Compliance

Philip Wooller Ltd is registered in England & Wales under company no. 08064416.

Philip Wooller Ltd is a member of the following regulatory bodies and is also required to comply with a number of legal obligations.

REGULATORY BODIES

  • Propertymark (formerly NAEA)
  • The Property Ombudsman (TPO)
  • Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)

LEGAL COMPLIANCE

  • Client Money Protection
  • Anti-Money Laundering
  • Consumer Protection
  • Display of fees to landlords and tenants

PROPERTYMARK

All Propertymark members are obliged to comply with our Conduct and Membership Rules. Rules provide a compliance structure which ensures that Propertymark's high standards are upheld.

Philip Wooller Ltd's Propertymark registration number is: M0060795

THE PROPERTY OMBUDSMAN

It is a legal requirement for estate agents to belong to one of the two Government-approved independent redress schemes. 

The Property Ombudsman (TPO) is a government approved scheme to provide independent redress in relation to disputes between consumers and property agents. The TPO has been providing consumers and property agents with a free, impartial and independence alternative dispute resolution service since 1990.

Philip Wooller Ltd's membership number with The Property Ombudsman is: N3693

TENANCY DEPOSIT SCHEME

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is a government approved tenancy deposit protection scheme in England and Wales operated by The Dispute Service Ltd.

Philip Wooller Ltd's TDS membership number is: G09324

CLIENT MONEY PROTECTION

Client Money Protection (CMP) protects landlords’ and tenants’ money. Since 1 April 2019, all property agents in the private rented sector holding client money are legally required to belong to a CMP scheme. 

Philip Wooller Ltd's Propertymark CMP scheme number is: C0123153

Please see our CMP certificate below.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING

In June 2017 The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (more commonly referred to as the Money Laundering Regulations) came into force in the UK. The legal obligations are designed to reduce the social and economic impact of organised crime and impede the transfer of money to support funding for terrorist organisations in the UK and around the globe. The regulations aim to ensure that companies have sufficient information to know who their customers are.

All estate agencies registered with Propertymark are required to follow the relevant industry guidance if the firm undertakes regulated activities defined within the Money Laundering Regulations.

Estate agents are obliged to carry out Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on its customers - buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants. For ID, we will usually ask all customers for passport and a utility bill. For all instructions and transactions, we will not be able to proceed until the anti-money laundering CDD is satisfactorily completed. For buyers, we will request certified proof of funds before an offer can proceed.

For all customers, we may need to carry out further checks directly ourselves or via third party approved agents in order to meet our obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 protects consumers from unfair or misleading trading practices and ban misleading omissions and aggressive sales tactics.

For more information, please visit the Citizens Advice website.

Advertising Standards Authority - We ensure that all advertising, including that on our website, is honest and accurate.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Our complaints process is in line with the TPO recommendations, please follow this link to download our Complaints Procedure.

Philip Wooller Ltd - Lettings service and costs

Philip Wooller Ltd acts as a letting agent only and does not undertake property management.

OUR OBLIGATIONS

Legislation requires that lettings agents display information about the fees charged to landlords and tenants and membership of client money protection schemes. 

We are required to display a list of relevant fees visibly in our premises where we deal with clients face-to-face as well as on our website and any third party website advertising the property. We are also required to display in our premises and on our website our membership of an approved client money protection scheme and membership of an approved redress scheme for dealing with complaints in connection with lettings work.

The following certificates are displayed in our offices and on our website under Compliance.

Client Money Protection - Philip Wooller Ltd is a member of Propertymark’s Client Money Protection (CMP) scheme. Scheme reference number: C0123153.

Independent Redress scheme - Philip Wooller Ltd is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO). Membership number: N3693

Tenancy Deposit Scheme - Philip Wooller Ltd is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) which a government-approved scheme to protect tenants’ deposits in England and Wales. Membership number: G09324

FEES AND CHARGES

Fees to Landlords

Our standard fees for acting as letting agent: 12% (inc VAT @20% current rate)

New tenancy agreements - We usually charge £238.80 (inc VAT @20% current rate) for a new Tenancy Agreement.

Philip Wooller Ltd does not provide management services to landlords.

Fees to Tenants

We do not charge tenants a fee for renting a property through us. However tenants are charged for property they rent directly from the landlord which include any or all of the below.

