water or, at the other extreme, a sophisticated sprinkler system. The general rules should be that money has been spent wisely and that the tenants are receiving value for money. Annual costs would include maintenance contracts, testing of equipment, and repair/replacement. All equipment with a reasonably long life would qualify for depreciation, and the amount included would be governed by the standard of the maintenance contract, if any.

Warden Call System

These systems are common in sheltered housing association accommodation, but private schemes have also incorporated them as a security measure. Rent officers should compare costs with previous registrations, and other schemes providing a similar service. Again, the amount given for depreciation should have regard to the standard of any maintenance contract.

Communal Telephone

Many larger blocks have a communal coin-box or modern equivalent telephone available. Rent officers should be satisfied that any `shortfall’ claimed as part of the services by the landlord is genuine, and that in such cases a service is being provided which is of general value to tenants. Usually the landlord should receive sufficient income from the coin-box to cover both calls and rental of the line and equipment, or only have to request a modest sum to balance the account. Rent officers will frequently be pressured by tenants to remove the cost of the telephone from their service charge, because they don’t use it / have their own telephone in the flat. Rent Officers must remind tenants that the telephone is a contractual part of their tenancy, and therefore must be charged for. If the tenant’s collectively decide with the landlord that the telephone is not required, then they can agree to have it removed.

Door Entry Phone

For security reasons entry telephones, or even video entry systems (which allow automatic door opening to the block from within individual flats) are very common, particularly when wardens/caretakers are not employed. The running costs often include a maintenance contract and, together with depreciation, should be allowed as a service.

Emergency Lighting

The provision of a system of low-powered bulbs placed at strategic intervals in passages, corridors, staircases etc is of obvious advantage to the tenants. The power source has to be divorced from the normal supply, and is sometimes provided by an independent generator or some other method. The landlord should be able to produce some evidence to support the actual running costs, and subject to this being acceptable a reasonable sum should be allowed to cover running costs, repairs and depreciation.

Communal Television Aerial/Satellite Dish

Where a landlord supplies a central communal television aerial or satellite dish as part of the agreed services to a block, the costs are allowable as a service. The change from analogue to digital television has seen an increase in demands for replacement of existing aerials on communal schemes. Rent officers need to be vigilant as to the amounts requested by landlords for these replacements, and their expected lifespan for depreciation purposes, which we would expect to be little different from that of a standard analogue system.

Television Licences

Sheltered accommodation qualifies for concessionary TV licences only if it forms part of a group of at least four dwellings with a common and exclusive boundary; is erected or converted only for the use of pensioners or disabled people; is run by a Local Authority or Housing Association; is served by a full time or resident warden and has communal facilities within the boundary.

Sheltered housing interspersed with mainstream housing cannot qualify for the concession.  The cost under the current concession is £5.00 per annum, per qualifying development.  Rent Officers should consider the concessionary value to be the `value to tenant’ whenever it is applicable.

In all other circumstances the current cost of any communal licence should also be regarded as `value to tenant’ and applied as appropriate.

Pest Control

The reasonable costs of pest control are an allowable service item. Where residential accommodation is situated over commercial premises such as supermarkets and restaurants the landlord should only pass part of any charge relating to pest control to the residential tenants.

Guest Room

Many schemes include a guest room for the casual use of tenants’ relatives and friends. They are usually well furnished, and a reasonable charge is made for their use. The value of such accommodation to tenants, who by the very nature of their own accommodation, are unable to provide personal hospitality, will be readily appreciated. Whilst occasionally such guest rooms are occupied sufficiently for the costs to be covered by the contributions made for overnight stays, it is usual for a shortfall to occur. The total annual costs should include heating, lighting and cleaning, laundering of bed-linen, plus a return on furniture, fittings and depreciation. The income would be set off against this `notional total’ and the balance, if any, allowed as a service item.

Communal Kitchens, etc.

In addition to guest rooms, some sheltered accommodation, and some luxury flats' include communal kitchens, laundries, hairdressing salons, etc. in their schemes. It is thought that whilst the initial provision of such facilities should be reflected in the basic rent, the running costs’ are legitimate for landlords to include in their claims for services, and should be allowed accordingly. Comparison with different landlords and schemes should provide the basis for rent officer’s assessment of `value to tenants’.

Rates of Common Parts

If a landlord is obliged to pay rates or water rates specifically for common parts or facilities like communal car parks, which are provided purely for the benefit or convenience of tenants, then such costs are quite properly a charge to the service costs for the block.

Communal Car Parking

Where specific car parking spaces are provided for tenants or guests then these should be reflected within the rent. Only the cost of maintenance of the spaces should be passed on as a service (for example - sweeping, marking out etc).

Interior Decoration of Common Parts

Access points

If the landlord maintains the decoration of shared access points over and above usual up keep then this could be treated as a service, although value to tenant should be considered.  But generally the landlord’s internal redecoration of the common access ways should not be considered a service to tenants, but rather a fulfilment of their repairing obligations.

Common rooms

The costs of heating, lighting and redecoration of common rooms is an acceptable charge to be passed onto the tenant as part of the services, because they are provided for the benefit of the tenants, over and above the basic requirements of the accommodation.

