The department for communities & Local Government have recently sent out yet more “guidance” on the changes to the EPC regulations. This seems to have caused even more confusion within the industry.

To clarify a couple of issues, we contacted Phil Beschizza of the government department in order to clarify a few of our queries; I have listed the main points below and attempted to translate a few of them into plain English!

1. Can the EPC be re-sized and provided in an A5 format?

Answer:  The EPC can be reproduced in a smaller size provided it is still legible and meets any other legal obligations, such as the Equality Act 2010.

Translation: Yes you can use a JPEG image of the Front page of the EPC as long as it hasn’t been altered and people are able to read it clearly.

2. Will the use of Quick Response codes in property brochures meet the requirement to attach a copy of the first page of the EPC to written property details?

Answer: We do not consider that providing a copy of an EPC solely by way of a Quick Response code in a property brochure would meet the requirement to attach a copy of the first page of the EPC to written particulars for prospective buyers or tenants. It is important to recognise that the person giving the written particulars must ensure that a copy of the EPC has been provided in readable form to all prospective buyers and tenants.

Translation:  You cannot put a URL link to the EPC on a set of printed particulars, you have to be aware and take in to account that the person receiving them may not have access to the internet.

3. Do newspaper adverts or window cards for property lets’ meet the definition of written particulars?

Answer: No. The requirement to attach a copy of the front page of the EPC to written particulars is where an agent provides written particulars to a person (i.e. a specific individual) who may be interested in buying or renting the building. This implies that a copy of the front page of the EPC does not need to be attached to ‘advertising material’, i.e. a newspaper or window card.

4. Do the regulations apply to all property adverts?

Answer: No. Only the more detailed descriptions (referred to as written particulars) produced for potential buyers or tenants as defined by the Regulations. In essence this is where an agent provides written particulars to a person (i.e. a specific individual) who may be interested in buying or renting the building.

Translation for 3 & 4:  No need to attach the EPC front page to Property lists, Window Cards or Newspaper Adverts as these are classed as advertising material and not a set of written particulars being given to a specific person interested in buying or renting a specific building.

5. Can ‘first day marketing’ occur if the EPC is not available?

Answer: There is nothing in the amended provisions which would prevent ‘first day marketing’ within the first 7 days if an EPC has not been made available. The amended provisions require that an EPC is commissioned before the building is marketed. An EPC is not required to be available before or at the point that a property is marketed.

Translation:  As long as you have commissioned an EPC before you advertise the property you are fine. You don’t need to have one available on the first day of marketing.

6. It is unreasonable to reduce the period in which the EPC is expected to be obtained from 28 days to seven days?

Answer: Evidence shows that most EPCs are obtained within three days so this should not be a challenge in most cases. A further 21 days is allowed if after using all reasonable efforts the EPC cannot be obtained within seven days.

Translation:  The government thinks EPC’s can easily be obtained within a week so see no reason to keep the 28 day cut off. There is a buffer of 21 further days if you can prove you have exhausted all regular lengths to obtain the EPC.

7. Who will be liable for the penalty charge?

Answer:  If the relevant person or a person acting on their behalf has not obtained an EPC after the 28 day period they may be liable for a penalty charge.

Translation:  If you, as an agent, have said you will obtain the EPC for your client and fail to do so, you will probably get a fine.

8. Does the whole EPC have to be attached to the written particulars?

Answer: No only a copy of the first page.

Translation:  Does what it says on the tin

9. Can the address be removed from the domestic EPC?

Answer: No, the Regulations do not permit this. Following discussions with property agents representatives it was agreed there was no requirement to extend this service to domestic sales and rentals.

Translation: The government has “discussed” this with Estate Agents who have all agreed that you cannot remove the address of a property from a residential EPC. Who spoke with the government then??

