My Student Let

There is a lot of responsibility that comes with being a Landlord, and also a lot of risks. With this in mind MSL have put together their top tips for upcoming and/or new landlords.

• Know the relevant Landlord law

Regardless of whether you’re an experienced, new or upcoming Landlord, it is your responsibility to have knowledge of the law, including legal requirements. You need to stick with in the bounds of the law and cover all necessary safety precautions, otherwise you could face prosecution.

• Be a Landlord, not a friend

Once you become a landlord, you’re effectively running a business. Letting your property is a business venture, so keep it strictly business. It is important that you don’t get too close to your tenant by forming a friendship. Be nice and respectable to your tenant, but be careful you don’t cross the line. If you get into the situation where you’ve become more than just a Landlord, you’re giving your tenant a window of opportunity to ask for special favors e.g. reducing the rate of rent. You may find it hard to say no.

• Landlord Tenancy Agreement

Make sure you have a suitable Tenancy Agreement that suits your property and needs.There are many generic Agreements out there, available to purchase online or high street shops. Not all of those tenancy agreements will be suitable for your property, so make sure you read the terms and conditions in the agreement before using one.

• Length of tenancy

Your contract will stipulate how long you want to give your tenant tenancy for. We recommend you keep it to a maximum of 12 months. Do not get suckered in by 18+ month’s requests.

Firstly, you do not know what the state of the property market will be in 12 months time, especially considering inflation and rising interest rates. You may need to increase your rental price by next year, and you may not be able to if you have a long-term contract.

Secondly, if you’re renting your property out to an unsatisfactory tenant, you don’t want them in your property longer than they have to be. 

• Choosing your tenant carefully

Be extremely cautious when choosing your tenant. In an ideal world, we would all rent our property out to people we know and trust. However, that’s rarely ever the case. Whether you get an external agency to recruit a tenant or whether you find someone yourself, make sure you do reference and credit checks.

The agency should do a check for you as part of their tenant finding package.

• Gas Safety Certificate

By law you must get gas appliances inspected annually by a Gas Safe registered plumber, and receive the necessary certificates. If your tenant is injured by anything gas related or electrical and you don’t have the appropriate certificates, you will be held liable.

• Realistic Rental Income

Set a realistic rental income. If you are unsure about how much to charge, then do some research. Find out what other Landlords are charging by finding similar properties for rent in the same area. Best place to look is your local paper or letting websites. Remember, it’s better to have a tenant paying a modest rent than to set a high rent and have your property remain vacant. It should be stated in the contract how much, when, and how you will receive your rental income.

• Landlord Legal Advice

If you ever need legal advice as a Landlord, you should go to appropriate organisations that specialise in the field. A good place to start is your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau. They will provide you with free legal advice.

• Keep a rent book

Keep a rent book so you have a record of how much was paid, and on what date. Providing your tenants with a receipt after each payment is also good practise.

• Document everything and use recorded delivery

Whenever you and your tenant agree on anything, document it with both parties’ signatures. Keep a copy of everything, as well as providing your tenant with a copy. If you mail anything to your tenant, make it recorded delivery. You would be surprised about how many people will deny receiving letters that they actually did. 

• Security Deposit

Make sure you get an appropriate security deposit. The security deposit will cover any damages the tenant leaves behind when vacating your property at the end of tenancy. The amount is typically equal to the monthly rental rate. The contract should stipulate more details regarding the security deposit.

By law, deposits for a Shorthold Tenancy Agreement must be secured into a Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

• Try To keep Costs down

As previously mentioned, you are running a business, so you need to try and keep your overheads to a minimum. There are lots of ways a landlord can reduce costs. One of the most practical practices is to always get quotes. For example, when you are looking for a plumber to do a gas safety certificate, shop around for quotes. I’ve seen prices range from £50 – £100.

• Tenants have rights

Remember, tenants have rights, which they are entitled to. Sometimes it’s difficult for a landlord to digest that while a tenant is legal occupier of their property, the landlord cannot step into their property without permission from the tenant.

This also applies if a tenant is in breach of contract e.g. fallen in arrears. It seems unfair, but that is the law, for now.

If you ever want to repossess your property from your tenant because they are in breach, you need to evict your tenant legally, to avoid prosecution.

• Minimize your risk

Being a landlord is risky; fortunately there are plenty of ways a landlord can minimize their risk. For example, putting a Tenant Guarantor in place is one way to gain extra protection if a tenant falls into arrears. Another way of minimizing risk is by getting Landlord Insurance or the best way to minimise your risk is to let us do it for you! Look out for our exclusive Christmas offer which runs from December  1st – January 31st.