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Kristjan Byfield
Kristjan Byfield
Co-Founder
26440  Profile Views

About Me

Probably best known as 'the property viking' I've been working in and around property since 2002. A proud letting agent who is incredibly passionate about our industry and the incredible work (most of us) do. I'm incredibly focused on promoting the incredible work (smaller) independent agents do in our profession and the substantial role we play in the marketplace. Bit of a geek when it comes to tech, processes, efficiency, best practice and how to deliver the best possible UX.

my expertise in the industry

Started as a lettings neg in 2002, launched base property specialists in 2004 and grown from there. A huge advocate of professionalism, service and the technological evolution of our sector. Have worked with several companies over the years to design and refine digital products. I later co-founded The Depositary in 2016 launching it to market in early 2020. I sat on the board of the UKPA (UK PropTech Association) 2019-2021 and am currently sat on 'Lettings Advisory Board' for Zoopla. I am also an active and engaged member of TLIC (The Lettings Industry Council) and have sat on action groups focusing on the development of Property MOTs & the adoption of UPRNs.

Kristjan's Recent Activity

Kristjan Byfield
The reality is that the removal of S21 actually won’t change much. Tenants end over 90% of tenancies- this won’t change. With S8 grounds being strengthened (for Landlords) these will be better/easier to enforce and S21’s used as a ‘simpler’ way to remove a rogue/troublesome tenant- landlords/agents will simply use the intended S8 grounds. The right to occupy & sell will (almost certainly) be protected/enshrined within the new regs as well as the right for banks to repossess (with caveats to avoid abuse). As such, this will likely impact roughly 2% of tenancies (which is still around 80k). Please read Ben Beadle’s recent open letter on behalf of NRLA to Shelter for greater statistical insight- it’s a long(ish) but brilliant read! However, this will likely make landlords and agents be far more cautious about ‘questionable’ tenancies. Where there are concerns over a pet being a nuisance or where the affordability is at the threshold (worsened by rising living costs)- these tenants will likely be shunned for fear of being stuck with them unless they formally breach the contract actionable under S8. Therefore, this will likely impact the very people the likes of Shelter are (supposedly) trying to help & protect. S21 are likely to go until the latter part of this year and it is not unreasonable to think this may only apply to new tenancies going forwards. Rent increases in line with fair market conditions are likely to still be actionable- so concerns over being stuck with a tenant who, after several; years, is paying way below market rate is also likely to be unfounded. As such, this is likely a storm in a teacup and better S8 grounds/framework could actually lead to a better-structured landscape for agents & landlords alike. The white paper will obviously set out more detail, so we are all largely speculating until then, but let’s see…..

From: Kristjan Byfield 11 May 2022 12:40 PM

Kristjan Byfield
The reality is that the removal of S21 actually won’t change much. Tenants end over 90% of tenancies- this won’t change. With S8 grounds being strengthened (for Landlords) these will be better/easier to enforce and S21’s used as a ‘simpler’ way to remove a rogue/troublesome tenant- landlords/agents will simply use the intended S8 grounds. The right to occupy & sell will (almost certainly) be protected/enshrined within the new regs as well as the right for banks to repossess (with caveats to avoid abuse). As such, this will likely impact roughly 2% of tenancies (which is still around 80k). Please read Ben Beadle’s recent open letter on behalf of NRLA to Shelter for greater statistical insight- it’s a long(ish) but brilliant read! However, this will likely make landlords and agents be far more cautious about ‘questionable’ tenancies. Where there are concerns over a pet being a nuisance or where the affordability is at the threshold (worsened by rising living costs)- these tenants will likely be shunned for fear of being stuck with them unless they formally breach the contract actionable under S8. Therefore, this will likely impact the very people the likes of Shelter are (supposedly) trying to help & protect. S21 are likely to go until the latter part of this year and it is not unreasonable to think this may only apply to new tenancies going forwards. Rent increases in line with fair market conditions are likely to still be actionable- so concerns over being stuck with a tenant who, after several; years, is paying way below market rate is also likely to be unfounded. As such, this is likely a storm in a teacup and better S8 grounds/framework could actually lead to a better-structured landscape for agents & landlords alike. The white paper will obviously set out more detail, so we are all largely speculating until then, but let’s see…..

From: Kristjan Byfield 11 May 2022 12:39 PM

Kristjan Byfield

From: Kristjan Byfield 16 February 2021 12:00 PM

Kristjan Byfield

From: Kristjan Byfield 17 September 2020 10:45 AM

Kristjan Byfield

From: Kristjan Byfield 23 May 2017 13:47 PM

Kristjan Byfield
The only way this would be feasible is if the government licensed our sector (agents and landlords) and ring-fenced those funds for rigorous enforcement (there is no way they will massively re-structure the regulations otherwise). However, since successive goverments have made clear for 20+ years, they have no interest in licensing our industry. Whilst onerous, the vast majority of the legislation isnt that complex and letting agents can easily wrap their head around it with suitable training. For Landlords, however, especially those with 1-2 properties, this is not a 9-5 for them and the time commitment to understage the legislation and ensure compliance is simply not viable- or even possible. The simpelst way forward in this regard is the application of tech. A comprehensive regulatory compliance engine is what is needed to power the back-end of a myriad of applications which can be used by agents, landlords, tenants and enforcement bodies (as well as suppliers to all these sectors) making compliance easy and eliminating a lot of the burden of training. This, in turn, will drive up standards and the perception of our sector. It will also show private Landlords the true value of professional letting agents in today's heavily regulated marketplace and should push a sizeable percentage in to service offerings of one shape or another. I recognised this a while back and we have begun building just such a platform which we have called The Depositary. The platform is, by no means, complete as the amount of legislation to build in (and the varying measures for countries & counties) will take time however we have made a good start and plan to launch our first release in the coming weeks/months. We are looking to work with @ 20 agent branches over this Summer to make sure the platform delivers as we hope and, if all goes well, will start rolling out across England from Oct/Nov. From there we will be constantly developing and growing the platform as we add in further regulations both for England but also to deliver compliance platforms across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It's certainly not the sexiest topic but we are really excited about what we have been working on. We have worked hard to look at it from all 3 viewpoints (agents, landlords and tenants) and think we have built something that's effective and efficient.

From: Kristjan Byfield 10 May 2017 09:49 AM

Kristjan Byfield

From: Kristjan Byfield 15 February 2017 13:21 PM

Kristjan Byfield

From: Kristjan Byfield 22 December 2016 13:51 PM

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