Landlord Guides

Do you have a buy to let or residential mortgage? If the latter, your mortgagor will more than likely require that you obtain permission before proceeding with a residential let on your property. Some may also ask to see a copy of the tenancy agreement to be used. Once you have instructed us, we can provide a blank copy of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement that we use.

If your property is a leasehold flat or house, you may need to notify your management company that you intend to let the property. They may ask for a copy of the tenancy agreement to be used and we can provide this to you once an application for your property has been received.

Please also remember that you must continue to pay the ground rent and service charges applicable to your property. This is not the tenant’s responsibility. To ensure you don’t miss any payments, you should update your address details with the management company ASAP so that you continue to receive bills and updates from the management company.

Any property in England & Wales with either a gas boiler or gas appliances (such as a gas hob) has to have a gas safety certificate prior to a tenancy starting. This can only be completed by a Gas Safe Registered plumber (formerly CORGI). If you have a certificate in place, please provide this at the time of instruction. If you need one and would like us to arrange this, please let us know. The penalties for proceeding to let your property without a Gas Safety Certificate (if required) are severe and best avoided.

Whilst an electrical safety certificate is not legally required for a tenancy to start, it is recommended that you have one as the penalties for harm caused by faulty electrics are the same as for harm caused by faulty gas appliances. Again, we can arrange this for you if needed.

Please bear in mind that the rules relating to electrical safety are changing and we might need to advise that a certificate is obligatory in the future.

All properties marketed for let or for sale need to have an Energy Performance Certificate. Specifically for rental properties, there is now a minimum energy efficiency rating of E. This means that if your property falls below this rating, you will need to make improvements to push the rating up before we are able to market for let. It is worth referring to the list of improvements including in the EPC as this is a good guide for how you can quickly improve your rating

This means you will be classed as an Overseas Landlord and must register as such with HMRC. Your accountant will be able to give you more advice on this and how to complete the registration process. Please ensure that you check.

Is your property suitable for children and will you accept pets? The latter in entirely your decision but the former is something not often thought about. So for instance, if you own a third floor flat that has a balcony, would you be happy to allow children under 5 to live at the property? Children are naturally curious which can cause problems in flats. This should also be a consideration if you have a pond in your garden.

With regard to the latter, we would ask that you be flexible about this as it generates a lot more enquiries than a No Pets property. We have a policy of requesting information on the number and type of pets and can either pre-agree this with you or discuss it prior to viewings.

We will normally accept a tenancy on the basis of a fixed-term contract of 6 months after which time the tenancy will move onto a statutory periodic (it continues on the same terms but rolls on month by month until either you or your tenant(s) give notice). Please consider whether this will be suitable for your circumstances and whether you would prefer to offer a 12 month contract only instead.