Repairs to communal heating systems and the structure

S11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 provides that the landlord is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the installations within the dwelling and structure of the dwelling provided the lease was granted on or after 24 October 1961 for a period of less than 7 years.
​​​​​​​
‘Common parts’ generally fell outside the definition of dwelling for the purposes of s11, which meant that anything which is not specific to the dwelling, which for flats used to include communal heating systems and the fabric and exterior of the building, were not considered a landlord’s repair liability under s11 and could therefore be charged to the tenant as a service. 

This was changed by S116 of the Housing Act 1988 so that for tenancies beginning from 15th January 1989 communal heating systems, and the fabric and exterior of the building was brought into the definition of the dwelling, and became a landlord repairing obligation, and therefore not chargeable to the tenant as a service.

It is then the case that for flats, repairs to the fabric and exterior of the building may be seen as a legitimate service, and noted as such in the noted amount for services on the rent register, if;

• the tenancy began before 15th January 1989 or
• the letting is one to which Section 11 of the 1985 Act does not apply

Related pages

• Services – apportioning services 
• Depreciation table
• Services – value to tenants

Services - Deficits and Surpluses

(v1 2009)

When making a determination of fair rent the rent officer is establishing a fair rent for the property at a particular time, which compares with rents of other similar properties in the locality. The object is not to enforce the contractual obligations of the parties, for that is a matter between those parties and ultimately for the court, if they cannot agree. So, where a landlord has allowed a surplus or deficit in the service charge to accrue, the rent officer should ignore it and assess a global rent in the usual way. The adjustment of service charges for any such arrears or excess repayment is a matter of contract between the parties. To do otherwise would destroy the true comparability of one property with another. There are statutory time limitations for the recovery of arrears of service costs, which is another very good reason why a rent officer should ignore such items.

There is one obvious exception to the rule, where the deficit or surplus has occurred in the immediate previous year’s costs and the inclusion of either would produce an updated true annual cost, then it would be prudent to include such items.

Related pages

• Service schedules
• Services – all other pages

Services – definitions and rent register notation

(v1 2011)

Definition of a Service

The term “service” has no general statutory definition. However various court cases over the years have concluded that if a landlord supplies, for the benefit of his tenant, something beyond the requirements for the basic provision of accommodation (whether or not furnished) then this would be a service.

So, a ‘service’ is something beyond the basic provision of the accommodation, and if it were not carried out by the landlord the tenants would have to do it (or at least pay for someone to do it) themselves.

Although in practical terms once a tenant has accepted a tenancy, they have little control over the type and volume of the services provided, there are arrangements in place that enable unreasonable service charges to be challenged through the courts

Service or service charge?

It is important to recognise the difference between a ‘service’ and a ‘service charge’. A ‘service charge’ is an amount payable by a tenant as part of, or in addition to, the rent and may include not only services, but also things like maintenance and repair of the structure of a building, insurance, and general management costs. Most of these latter items are already reflected in a registered rent, as they are part of a landlord’s normal repairing obligations and management responsibilities.

S11 Requirements and service charges

Where a tenancy commenced on or after 24th October 1961 for a contractual term of less than 7 years, the landlord is usually required to maintain the structure of the dwelling and the water supply, drainage and facilities for space and water heating in the dwelling. The tenancy agreement may already provide for this liability, but where it does not then s11 of The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies these terms into the contract. This does NOT mean the landlord cannot charge the tenant for this provision, but what it does mean is that the rent officer cannot include it as a service as (referring back to the definition of a service) it wouldn’t normally be something a tenant would have to provide for themselves. The landlord would receive an amount for this provision in the basic rent or the service charge.

Amount noted on register

When registering the rent, the rent officer is required to note on the rent register an amount for “services” and “Fuel” included in the registered rent. Whilst there is no statutory obligation for a rent officer to note on the register an amount of ‘service charge’ included in the registered rent (as distinct from the requirement to note an amount for ‘services’) nevertheless unless such an amount is noted the parties will have no clear understanding what amount the rent officer has included as being fair and reasonable, and from which future increases or decreases may be calculated.

In addition, since the introduction of the Rent Act (Maximum Fair Rent Order) 1999, if the amount of variable service charge is not noted in full, then the rent officer will be unable to correctly calculate the maximum fair rent under the Order. It is therefore essential that rent officers show the full variable sum on the register. It may well be necessary for a separate amount for ‘services’ to be noted on the register to conform to the statutory requirement of section 72.

Related pages

• Services – all other pages

Services - Depreciation Table

(v1 2012)

Guide to the useful life for items of plant and machinery.

