First Steps

Before letting, an experienced member of staff will visit your property and undertake a rental assessment taking into consideration the prevailing market conditions at that time. There is no charge for this – and no obligation.  It represents an ideal forum to both discuss any concerns you may have regarding letting your home and to learn more about becoming a landlord.

Your Mortgage, Your Freeholder.

If you have a mortgage on your property it is usually a condition of the mortgage that you obtain written consent of the mortgage company before letting. This is rarely refused, although one is often required to serve certain prescribed notices to the tenant, advising them that the property is subject to a mortgage and that the mortgagees may have a right to repossession under certain circumstances. We can ensure that all such compliance requirements are met on your behalf.  Mortgage companies will not normally give consent if there are arrears with the mortgage payments. We will ask you to sign confirmation that you have the appropriate consent.

If your property is leasehold, written consent from the freeholder or managing agent is usually required. Some covenants within the head lease will also need to be incorporated in your tenancy agreement, so it would be useful if a copy of the head lease can be made available to us prior to initial drafting of your tenancy agreement.

Home Insurance

A landlord must retain responsibility for property buildings insurance. It is essential that your buildings insurer is therefore advised that you intend to let. Your policy may be invalidated if a problem arose and they were unaware that the property was tenanted!  We would strongly recommend that landlords also retain some level of contents insurance cover, even if unfurnished. With litigation becoming prevalent as a first redress, contents insurance can provide a landlord with important tenant indemnity. Further details are available on request.

Tenants are responsible to insure their own contents.

 

Furnished or Unfurnished?

The instigation of the 1988 Housing Act strengthened a landlords legal rights with regard to repossession and unlike with the early Rent Act legislation, security is no longer affected by whether the property is furnished or not.

In the present market it is evident that there is a greater demand for unfurnished property than for furnished or part furnished. Tenants looking for unfurnished property however usually expect carpets, curtains (or curtain fittings), light fittings and the option of a serviceable cooker to be included.

Whilst a higher rent may be achieved by furnishing, this is sometimes marginal.  It is often the case that the increase in landlords liability, the wear and tear and the additional responsibility of maintenance, repair or replacement, fail to make this a cost-effective option.  There are however circumstances where it is evidently preferable for a landlord to let furnished and your Letting Consultant will discuss these with you, together with recommending the correct quantity and quality of furnishings to leave.

Presentation is very important. In a competitive market it is always the clean bright and attractively presented properties that let the first.

 

In order to ensure satisfactory management during the tenancy the landlord should supply a list of all electrical equipment together with details of type; model number; age; maintenance contracts; service dates; guarantees; suppliers/repairers … and most importantly  instructions for correct use

Preparation and Presentation

Experience has shown that a well-maintained, clean property will prove to be far easier to let, will achieve a higher rent and will provide fewer problems during the course of the tenancy.

The gardens should always be left in a tidy and manageable condition. A lawnmower and garden tools may be left (see ‘Furnished or Unfurnished’), but the landlord should not expect the tenant to necessarily be a keen gardener.  It is very useful with managed properties if our clients can provide us with a plan showing which boundaries of the property are their responsibility. For larger gardens it may be worth considering incorporating professional gardening services, the cost of which may then be reflected in the rent.

There is no question that in a competitive market a well presented property will always let before one that is not

TV: Whilst there is no requirement for a landlord to maintain a TV licence for the property, it is important that if the property has a TV aerial point, it should work effectively. A satellite dish may be left but we would not normally encourage leaving a decoder unit.

Keys: There should be sufficient keys for one full set to be retained by ourselves (when managed) and one full set for the tenants, within the latter there should also be sufficient front door keys for each occupant. Keys in our possession are coded for security.

Burglar Alarms: It is crucial that comprehensive instructions are left. A service contract is strongly recommended.

Smoke alarms: In certain circumstances these are mandatory.  In all circumstances they are a good idea and demonstrate a landlord’s dilligence. They are cheap, effective and can be installed in minutes. Please ask us for advice.

Post redirection: This usually takes 14 days to put in force. The post office will provide you with the necessary forms for completion to set up this service. We cannot take responsibility to redirect post on behalf of a landlord

 

 

Smoke alarms

It is the very strong recommendation of this company that landlords ensure all their  properties,  if not constructed with built in mains smoke alarms (as is now the legal requirement under the present building regulations), are fitted with sufficient independant battery operated devices.

These items are cheap and effective and are proven in saving lives. They also demonstrate the diligence of a landlord with respect to the safety of the tenant.

Services

 

Rents are usually expressed exclusive of all services. We therefore recommend that all services are transferred out of the landlords name prior to the tenant taking occupancy. Assistance with such transfers is available if required.

Gas and electricity and water: You must notify the relevant utility company of the moving-in date of the tenant and arrange for meter readings to be taken as appropriate. We will try to ensure meter readings are also taken for the purposes of the inventory, but are not able to guarantee this, particularly if the meter is not readily accessible.  Closing accounts should be forwarded to you and the accounts held in the name of the tenant during the tenancy.  Simply Lets will be happy to arrange for the draining down of a property in the winter if the property is empty and such action specifically requested by the landlord. If the property is on a septic tank, adequate instructions for the maintenance and emptying should be provided to the tenant.

Telephone: You should notify British Telecom, or your service provider, 7 days before the date you vacate the property to arrange disconnection. The tenant may then reconnect in his/her own name as required.

Council Tax and Rates: We are able to notify the council rating authority of the tenancy dates if required.     A property may be subject to council tax even when empty, depending upon the length of the time and whether it is furnished or unfurnished.