The number of train journeys made each year has more than doubled since the late 1990s, according to a new report. About 1.65bn passenger rail journeys were made in the past 12 months, compared with 801m in 1997. The figures come from analysis by the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, and is based on data from the auditors KPMG. The study found that people make an average of 24.7 train journeys each a year, a 60% increase from 1998, when private operators took over running UK train services from British Rail. The growth in journeys is faster than in France at 25%, Germany at 23% and the Netherlands at 10% over the same period. Union leaders point out, however, that many journeys are made on overcrowded services that users are unhappy with and at considerable expense to the taxpayer for government-funded maintenance and expansion of infrastructure. The Rail Delivery Group found that fares income covers the £9.5bn annual cost of train services, with government support being used to fund infrastructure. The average price paid per passenger mile has increased by 6.7%, adjusted for inflation since the mid-1990s, and the profit made by operators has fallen from 3.6% of revenue in 1997 to 2.3% last year. The country’s busiest rail terminals, London’s Waterloo and Victoria stations, have more arrivals per platform at morning peak times than European stations such as Zurich, Frankfurt and the Gare du Nord in Paris. Edward Welsh, a spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, said the rail network was better able to serve passengers and businesses because of its transformation over the past two decades into what he called a great British success story. He said: “Crucial to this success has been the partnership between the private and public sectors, working together to deliver better value to passengers, freight customers and the nation. “There is much more we need to do to improve services for our customers. Our greatest challenge is to plan and build for the ever growing demand for rail by increasing capacity cost effectively and generating revenue to support investment in more and better services.” The demand for better services has been growing, with rail passengers consistently complaining about annual price rises and overcrowding. Earlier this month, official government figures revealed that the 4.22am Glasgow Central to Manchester airport train, which topped the list of most overcrowded train journeys, counted 355 standard-class passengers on a four-coach train, 86% above its official capacity of 191. In London’s morning peak time, 139,000 people or 22% of passengers stood during the busiest legs of their journeys. A total of 563,000 passengers arrived in the city, more than a quarter of trains were over capacity and nearly three-fifths had standing passengers . Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, said: “The railways cost the public purse about £1bn a year under British Rail. That figure has since soared to £4bn a year. That’s the real cost to the taxpayer of privatisation. “When John Major privatised the railway, he promised three things – competition, innovation and investment. He said competition would drive innovation and investment, but there is no competition. “With the model we’ve got, the privatised train operating companies all have protected routes, private monopolies. There is precious little innovation. The privatised train companies were against the introduction of Oyster cards and all the investment in the industry comes from central government. “Fares have gone up, not down. We now have the highest rail fares in Europe, while trains have got more and more crowded to the point where passengers, even those commuters in the south-east of England who usually vote Conservative, are calling for a return of the railways to public ownership.” Whelan said millions of pounds was “leaking every day from the industry and the country”, money that could be used to bring down fares, ploughed back in investment, or returned – like the £1bn in five years from the east coast mainline – to the Treasury to pay for schools or hospitals or housing. “There is an enormous public appetite for public ownership in Britain now because we have seen, with the east coast, just how successful a publicly-owned, publicly-run and publicly-accountable railway can be,” he said. The report comes as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has committed to renationalising the UK’s railways if he becomes the prime minister. “Like a majority of the population and a majority of even Tory voters, I want the railways back in public ownership,” Corbyn has said. “But public control should mean just that, so we should have passengers, rail workers and government too cooperatively running the railways … in our interests and not for private profit.”

