LANDLORD GUIDE

Letting Only Service – includes

• Rental Valuation & Inspection
• Advice to landlords on furnishings, health and safety issues and any maintenance recommendations.
• Advertising & Marketing your property on our State of the Art website, UK’s leading property portals, and emailing details to all potential applicants along with newspaper advertising where appropriate.
• We accompany all viewings wherever possible
• Extensive referencing of tenants who wish to rent your property, inclusive of; ID, credit, rental and employment checks.
• Preparation of the tenancy agreement/s.
• Collection of initial rent and deposit.
• Setting up standing order mandate for future rent subject to tenancy commencing.

Full Management

The complete service includes (all the above) plus:

• Arranging maintenance.
• Dealing with day to day tenant problems that may arise.
• Transfer of utility accounts, electric, gas, council tax and water.
• Closing inspection and check out at end of tenancy.
• Organising return of deposit subject to the property being returned in a satisfactory condition.
• Look to find suitable new tenants prior to expiry of the existing tenancy.

INVENTORIES

We strongly advise our Landlords to carry out a full inventory for each separate tenancy. The purpose of checking an inventory is to establish damages which can only be done if descriptions and conditioning remarks are sufficiently detailed at the commencement of the tenancy and then at the end of the term.

Under the terms of the tenancy agreement, the tenant is required to return the property and contents at the end of the tenancy in the same condition as they were at the commencement, fair wear and tear accepted. It is almost impossible to ascertain whether damage was caused during a tenancy without a proper inventory signed by all relevant parties.

If instructed we will arrange a professional inventory and check in on your behalf, the cost of which is borne by the landlord. The tenants are responsible for paying for the check out.

CONSENT TO LET

If the landlord has a mortgage, it is normal for mortgagees to require notification of any proposed lettings and the landlord should seek their initial consent. In the case of leasehold premises the consent of the Head Lessee of Freeholder will be required. The landlord should also advise his insurance company of the proposal to let the property as this could either invalidate the insurance altogether or increase the premiums. You should obtain written documentation of these consents prior to letting.

UTILITIES

The tenant will be responsible for the payment of gas, electricity, water, telephone, council tax and television licence. (Unless otherwise agreed and stated)

As the landlord you are still responsible for the payment of service charges and ground rent in leasehold properties and buildings insurance on Freehold properties.

LANDLORD FEES (All fees are subject to VAT)

STANDARD FEES

OPTION 1:

Full Management                   12% of the monthly rent

Administration Charge           £125 per new tenancy

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OPTION 2:

Tenant Find Only                    70% of the first month’s rent

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OPTION 3:

Rent Collect Only:                   10% of the monthly rent

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SUNDRY CHARGES

Tenancy Renewal                    £50.00

Serving Section 8                    £50.00 (Let only)

Serving Section 21                  £25.00 (Let only)

Serving Section 13                  £25.00 (Let only)

Inventory fees                         £95.00 for a one bedroom property plus £15 per additional bedroom

EPC                                         Pricing starts from £95.00

Gas Safety Certificate             Pricing start from £80.00

Legionella Assessment           Pricing start from £95.00

TENANT GUIDE

Referencing Procedure

As soon as a suitable property has been found, you will need to complete reference application forms. We utilise the services of a credit-referencing agency to take up the following references, here is an example of just a few of the references sought:

• Confirmation of employment, salary confirmation.
• Personal & Photographic identification (passport or driving licence).
• Previous Landlord references.
• Students (Guarantor or proof or funding).
• Self-Employed (Accountants references, trading details etc).

Holding Deposit

A holding deposit will be equivalent to one week's rent.

This is in order to reserve the property and remove it from our availability list. The holding deposit will be deducted from the first months rent due, should the tenant withdraw from the proposed letting, through no fault of the landlord or the agent, the ‘Holding Deposit’ will be retained in order to cover re-advertising costs. None of the Holding Deposit will be retained should the Tenant’s withdrawal be due to a breach of the proposed letting agreement by the landlord or managing agent.

