Your Landlord Starter Pack

We all know that being a landlord is sometimes tricky, however in this months blog we want to help you tackle the essential checklist and give you our Bowson Estates landlord starter pack. The first stages of letting your property can result in stress and a lot of work with legal obligations to meet as well as promoting your property and making sure you get some tenants as soon as possible. However fear not, Bowson are here to help… please read on and let us lend a helping hand.

Safety is Paramount

As a landlord you have a duty of care to keep your tenants safe, legislation now states that all properties must include a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector in every room where this is a fuel burning appliance. It is your responsibility to keep up to dates with these legal requirements, including providing tenants with a copy of the properties EPC and CP12 certificates.

Give your property the right exposure

You have a choice whether to rent your property out through a property agent or promote yourself, either way to need to ensure that you advertise your property in the most effective way. It is best to promote to potential tenants through e-marketing, social media and online marketing. Even if you’re not planning on using a letting agent to manage your property, it’s still worth considering an agent’s tenant-find service. Online marketing is now the current most popular way to search for a property and Right move is a firm favorite for prospective tenants. Getting some good photos of the property is key to present what you have to offer in the best light and make sure your advert is accurate, snappy and to the point.

Check out your prospective tenants

As of February 2016, the pre-tenancy process will also incorporate the Right to Rent scheme, which requires landlords to check whether prospective tenants have the legal right to rent in the UK.

Immigration status can be identified by checking and taking copies of tenants’ identity documents. The Government has identified which documents will be considered legitimate. These include UK passports, European Economic Area passport or identity cards, permanent residence cards or travel documents showing indefinite leave to remain.

Landlords will be able to carry out the checks themselves or request a letting agent to do the additional work on their behalf. Those that are found not to be carrying out the checks could be fined up to £3,000 per tenant.

 Referencing

Referencing your tenant is a key factor that you need to consider to help find out about their previous rental experiences. This gives landlords the opportunity to make a decision on who rents their property. A typical tenant reference normally includes confirmation of the tenant’s salary, work place, address and a previous or current landlord. Bowson Estates can support with landlord referencing requirements.

Agree the tenancy agreement clauses

After the referencing has gone through and the property has been let its now time to arrange the tenancy agreement and share this with your new tenants. This is the official contract that gives the tenant the right to live in your property, and you the right to receive rent from them.

The contract will document the proposed dates and duration of the tenancy, a breakdown of rental payments and required notice periods should either party terminate the tenancy.

If you want to make any changes to the terms of the agreement, it must be approval by the tenants in the property. If you require a tenancy agreement or need some advise our property team are able to help.

It is the law for every landlord to protect your tenants’ deposits in a deposit protective scheme. The most popular government back schemes are MyDeposits, DPS and Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The deposit you receive must be protected within 30 days.