Item Years

Lift 25 – 30

Lift with comprehensive maintenance 50

Central heating boiler Non-Condensing) 10 – 20

Central Heating Boiler (Condensing) 10 – 15

Carpets 10 – 12

Furniture 10 – 12

Laundry equipment 5 – 8

Lawn mower 5 – 8

Refuse containers 10

Fire alarms 15 – 25

Fire fighting equipment 10 – 12

Door entry phone 15 – 20

Warden call system 10 – 15

Emergency lighting 20

TV aerial (Analogue & Digital) 20

Satellite Dish 10

Cooker 5 – 8

Refrigerator 5 – 8

Wind Turbine 20 –30

Inverter 10 – 15

Solar Photovoltaic Panels 20 – 25

Solar Water Heating Panels 20 – 25

Biomass Plant 25 – 30

Ground Source Heat Pump 45 –50

Rainwater Harvesting Tank (Below Ground) 60

Rainwater Harvesting Tank (Above Ground) 20 – 30

Rainwater Harvester pumps 5 – 10

Rainwater Harvester Controls 10 – 15

This is not intended to be a comprehensive or exhaustive list - it is merely a guide. Rent officers make their own decisions about the useful life for each item of plant or machinery taking into account all the circumstances, and using their own knowledge and experience.

Related pages

• Services – Common / communal areas
• Services – Apportioning services
• Services – Calculation of services

Services - Excluded Items

(v1.2 2017)

The following list includes items which may not be noted as services under the tenancy, or treated as separately chargeable items outside of the core rent, because they should be treated as a normal landlord’s expenses, under statutory provision: ​​​​​​​ - repair, maintenance and insurance of the dwelling structure, fixtures and fitting and of the installations within the dwelling as specified in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 *[see s116 Housing Act 1988 below] - provision, repair and maintenance of “means of access” by communal entrance hallways, stairways and passages - provision of fixtures and fittings, including radiators, pipes, etc. within the dwelling [as specified in section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985] - refrigerators, cookers and washing machines within the dwelling, only if provided by the landlord with no covenant to keep in repair or to maintain, would usually be treated as furniture - cookers in communal facilities should be treated as a service

Voids – reduced rental income due to dwellings remaining unlet:

• decoration of common parts, other than communal rooms
• interior decoration of dwellings, including provision of decorating materials
• management costs for other than service items
• staff training levies
• ongoing deficits and surpluses arising from previous years’ costs - except where this amount only refers to the immediate previous year’s costs which would result in a true cost over a 2 year period

*s116 of the Housing Act 1988

For tenancy agreements of less than 7 years entered into after 14th January 1989, the provisions of s11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as amended by s116 of the Housing Act 1988 mean that the provision, repair and maintenance of a centrally supplied heating system or hot water boiler, even though technically not situated within the dwelling, is an implied landlord’s statutory repairing obligation and therefore not eligible as a service to such tenants.

This does not affect existing tenancies created prior to 15th January 1989, with the possible affect that in the same block there can be 2 separate services amounts. Tenancies that started prior to 15th January 1989 may include a service amount for Repairs or Maintenance of boilers, heat exchangers, hot water tanks, communal radiators and pipes, but those tenancies after 14th January 1989 would not.

Related pages

• All other services pages

Services – Global Rent

(v1 2009)

The ‘global’ rent

When assessing the amount to be included in the ‘global’ fair rent to reflect the value of the services supplied by the landlord, the objective is that the landlord should receive sufficient income from the amounts paid in respect of the services to enable him to discharge his obligations properly and adequately.

The rent officer must be satisfied that the total ‘global’ rent registered for the dwelling, including the services, represents a fair rent under the provisions of sections 70 and 71 of the Rent Act 1977. If the actual cost of a particular service incurred by the landlord can be shown to be unreasonable, then an appropriate allowance should be made. Although rent officers must look carefully at the cost of the provision of services, they must also ensure that the amount included in the rent fairly reflects the value to the tenant.

It is extremely important to note that it is the rent officer’s final global valuation, the ‘registered fair rent’ as entered on the register, that is the basis for comparability with similar properties, not merely the basic rent.

Conclusion

The assessment of the ‘global’ rent is a legal requirement. In other words, the rent should be similar to that for similar accommodation with identical or almost identical services, irrespective of any difference in the cost of those services, and should represent value to the tenant.

The amount attributable to services entered in box (e) of the register sheet should reflect the reasonable cost of providing the services as efficiently as possible with the existing equipment, assessed at the date of registration. An amount for services should always be shown in box (e) unless the amount is so small as to be unquantifiable.

An example

The practicalities of the ‘Global Rent’ principle can be shown by a simple example:

A landlord owns two purpose built blocks of flats built in the mid 1960s. Block A consists of twenty one bedroom flats and block B of thirty similar one bedroom flats.

The same comprehensive services are provided to each block and the costs are very similar, approximately £10,000 p.a. in each block.

It is fairly obvious from the outset that a straight division of the total service cost would create an anomaly between blocks A and B

Block A Block B

Service Cost £10,000 Service Cost £10,000

/ No. of units / 20 / No. of units / 30

= £500 per unit, per annum = £334 per unit, per annum

The flats are identical other than the difference in numbers within each block, and it is assumed that this difference does not affect the general rental values.

Given these circumstances the rent officer would value the flats at the same ‘global’ rent; BUT the amount for services would be different.

Block A Block B

Registered Rent £3,000 p.a. Registered Rent £3,000 p.a.

including services of £500 p.a. including services of £334 p.a.

The end product is a registered rent which compares with other similar properties and the landlord is reimbursed for the reasonable costs of providing the contractual services.

Related pages

• Services – all pages