Good day
Does anyone have advice or a suggested UK relevant template for a simple power of attorney that enables my friend / relative to administer my property in my absence?
The main responses I have on searches relate to LPAs which is not what I’m after, just a document to allow my friend to carry out routine matters without the need for written authorisation each time the need to speak to the power / water company!
Many thanks!
To whom it may concern
Dear Sirs
Address of property
I am the owner of the above-mentioned property which is managed by ( name of person).
Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the deed for the property from the Land Registry noting that I am the legal owner.
Please accept this letter as written authority which will allow ( insert name of person ) to deal with your company in respect of management, advertising and any other administrative matter in relation to the property.
Yours faithfully
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Thank you so much for your quick reply! I was concerned there may be some legalistic jargon we should use but your wording covers everything we need, no reason to over-think it! Much appreciated
You dont say whether this is a rental property but if so, the easiest way may be to appoint your friend as the landlord via a signed agreement. This can be revoked at any time. The friend would have full landlord responsibilities, but the rent and the tax liability would belong to you. If you pay the friend a fee, they may become your agent and have agent liabilities such as redress scheme registration.
I feel it would depend on exactly what your friend to do. You might run into some issues if they are collecting rent or serving notices on your behalf, for example. They cannot act as an agent on your behalf without legally being your agent and I’m not entirely sure where the boundaries for agent-like activities lie.
If there is no remuneration they can do it without registering for redress.
I’ve done it for years, albeit for family .
I used this format,before I had an LPA drawn up for one member ,and use this format for another, including facilitating visas for foreign students coming into the U.K. without a contract in situ .
Under the legislation that was introduced as long as there was no financial exchange it is feasible .
Thank you, we will look into that
Thank you, yes, my property is rental and my friend is unpaid, I am fortunate to have such a person.
I have looked at .gov for guidance in respect of registering for redress (of which I was unaware - thank you for educating me!) and an informal and unpaid person acting on my behalf does not appear to be required to register.
I would proceed with caution if you were to name your friend as the landlord on a contract.
That is a lot of responsibility to carry if they don’t know what they are doing. Mistakes could be costly and jeopardise your relationship.
I’m experienced but fallible, as we all are. Family are more forgiving.
I don’t think I would take on such a heavy responsibility as a friend , in light of the legislation coming in.
RRB will introduce a landlord register for each address and if they are not in a redress scheme it may cause problems because they are not actually the landlord.
This letter covers a multitude of sins without the bureaucracy of redress.
Yes, thank you, your letter does seem to be the way to go to cover simple administrative tasks like dealing with the utility companies, council, etc, and I will add my friend as a named authorised person for the property insurance to cover that, if ever needed.
Thank you to everyone for the replies, they have certainly raised some things to think about and consider
On reflection I agree with A_A. Unless your friend is an experienced landlord, I think its too much responsibility for an unpaid helper as the law is savage and unforgiving.
Im not really sure who the letter would be aimed at though. I dont think it would confer a legal status such as landlord or agent, but it may help with contractors or suppliers. If you need someone who can speak with authority to tenants or the Council it would still need to be you.
If you want someone to deal with everything I think your only safe option is to appoint an a g e n t on a full management contract.
As I said in my post, it would depend very much on what @KayCF wanted the friend to do. The example quoted above ends with an exclamation mark which I take to imply (perhaps wrongly) that the OP considers this somehow a tedious inconvenience. It is in fact, pretty standard to only allow the account holder to communicate with utility companies and no amount of strongly worded communication is going to persuade them otherwise.
It would be helpful if we knew exactly what “routine matters” the friend would need to carry out. We can then advise which, if any, could be done without any “written authorisation”.
It’s also not clear why the LL can’t communicate with, for example, utility companies themselves. I was a remote landlord for over 20 years and was always able to communicate directly with utility companies when I needed to despite living in some extremely remote places such as the highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Why not simply appoint an agent who will have all the authority needed?
At the end of the day, letting property is a risky business. It’s not IF things will go wrong, it’s how covered you will be WHEN they go wrong. Appointing a friend to effectively be your agent is taking a massive risk that could turn out to have huge consequences for both of you.
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