Managing Rural Housing

Our services are tailored to each client and range from advising on the regulations affecting residential tenancies, through to a full residential property management service.

Using research-led insights, we are able to effectively find the right tenants for your property, as well as preparing tenancy agreements, arrange inventories, collect rents and deal with tenancy renewals and ensuring that legislative requirements are met, such as checking gas boilers and smoke alarms.

Improving energy efficiency across a let property portfolio

The announcement by the Government that it has scrapped proposals for a minimum EPC rating of C for rental properties in England and Wales has offered a respite for many rural estates given hitting this target can be difficult and expensive. However, the proposal to raise minimum ratings in 2025 remains on the table in […]

Managing Rural Housing
Policies and regulations

17.01.2024

3 mins

Smart retrofits to improve energy efficiency in rural homes

Homes in rural locations have a unique character but can score poorly when it comes to thermal performance, making them expensive to run and more challenging to let. Alexander Macfarlane, Head of Building Consultancy, offers some advice on key considerations when looking at improving energy efficiency. 1. ROOF You must first understand if you are […]

Managing Rural Housing
Renewable energy

10.01.2024

5 mins

Top tips for securing the right building contractor

Appointing the right contractor is key to the success of any building project. But finding building contractors, particularly ones with the specialist knowledge and skills required to work on listed or historic properties, is getting harder. There are concerns that contractors may be in increasingly short supply over the coming months because the construction industry […]

Managing Rural Housing
Management

14.11.2023

2 mins

EPC shake-up offers landlords respite, but more uncertainty

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped plans to enforce tougher minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings in England, arguing that the costs involved are too much at a time when many people are facing financial difficulties. In 2015, the government introduced the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), which required private rented property in England and […]

Managing Rural Housing
Policies and regulations

16.10.2023

3 mins

New scheme provides insulation grants for let properties

Landlords may be able to benefit from a new government scheme designed to support people to add loft or cavity wall insulation to their homes. The Great British Insulation Scheme, which will run from summer 2023 to March 2026, will provide a 90%-funded insulation upgrade for residential properties in council tax bands A-D in England, […]

Managing Rural Housing
Government Policy

01.09.2023

3 mins

Renters’ Reform Bill – a guide for rural landlords

The Renter’s Reform Bill was reintroduced to Parliament in May 2023 after first being promised back in 2019. It aims to deliver a “fairer private rented sector for tenants and landlords”. The contents of the Bill are actually pretty familiar in that they are based around a Conservative Party election manifesto commitment to abolish Section […]

Managing Rural Housing
Policies and regulations

06.06.2023

3 mins

Beware of expiring MEES exemptions

Landlords who applied in 2018 for an exemption from Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for let residential property are reminded that their exemption expires this year. It became law on 1 April 2018 that landlords needed an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of at least an E grade to let out residential property, unless they were […]

Managing Rural Housing
Policies and regulations

26.04.2023

3 mins

At-a-glance guide to changes to MEES regulations

With the new non-domestic minimum EPC standards coming into force from April 2023, land and property owners must keep abreast of the all new domestic and non-domestic energy efficiency regulations and ensure that all properties are compliant to avoid financial repercussions. Our latest guidance document provides a simple breakdown of the confirmed and expected changes […]

Environmental
Managing Rural Housing
ESG
Policies and regulations

06.02.2023

1 min

The shifting landscape for rural property to let

Rural estates provide a significant amount of rented housing in the countryside, but the prospect of new legislation could have a big impact on the sector A race for rural rentals has seen average rents rise and void periods at an all-time low over the past couple of years. But the cost-of-living crisis and the […]

Managing Estates & Land
Managing Rural Housing
Policies and regulations

30.11.2022

10 mins

0% VAT reminder on installation of energy saving measures

Land and property owners are reminded that 0% VAT is available on the installation of certain energy saving materials in residential accommodation which will help to lower future bills and carbon emissions. The provisions, introduced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement earlier this year, apply across Great Britain and last until 31 March 2027. After this […]

Managing Rural Housing
Energy

04.11.2022

3 mins

Revisiting the Renters’ Reform Bill

The Renters’ Reform Bill may have been stuck on the back burner for the past three years, but it was put back into play by the 2022 Queen’s Speech, with significant implications for landlords and tenants. The proposed Bill is intended to transform the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in England through a series of reforms to […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

