A brand new telephone helpline service has been launched in Northern Ireland aimed at providing free confidential advice and information to agents and landlords across the country, thanks to the help of local charity Housing Rights who have set the helpline up on behalf of the Department for Communities.
The helpline will be available from Monday to Friday between the times of 9:30am and 2:30pm, and it is open to residential landlords, people thinking about renting a property and professional estate and managing agents, in a service that is completely free of charge.
The aim of this new service is to help ensure that landlords are complying with any legal requirements that are in place, and this promotion of good practice in the Private Rented Sector will hopefully lead to a significant improvement all over Northern Ireland.
The information that the staff are able to provide to anybody that uses the service includes the application and interpretation of the relevant consumer and landlord tenant legislation, as well as advising landlords on key issues such as preparation to rent, property standards, ending tenancies and rights & responsibilities.
Information can also be provided on referral to specialist services should any additional support be necessary on top of the standard service, but in regards to aspects such as conveyancing, tax issues or any specialist aspects of renting property, this helpline will be unable to provide any assistance.
The helpline will be launched on January 10th, and in order to use the free service you must simply call 02890 245640 and select option 5, with an email service also available for any queries and responses expected to be sent out by the following day.
This comes as great news for this industry and for Northern Ireland as a whole, and hopefully it will be of great assistance to the relevant parties in the coming months.