There are two important changes to regulations in the lettings sector that members and the wider surveying community need to be aware of; the installation and testing of smoke/CO detectors and a landmark change to the service of section 21 notices. 1) Smoke and CO detectors Part 2, Regulation 4 of The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 comes into effect on 1 October. This is a draft item of legislation which has not yet been made as a UK statutory instrument but a debate in the House of Lords, which started last week, has caused the item to be reconsidered by the House of Commons. By 1 October, premises occupied under an assured shorthold tenancy (within the meaning of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988) must have: A smoke alarm on each storey of the premises on which there is a room used wholly or partly as living accommodation. A carbon monoxide alarm in any room of the premises which is used wholly or partly as living accommodation and contains a solid fuel burning combustion appliance. The regulations are very clear that the detectors are checked by or on behalf of the landlord to ensure that each prescribed alarm is in proper working order on the day the tenancy begins if it is a new tenancy.  A tenancy renewal is not a new tenancy.  A room that is a bathroom or lavatory is considered to be a living room – for the avoidance of risk it would seem sensible to take the view that any room with a solid fuel burning appliance should have a CO detector fitted. We recommend that the tenant is clearly told to check the detectors on a regular basis during their tenancy; inserting a clause in the tenancy agreement would seem a sensible precaution.  However, this does not alter the requirement for the detectors to be checked by or on behalf of the landlord on the day the tenancy begins. 2) Changes to section 21 Notices for England New regulations require the use of a new s21 prescribed form and the provision of some key documents to tenants, without which the s21 notice cannot be validly served. This introduces a new prescribed s21 form, with effect from the 1 October, for a notice under section 21 (1) or (4) of the Housing Act 1988 (‘the Act’) informing a tenant that the landlord intends to seek recovery of possession of a property let on an assured shorthold tenancy (‘a section 21 notice’).   To date landlords and agents have had to draft their own. As at 14 September, the new form is not yet available but we are informed by DCLG that it will become available on the 1 October.  Members will need to act swiftly to integrate the new form into their systems as soon as it is avaiable. Documents for tenants  Where landlords have not provided required information to the tenant they will not be permitted to use the section 21 eviction procedure.  Basically, if a landlord still wishes to use the ‘no-fault’ s21 Notice to terminate a tenancy, the tenant must have been given copies of the following documents: an energy performance certificate a gas safety certificate a copy of the DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) booklet entitled ‘How to rent: the checklist for renting in England‘. RICS recommend the booklet is given to the tenant at the earliest opportunity, in accordance with the PRS Code of Practice. The Explanatory Memorandum To The Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices And Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015 (PDF) implies the ‘How to Rent’ booklet be given in hard copy but the regulations themselves say that where “the tenant has notified the landlord, or a person acting on behalf of the landlord, of an e-mail address at which the tenant is content to accept service of notices and other documents given under or in connection with the tenancy”, then service of these documents by e-mail is acceptable. Critically, agents or landlords must be able to prove that they have delivered all this paperwork to tenants, or they will not be able to use the no-fault Section 21 procedure.  Carefully thought through procedures with clear paper/evidence trails will be essential and we recommend that tenants are asked to sign for all the documents. Update: DCLG have provided RICS with a copy of the draft new s21 Notice (below).  We are told that the official version to be published will be an editable PDF so developers can grab the text from there.   Also that Crown Copyright is waived in these instances.   Download the new s21 regulations (which include a guidance draft of the new Section 21 form) (PDF)

After four decades of providing leading mail and courier services, DX looks back at the path well trodden and on to pastures new This September DX, the national document exchange, is celebrating 40 years in business. Four decades on from the launch, the organisation has spread its wings from the traditional mailrooms of law firms, embracing new technology to become one of the UK’s leading B2B and B2C logistics and parcel distribution providers. ‘DX, as it is known today, was established in the wake of the 1971 postal strike, which paralysed the legal profession for seven long weeks. Pauline Lyle-Smith had experienced the benefits of a document exchange in Australia, and the postal strikes drew attention to a demand in London. Pauline developed the idea of a London-based exchange and she rapidly found a partnership with Henry Seymour. On 15th September 1975, the DX had just two customers: it and its accountants based in a small office off Chancery Lane. On 17th December that same year, a sole practitioner became the first legal professional to embrace the system, and the company flourished. Pauline Lyle-Smith, founder of DX, comments: “As soon as I came to the UK from Australia, I realised the legal profession had no secure document exchange, and it became my dream to establish the DX. I was bowled over by how rapidly the legal profession signed up to the DX, and how we have since developed.” DX quickly became the preferred document delivery service for the legal sector and soon broadened its horizons to all forms of secure delivery for both businesses and consumers, email encryption for the legal sector and specialist courier services such as irregular dimensions and weight (IDW) for sectors including retail and home furnishing. A true sign of the reliability of the company’s security process is shown in the fact that DX is the preferred provider of the UK Government and Foreign embassies for identity documents and visas. In particular, the service shines amongst competitors due its reliability for providing and adhering to next day or scheduled delivery of time sensitive, mission critical and high value items. On the 27th February 2014, DX announced its first entry on the AIM stock market and with £200.5m became the largest corporate fundraising on that market since 2006. The group supports 5,500 colleagues and subcontractors getting sales of £300m per annum. Petar Cvetkovic, Chief Executive Officer of DX, commented: “The market has changed immeasurably since the inception of the Document Exchange and it is still a very important part of our portfolio of services. DX still maintains strong relationships in our traditional markets of the legal, financial and public sectors whilst targeting key growth areas such as retail, health and pharmaceuticals all of which is supported by our focus on great service to our customers. Our mission and promise to our customers is ‘Delivered Exactly’ which I and the team strive for every day. We are now looking towards the next 40 years, and the demands of businesses and consumers alike.”