16.08.2022

3 mins

Rural landlords need clarity over energy standards

Eighteen months have passed since the government first published its consultation on improving the minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) in privately rented homes. That document set out plans to raise the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) energy efficiency rating to Band C for new tenancies from 2025 and for all existing tenancies from 2028. The consultation […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

12.04.2022

3 mins

Smoke and carbon monoxide regulations – an update

The Government has committed to making changes to smoke and carbon monoxide legislation in England, following a consultation that ended in January 2021. It has not been confirmed when the amendments to the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations will come into force and it is expected there will be a transition period to give landlords time […]

Managing Rural Housing

07.02.2022

4 mins

MEES and EPC rules – three common questions answered

Three years after the introduction of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for new residential tenancies and one year since the legislation was extended for all existing residential tenancies, there remains confusion among landlords about how the regulations should be applied in different situations. On 1 April 2018, MEES introduced the requirement for residential landlords to […]

Energy
Managing Rural Housing

13.05.2021

5 mins

Electrical safety check deadline reminder

Landlords are reminded that they have only weeks left to comply with a new law requiring electrical installation safety tests to be carried out in private sector rented properties in England. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations were introduced last summer, making it compulsory for an Electrical Installation Condition Report […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

23.02.2021

1 min

Green Home Grant Scheme – Q&A?

New scheme offering up to £5,000 per property opened 30th September and now extended to 31st March 2022. The aim of the scheme is to enable homeowners and landlords to upgrade their homes and properties with energy-saving features, such as insulation or double glazing, in order to reduce energy usage and improve the energy efficiency […]

Managing Rural Housing
Grants
Policies and regulations

12.01.2021

1 min

Working from home – the implications for landlords

Working from home has gone mainstream in 2020. Research by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), carried out at the height of the first Covid-19 lockdown in April, found that almost half of the population was working remotely. It’s a trend that likely to continue for some time given current government advice is that anyone […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

26.11.2020

4 mins

Plans to increase minimum EPC ratings – advice for landlords

Landlords needing to carry out energy improvements works to meet minimum standards for private rented homes may want to aim for a higher Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating than is currently legally required in anticipation of planned changes to the rules. The government recently published a consultation seeking views on raising the minimum EPC rating […]

Managing Rural Housing
Tenancy
Policies and regulations

12.11.2020

2 mins

Mandatory five-year electrical installation tests – a checklist

New regulations which make it mandatory for landlords in England to carry out five-yearly electrical installation tests in private rented housing came into force earlier this summer. The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020 mean landlords will have to ensure that electrical wiring, sockets, consumer units and other fixed electrical parts in […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

15.09.2020

1 min

Legislation to look out for…Renters’ Reform Bill

The Renters’ Reform Bill 2019-20 was included in the Queen’s Speech on 19 December 2019 with the promise that it would deliver a fairer and more effective rental market. The changes set out in the proposed Bill have significant implications for both landlords and tenants, most notably by reforming the grounds for possession when seeking […]

Managing Rural Housing
Landlord & Tenant Issues

02.09.2020

2 mins

Speak to the team

Matthew Havers

Senior Associate Director

Scotland

Managing Rural Housing

Related Articles

Improving energy efficiency across a let property portfolio

Smart retrofits to improve energy efficiency in rural homes

Top tips for securing the right building contractor

EPC shake-up offers landlords respite, but more uncertainty

New scheme provides insulation grants for let properties

Renters’ Reform Bill – a guide for rural landlords

Beware of expiring MEES exemptions

At-a-glance guide to changes to MEES regulations

The shifting landscape for rural property to let

0% VAT reminder on installation of energy saving measures

Revisiting the Renters’ Reform Bill

Rural landlords need clarity over energy standards

Smoke and carbon monoxide regulations – an update

MEES and EPC rules – three common questions answered

Electrical safety check deadline reminder

Green Home Grant Scheme – Q&A?

Working from home – the implications for landlords

Plans to increase minimum EPC ratings – advice for landlords

Mandatory five-year electrical installation tests – a checklist

Legislation to look out for…Renters’ Reform Bill

Speak to the team

Want to talk to us about our rural specialisms?

Managing Rural Housing

Related Articles

Speak to the team

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Want to talk to us about our rural specialisms?