The holding deposit shows good faith on the part of a prospective tenant enabling the landlord to take further action in the confident knowledge that the applicant is serious and fully committed to the property:

For example:

• Cancel any advertising for the letting
• Tell other applicants that the tenancy has been taken subject to satisfactory references
• Prepare a letting agreement
• Take up references
• Carry out credit checks

Tenancy Agreement

Both the Landlord and tenant/s will be required to sign a tenancy agreement prior to the tenancy commencing, the agreement outlines both tenant and landlord obligations.

Generally, most tenancies run for a period of twelve months, we will contact you at the end of the tenancy to see whether you wish to renew your agreement for a further period and will liaise with the landlord to organise the documentation. It is important you note that the agreement is made between landlord and tenant, we act for the landlord only.

By legal requirement we will issue you with a sample template agreement which we ask you read very carefully, should any questions arise regarding this legal document we advise you to seek independent legal advice.

Payment

Once a moving date has been agreed and references have all been approved by the landlord, the tenancy agreement will need to be signed by all parties and the initial monies in full will become due less any holding deposit previously paid:

This is made up of the following:

• Deposit maximum of 5 week's rent.
• The first months rent in advance. (rent is worked out on a per calendar month basis), which is, if you are not aware; the weekly rent, multiplied by 52 weeks and divided by twelve months to give the per calendar month rental figure.
• The above monies need to be in a cleared form before the tenancy is able to commence, payment by means of either a bankers draft, cash or paid directly into our client bank account and showing as cleared.

Managed Properties

We do get instructed to fully manage some of our landlord’s properties, if this is the case, with your tenancy we will inform you prior to your tenancy commencing. If we are managing then any faults with appliances or problems within the property will need to be reported to us and we will deal with the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Failure to report an ongoing problem may turn the onus onto you; please report any problems you feel need attention.

Rental Payment

Rental payments are always made by standing order from the tenants’ bank account to the landlord’s bank account, with the exception of managed properties whereby the rental payment is made to us.

Notice to end a tenancy

To terminate your tenancy subject to term, you will normally be required to give us at least one month notice in writing of your intention to leave, unless otherwise specified in your specific tenancy agreement.

Insurance

The responsibility for your belongings are down to you, you must ensure you have adequate contents insurance, the landlord accepts no responsibility and cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to tenants possessions.

Inventory

A well-prepared inventory and check-in report protects landlords and tenants alike, providing an accurate description of the condition and contents of a property at the start of a tenancy.

The condition of the property and its contents at the end of the tenancy is then compared back to this report in the form of a check-out report. The inventory clerk will also provide an opinion on whether any damage that has arisen during the tenancy is attributable to the tenants, to ‘fair wear and tear’ or to the landlord as required maintenance.

It is in a landlord’s interest to ensure that inventories are prepared for properties that they own. In the worst case scenario, should you end up in court, the judge will tend to look more favourably on an impartial, unbiased inventory prepared by a third party unconnected to either the landlord or the tenants. Inventories prepared by landlords could be viewed as biased and one-sided.

Normally an inventory of the property condition, furniture and fittings and effects will be prepared by the landlord, or an independent inventory clerk instructed by the landlord prior to the tenancy commencing. The tenancy is checked and agreed between the tenant and the landlord at the tenancy commencement.

Deposit Returns

When your tenancy ends, an inspection of the property will be carried out, either by the landlord or an independent inventory clerk instructed by the landlord.

Tenants’ obligations

The responsibility for the property lies with the tenant during the period of tenancy, always ensure that the property is fully secured and that during the winter months steps are taken to prevent freezing of the water and heating system.

Property Inspection

If we are instructed as managing agents for your property, we will carry out quarterly inspections to assess the condition of the property and that everything is being kept in a satisfactory condition. We will always arrange this with you at a mutually convenient time.

Council Tax & Utilities

It is the tenant’s responsibility to inform the utility companies of their occupation of the property at the commencement of the tenancy, and to pay council tax to the local authority. Students, who may be exempt from the payment of council tax, are responsible for informing the Local Authority of this.

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Landlord Fees

Guarantor £50

Pet Schedule £50

Tenancy Amendment £60 -Contract negotiation, amending terms and updating your tenancy agreement during your tenancy

Tenancy Renewal £60 – Contract negotiation, amending and updating terms and arranging a further tenancy and agreement

Landlord Reference £25 per reference -Collating information and preparing a reference for a future landlord or letting agent.