Landlords Guide

Our Guide to Renting a Property

To simplify the renting of your home, we have put together this step by step guide to make the whole process clearer and providing clarity. Please note, laws change quickly within the industry so please contact us for more tailored information.

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Email: sales@aycliffehomes.co.uk

Landlords need to know what they are doing, have a clear understanding of which legislation they need to comply with and just as importantly, how to get professional help when needed. there are over a hundred different pieces of legislation which relate to letting properties and landlords need to be aware of such legislation. Failure to comply with all the legislation relating to letting accommodation may lead to heavy financial penalties or, in very rare cases, even a prison sentence. Which is why it’s important to pick an Estate agent who knows these laws. For example ;

The latest piece of legislation to affect landlords is the Government’s Immigration Act to make landlords legally responsible for checking the immigrant status of tenants and their right to rent in the UK.

Letting a property is by no means an easy matter and landlords should appreciate and understand that the legislation around letting in England and Wales heavily favours tenants rather than landlords. This document is in no way exhaustive and a landlord should always seek professional help and advice on any particular problem.

Decide on the reason for renting your home

There can be many reasons for renting your home, this could range from looking for a retirement fund, being an investor who enjoys property, not being able to sell your home, an accidental landlord. Whatever your reasons behind renting a home, it can be a very lucrative and successful form of income.

Ensure your finances are in order

This is a major area when deciding to rent your home. If you have been on the same mortgage deal for many years, it may be you’re paying too much interest, you may wish to release equity to buy an additional property, a holiday or a new car? Whatever your reasons for remortgage we are here to help, if you need advice on this, please ask to speak to our qualified mortgage adviser, Catherine who will be able to talk to you about your specific needs. Click here to pass over your details.

Decide on the rental price & who to instruct to let the property

There are many marketing techniques to use when marketing a property for let and understanding your local market and the types of tenant is important. The rental price is one of the most important factors, you want to secure the most money whilst not pricing yourself out of the market at the same time. Please speak to one of our experienced members of staff to help you with this. We will give you all the information required to make an informed choice and give you ideas to help let the property. When deciding who you should instruct to let your property it is important to check they are part of the correct government schemes, understand rentals and your money will be safe. Of course, we would love it you used us! Please click here to arrange your free rental market appraisal.

Check you have all insurance products set up

Landlords may wish to take steps to cover their investment, landlords insurance is important, make sure it covers you for everything you need. Some landlords also get cover for their boilers as this can be a costly expense if it goes wrong. We can put you in touch with insurance brokers who will be able to help you make the right choices.

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Make sure you’ve got all the mandatory products in place

There are many mandatory products and items you need in place to let a property. We will advise you when we inspect the property.
Gas Safety check, a legal requirement for any property with gas

EPC – The EPC rating must be as a minimum rating of an “E” this should be updated once every ten years. Again, this is a legal requirement.

Smoke Alarms – One on each floor, we recommend hardwired smoke alarms as this set both off at the same time if there is a fire downstairs and the tenants are asleep upstairs. On a townhouse, hardwired smoke alarms are a requirement.

Safe and Comfortable Living – A landlord has an overriding responsibility to provide a decent standard of accommodation for their tenant. In addition, it should be a safe and healthy environment for your tenants.

Electrical Checks – Not a legal requirement, but we recommend getting this done. If an accident occurs you have to provide evidence that you’ve taken steps to make sure the electrics are in order.

Discrimination – Landlords must not discriminate on the grounds of sex, race or disability. We recommend you follow our referencing procedure and do NOT discriminate for any reason.

Tax – Any income is subject to tax, we recommend speaking to an accountant to keep your affairs in order.

Let us have fun securing a quality tenant!

This is the fun part for us, we get to advertise, source and secure a tenant for your property, we use the major portals to advertise your property and speak to our pre-qualified tenants who are current looking for a home. Sit back and let us do the hard work!

Accepting a tenant application

Once we have found a tenant who wants to make your house a home, we will take a security deposit from the tenant. Get them to complete an application form and give you a summary of the applicant. Once you’re happy we will work hard on getting the tenant to move in as quickly as possible.

Secure tenant checks & Application Check

We will check the tenants employment, have they been employed for 6 or more months? No CCJ’s, Defaults, Bankruptcy, previous landlord checks and a home visit. Once these checks have been done we will feedback the information to yourself. Any failures above will mean they will fail our referencing and not able to move in, unless, of course you decide to accept them. We will require this in writing. We would normally ask for a home owner guarantor if the tenant is claiming housing benefits, been unemployed for 6 months or less.

Deposit to be taken and secured in a government bond scheme

The deposit will be taken from the tenant, this is then paid into a secure government scheme proving you’re on our fully managed service. If you’re on our tenancy only package this will be paid directly to you. You then legally have to put this within a bond scheme.

You can do remove the tenant from the property, claim any of the bond back or issue a section 21 or 8 until this has been done. You have 28 days from the move in date to do this. The courts do not look lightly on landlords who don’t do this, so please ensure this done.

Move In and Tenancy Agreement

Move in day, the tenant pays the remainder of the move in fee – The first months rent and the bond. Please note, we do NOT charge tenants an admin fee. They’re unfair and unjust! Once this has been paid, the tenant fills out the tenancy agreement, a copy is sent to yourself for your records. We also keep an electronic copy and a hard copy within our branch.

Management of the property

We will continue to manage the property on our fully managed service, we will arrange the gas safe check once per year, arrange for any maintenance to be done, collect the rent, deal with the tenant from start to finish. You sit back and collect the rent. We will also keep on top of any new legislation and make you aware of any changes that you need to do.