The 4 main changes will be the new additions of:

• Document Storage
• PDF Generation Of Brochures
• Multiple Cards
• New Property Edit Page

Document Storage – Available Next Release
This will allow you to upload and store brochures, letters, virtual tours, images, any type of file against the property / client. For example you will have the ability to create a bundle of letting contract documents attach them to the applicant and landlords cards, and create a password protected web link to which you can send to both parties to read, sign and send back to yourself. You will be able to store a clients ID, proof of address, gas saftey certificates etc. It will also give multi branches a central store of all their documents.

PDF Generation Of Brochures – Available Next Release
This will allow you to create PDF brochures from the HTML generated brochures in dezrez and allow you to email or store the PDF to document storage so they can be viewed or downloaded by clients.

Multiple Cards (Dezrez Tools Only) – Available Next Release
You will no longer be restricted to having 1 contact card open at a time. You can now open multiple cards to help in your busy work day. It will only be available via dezrez tools.

CTi Reports – Available Next Release
If you have our Mondago CTi integration you will now see a new tab available within the card, this will provide you with a complete phone history of the contact you are looking at. The report will show:

• Call Direction (incoming and outgoing)
• Who made / answered the call
• The extension number
• Duration of the call
• Date and time of call
• Telephone number they called from

New Property Edit Screen (Sneak Preview)
The property page has had a complete make over. We have designed it with you in mind. It is much easier to navigate and type up your properties.

• Customise the layout to suit the way in which you work
• Much easier to type up room details and order them
• Access the property history right from within the property page
• See what documents are attached to the property via a Document Storage tab
• Transfer properties between branches
• Upload multiple images at a time & drag and drop them into place
• Auto Save, choose between 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes & 5 minutes
• Add custom tabs which include UpMyStreet, Nestoria, Department of Education, Local Housing Allowance Rates and many more
• Select the language you want, English, Welsh, German, French & Spanish
• Property Overview
• The number of brochure, telephone and viewing requests
• Number of times advertised, SMS sent, web hits, mailouts and last advertised date
• Based on the price and bedrooms it will tell you how many people match the property
• The date and time the property was last uploaded to a specific portal
• Works on an iPad, so type up your properties on the go

Full List Of Changes

1. Contact card – New doc storage tab
2. Contact card – New tab for telephone calls
3. Contact card – Clone Card
4. Multiple cards – Via dezrez tools only
5. Hide export button
6. PDF Generator – New functionality creates PDF versions of the brochures
7. PDF Generator – Built in SMTP client to allow users to use their own email provider details
8. New interface to allow for generation of PDF brochures
9. Email body and subject text can now be customised
10. Upload PDF to document Storage and associate to property
11. Document storage file widget
12. Document storage reports
13. Client login area – update to include documents associated to Clients
14. Upload standard letters to document storage after generating them
15. Diary Modification wizard – New tab added to allow you to view files associated to diary entries OR associate files yourself
16. New Property edit page

Bug Fixes

1. Contact card – Improved email integration on card automation for outlook or other mail clients
2. Reduced Price fix for Standard Letters
3. Diary – Now shows notifications for viewings

Keep and eye on our blog and login page for more information on when we will make these changes available to you.

1. Property Images

Don’t be afraid to use a internal shot as your primary image. Make sure you have top quality images, de-clutter rooms, make beds and watch yourself when taking a shot of the bathroom. I have seen many shots of the estate agent taking the picture in a reflection of glass or mirror!

2. Summary Descriptions

Keep it short, to the point and don’t be afraid to use some CAPITALISATION for the points you want to make apparent.

3. Let Agreed

Keep an eye on your properties marked as Let Agreed. Some portals will only allow you to have this status displayed for six weeks before removing them from the website.

4. Date Available

Within dezrez you can specify a specific date for the available from and to tenancy period. When a tenancy is ending, you could place the property on market, making sure these fields are completed on the property edit page. Rightmove will then market the property and display the date available in the main details page under Letting Information.

IMPORTANT: This feature may not be available for all data feeds including your website. Best practice would be to include this information in your main description.

5. Keywords

You may have noticed a student section of Rightmove, however asked yourself a simple question. How does the properties get listed in Rightmove students?