Costs charged by landlords directly to tenants

Landlords may only charge tenants the following fees in respect of tenancy agreements:

  • Rent
  • Tenancy deposits, which may not exceed the total of five weeks rent where the annual rent is less than £50,000 per annum, or a total of six weeks’ rent where the annual rent is more than £50,000 pa. Philip Wooller Ltd administers the obtaining of the tenancy deposit and securing it via the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
  • Holding deposits paid before a tenancy agreement is made, which must not exceed one week's rent
  • Payments required in the event of a default by the tenant in respect to:
  1. the loss of a key or other security device of the housing, the costs for which the tenant is liable, including replacement of lock costs, locksmith charges etc.
  2. failure to make a payment of rent in full within 14 days of the due date, when interest can be charged at 3% above the Bank of England base rate
  • Payments for granting requests made by tenants to vary tenancy agreements, which must not exceed £50 or the reasonable costs of granting the request
  • Payments required where tenants terminate a tenancy agreement before the end of a fixed term agreement or without giving required notice, which must not be more than the actual amount of loss suffered by the landlord 
  • Relevant council tax (however council tax is always paid directly by the tenant)
  • Provision of: utilities (gas, electricity, etc), a television licence, communication services (landline telephone, the internet, cable and satellite television)

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Philip Wooller Ltd’s lettings service

Philip Wooller Ltd (“We” or “Our”) acts as a letting agent only and does not provide management services to landlords.

Our lettings service includes the following:

  • Taking details of the landlord’s property to let and marketing the information in accordance with current legislation.
  • Undertaking viewings and the initial checks on prospective tenants as follows:
  • Obtaining photo ID and proof of address from the prospective tenant as required for Anti-Money Laundering legislation. Philip Wooller Ltd is required to keep the tenant’s proof of ID and address on file. Retention of personal data and documents is in line with the the Data Protection Act 2018.
  • Administering the UK Right To Rent proof-checking
  • Undertaking reference checking via our third party, Homelet
  • Drawing up the Tenancy agreement/Assured Shorthand Tenancy (AST)
  • Administering the Tenancy Deposit and registering it with TDS as outlined in the AST
  • Obtaining the first month’s rent
  • Administering tenancy renewals where relevant
  • Serving end of tenancy notices (Section 21)

Landlord’s obligations

Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). All properties must have a current EPC which displays the energy efficiency rating of a property on a scale of A to G. This is displayed in the marketing of a property and via the Government website.

Property Licence - Landlords must check that the property is in a local licensing area, information for which is available in the London Property Licensing website or via the local council. The landlord will need to provide safety certificates and the location of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, along with tenancy agreements.

Buildings insurance - Landlords are responsible for arranging building insurance.

Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR) - Landlords must ensure that the electrical installation is safe and compliant, including obtaining PAT certificates, and obtain an EICR before a tenant moves in. 

Gas Safe - Where there are gas appliances at the property, it is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that there is a current Gas Safety Certificate, and renewing this annually, by a Gas Safe registered gas engineer. Landlords must provide a copy of the Gas Safe certificate to the tenant before they move in, and supply renewal certificates within 28 days of the latest inspection.

Right To Rent - All non-British citizen prospective tenants are required to prove their immigration right to rent. Philip Wooller Ltd administers this process on behalf of landlords.

Tenancy Deposit Protection - Where landlords seek a deposit, there is a legal requirement to protect the deposit via one of the regulated schemes and the tenant be provided with that documentation within 30 days of the deposit being paid. Philip Wooller Ltd undertakes this on behalf of landlords and is a member of the TDS and Propertymark CMP scheme, as set out above.

Management - the landlord is responsible for managing all day-to-day aspects of the tenancy or may wish to appoint a managing agent for this purpose. 

Inventory - Landlords are responsible for arranging and paying for the inventory checking before and after the tenancy. Philip Wooller Ltd does not undertake this. 

Maintenance - Landlords are responsible for all maintenance at the property which should be carried out in a timely manner. Philip Wooller Ltd does not undertake or manage this.

Tenant’s obligations

Once a prospective tenant’s offer is accepted, the tenant is required to to undertake/provide the following:

Photo ID - One form of original or a certified copy of ID, such as passport/driving licence.

Passport - All non-British prospective tenants will need to show their passport in person at our offices or provide a certified copy.

Right To Rent - All non-British prospective tenants are required to prove their immigration right to rent. Philip Wooller Ltd administers this process on behalf of landlords and will provide a link to applicants from the Government website.

Proof of address - all prospective tenants will need to provide a bank statement, utility bill or other of their current address which is dated within the past 3 months, so that we can undertake any credit search.

References - All prospective tenants will be required to provide names and addresses of a previous landlord and employer. Philip Wooller Ltd contracts reference-checking to a third party called Homelet.

Tenancy agreement ‘Assured Shorthand Tenancy’ (AST) - this is a legally binding document between the tenant and the landlord. It states the rent, tenancy duration and the tenant's rights and responsibilities, including responsibility for council tax and utility bills. Contents insurance is the responsibility of the tenant; the landlord is responsible for buildings insurance.

Deposit - see above under ‘Landlord costs directly to tenants’

First month’s rent - The first month’s rent must be paid and cleared before the tenancy commences.

Professional cleaning - The tenant is responsible for organizing and paying for professional cleaning of the property at the end of the tenancy. Philip Wooller Ltd does not undertake or administer this.