The National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) and National Demolition Training Group (NDTG) are proud to announce that they are the first company to be audited and approved by the CSCS to issue their new “One Card” scheme as a CSCS Affiliate. The compliant CCDO card scheme has given the NFDC and NDTG an opportunity to develop a robust and progressive training scheme that meets the demolition industry’s needs and ensures a CDM compliant and competent workforce. The NFDC and their training arm, the NDTG offer a wide range of demolition specific training throughout the UK and have trained over 15000 individuals in the past 12 months. www.demolition-nfdc.com www.ndtg.training

The subject of testing for legionella in domestic water systems of let property continues to do the rounds. There is no better advice on this subject than from the Health & Safety Exectuive (HSE) themselves and they have published a very useful article on legionella testing in let property. In essence, Health and Safety law doesn’t require landlords to produce a ‘Legionnaires testing certificate’. Legionella testing is required only in exceptional circumstances, and generally not in domestic hot and cold water systems. Exceptions to the rule There are, of course, exceptions (student houses sitting empty over a warm summer being a classic) and the HSE site provides guidance specifically for landlords. It is important that lettings and property management staff are aware of the subject and assess the risk of legionella to catch those exception cases. However, we are pleased to report, it’s clear there is no need to burden the industry with needless legionella testing. https://youtu.be/lUFd62Gzx8E

Kier, the leading property, residential, construction and services group, has been retained by public sector owned built environment specialist Scape Group as the sole contractor to deliver up to£1.5bn of construction and maintenance work over the next four years. The Scape National Minor Works framework covers the whole of the UK and delivers schemes valued between £50,000 and £4m, ranging from refurbishment and maintenance to new construction projects. The framework is open to any public sector organisation, with projects ranging from schools, health centres, police and fire stations to town halls, leisure centres and community buildings. Kier was first appointed to Scape’s National Minor Works framework in September 2011, which encompassed projects valued up to £2m, and this latest agreement extends the partnership for a further four years, increasing the value of projects to £4m. Kier has already delivered over 500 successful projects through the first framework and at its peak it was delivering the equivalent of one project per day for six months. Haydn Mursell, Kier Group chief executive, commented: “This agreement provides an ideal opportunity to build on the excellent relationship we have already developed with Scape Group, cementing our role as a leading provider of solutions to the public sector and underlining the strength of our national construction offering.” “Kier and Scape share a very similar ethos and we are both committed to using our extensive market experience to deliver exceptional projects, whilst creating opportunities for employment and training in the locationswhere we operate. We have already delivered successful projects together, and we look forward to working on an even broader spectrum of schemes over the next four years.” Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, added: “Kier has successfully established the Minor Works framework as a highly valued service for the public sector. The team have executed over 500 projects with a quality approach, a steadfast focus on creating client value and a continued passion for stimulating local economic growth. “The public sector continues to weather a perfect storm; the mounting pressures associated with budget and talent shortfalls, coupled with increased demand for public services, places extraordinary pressure on our colleagues. By raising the upper project value to £4m, our aim with the new Minor Works framework is to offer more flexibility that will allow the public sector to work more efficiently, by combining more projects into diversified programmes.”