Putting your property on the market to let is a process that comes with many responsibilities for a landlord or property investor. It can be a series of complex tasks if you’re inexperienced, and this is the first property you are letting in the market. Read below to find out more about what to expect when letting out your property.
Health and Safety
As a landlord with a new property, it is your job to provide the essentials that make the property suitable and safe to live in for your future tenants. This involved ensuring your property is safe and free from health hazards that could be any possible threat to someone living in that property, for example as loose floorboards, faulty wiring, loose doors, or support handles like bannisters. Another health and safety requirement is ensuring that all gas and electrical equipment is correctly and safely installed and maintained. You will also be expected to provide various documents for your tenants, such as an Energy Performance Certificate for the property.
In correspondence to the health and safety requirements, inspections are also expected. Your local council will use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to ensure that properties in its area are safe for people who live there. The process here involves inspecting your property for possible hazards. The council may also decide to carry out an inspection if the tenants have asked for one to be carried out or if the council has done a survey of local properties and thinks your properties might be hazardous.
Other Documentation Responsibilities
As well as providing health and safety guidelines and procedures, landlords additionally need to process financial responsibilities. Primarily you will be paying income tax on your rental home and Class 2 National Insurances. All legal requirements surrounding the property must be conducted. As a landlord, you are expected to check if the tenant(s) have the right to rent your property and protect your tenant’s deposit if they are successful under a government-approved scheme. Once all these requirements are met, you can then provide your tenant with a copy of the ‘How to rent checklist when they start renting your property
Challenges
Being a landlord requires you to be prepared and flexible. During your time as a landlord, you will face various challenges and hurdles that come with letting out property. For example, tenants will always expect and require maintenance such as a boiler repair, damaged walls or flooring and faulty plumbing. As a landlord, you need to be ready to supply and cater for your tenants in a suitable and timely manner. As well as providing tenants with the appropriate accommodation and support, you will need to be ready to tackle sudden changes in tenant’s conditions and terms, meaning having the flexibility and time available to handle sudden changes in contracts or earlier evictions or vacancies.
Read our landlords guide here to find out how we at AJ Properties can manage these responsibilities for you in our full management service or get in touch with us here.