Well the answer is keywords! When Rightmove process the information, their system will identify certain keywords placed in the Key Features, Summary or Main Description. For student accommodation, a  Keyword: “Student” or “Student Accommodation” needs to be used.

Working with agents daily and helping them improve their marketing performance, the above tips should serve you well!

The primary point I would definately concentrate your efforts on is high quality images with de-cluttered rooms.

I would be interested to hear some feedback from you guys. What do you class as the key points in marketing lettings properties?

• Chase Buchanan – St Margarets
• Central Estate Agents – Walthamstow
• Orchard Sales and Lettings – Camberley
• Country Properties – Hitchin Office
• Owen Lyons Estate Agents – Chelmsford
• David Clarke – Herne Bay
• Rampton Baseley – Battersea
• George F White – Wolsingham
• The Property Cafe – Bexhill Office
• Christopher Stokes Property Consultants – Cheshunt

All of these estate agents have achieved this status by consistently using 90% or more of the entire dezrez system. We can monitor your usage of dezrez from our specially designed software, making it possible for us to tailor training specifically for your estate agency. We can also offer you advice on how to improve efficiency in your estate agency.

You are able to add the EPC Front Page to any of your templates by uploading it as an image

Step 1:
Brochure templates will need to be amended. Tell us where you want the EPC front page to be displayed on your template(s).

Please give our branding team a call on 0845 465 2222 (option 2) or email templates@dezrez.com to discuss where and on which templates you wish to display it.

Step 2:
Ensure you have the EPC front page saved as an image (ideally as a .jpeg)

Step 3:
Upload the image into the “picture page” of your property and click Save

Step 4:
Check the brochure is correct. Depending on the size of the image you have decided on it should now be part of the property details as per this example:

We will shortly be releasing development that will enable you to host an EPC within dezrez document storage.

We have added some additional functionality to the brochure creation page, enabling you to store a link (URL) to your EPC against a property and then accessing it electronically or when a printed brochure is required.

Want to know how you will be adding the New EPC into Dezrez?

Have a look at our guide and video below. It will explain everything you need to do to get the New EPC into the Dezrez Software.

(Click To Enlarge The Image)

Watch our tutorial Video showing you how to add the EPC into dezrez.

Watch our guide on how to add Reports using the Charts and Tables widget in MyDezrez.

We have just released 2 new reports which are available to everyone now via Custom Reporting.

1. Recent Valuations

This new report will list all of properties with valuations recently performed on them. The report will show their current Status and any details if the Valuation has been lost. you also have the ability to write a standard letter for each property directly from the report screen.

To find this report go to:- Reporting > Custom Reporting > Helpful Reports > Property Based > Recent Valuations

The report contains:

• Property ID
• Address
• Current Status of the Property (SSTC, Withdrawn, On Market Etc.)
• Valuation Date
• Valued By
• Reason (the reason why you have withdrawn a Valuation)
• Went With (if you lost the valuation to another agent)

2. Recent Registrations

This report will list all of the recent contacts that have been added onto the system. The report will show if the recent contacts have been qualified and contacted.

To find this report go to:- Reporting > Custom Reporting > Helpful Reports > Contact Based > Recent Registrations

The report contains:

• Customer ID
• Name
• Registered Date
• Grade
• Source
• Last Action (Viewing, Viewing Reaction, Valuation, Valuation Reaction, Offer, Telephone)
• Details
• Status
• Owning Neg

If you have any reports you would like to see in dezrez, leave us a comment and let us know.

As an example in 2008 Dave Carroll used United Airlines to travel to Nebraska and witnessed their Baggage handlers throwing his Guitar which was badly damaged. United Airlines refused to accept responsibility for it. Dave responded and made a song called “United Breaks Guitars” it soon became a an overnight sensation with over 10 Million views on Youtube. Within 4 days United Airlines stock fell by 10% costing $180 million in value.

I see many agents advertising their Properties on Twitter & Facebook and this got me thinking of a number of questions:

What are everyone’s thoughts on this?