Yes. Your mortgage lender needs to give you permission before you can let your property, and they may impose special conditions. If you are buying a property with the intention of letting it out, you may be able to obtain a buy to let mortgage.
As a new landlord, you’ll need to understand the process of renting out a property and the steps you’ll need to take to make this a reality. The first step is to acquire a property that you would like to rent out, this can be done in a variety of different ways such as cash buys or mortgage loans.
Once the property is secured, you must ensure the property is legal and safe to rent out abiding by all the legislation set out in the Housing Private Rented sector.
As a landlord, some of your responsibilities include:
By following these guidelines, you are ensuring you are providing your tenants with a home that is safe and compliant.
There are numerous factors that influence how much rent a property can achieve per month, here are a few things you should consider when evaluating the rental amount:
Deciding how much rent to charge on your property is all about balance, so it’s important that you have the help and support that you need during this process. If you’d like some assistance with managing your properties as a landlord. We are here to help!!
At Legal Lets we offer a range of services, including Let Only and Fully Managed packaged. Be sure you understand an agent’s fees and exactly what you receive for your money when you ask them to conduct a lettings valuation. Click here to view the services we offer in detail here
All landlords could be liable to pay tax on their rental income, whether they live in the UK or are based overseas.
he first thing to be aware of is that as a landlord, you will likely have to pay tax on your income. If you’re planning on becoming a landlord and renting out one or multiple properties at a time, for more detail see this: Tax On Rental Income. There are very few cases where this would not be applicable, so in most scenarios, you should prepare for the eventuality that you will be looking at paying tax on your income from rental properties.
In each instance, you’ll find that the tax guidelines do vary, so you’ll want to work out which method works best for you given the number of properties that you own, the value of these, the expected income, and the expected tax deductions with each method.
The tenant is responsible for the council tax (unless you decide to include this in the rent) but this needs to be clearly stated in the tenancy agreement. If the property is standing empty, it is the landlord’s responsibility to pay.
Usually the tenant, though this should be stated in the tenancy agreement. However, if the landlord furnishes the property with a TV, they would be expected to pay the licence.
Choosing a fully managed service allows you to go about your day to day life without the constant worry. It creates a professional distance between you and the tenancy, and means you can avoid having to deal with all the bad bits like rent arrears and deposit disputes.
If you’re a first time landlord, it may be beneficial to use a landlord to manage your property as there is a lot of legislation and compliance to abide by and agents deal with legislation on a daily basis.
If you choose our fully managed service, we will organise for the tenant to pay the rent via standing order or direct debit. We will then transfer the money to your account minus our commission and any outgoings or fees (such as maintenance work fees). You will receive an automated statement from our online system every month.
Landlords and letting agents are legally required to register tenants’ deposits with a government-approved Protection Scheme. At Legal Lets, we register deposits with a scheme such as Deposit Protection Service (DPS). The Deposit Protection Scheme is there to protect the tenant’s money and help to resolve any disputes at the end of the tenancy.
You must put the deposit into a scheme within 30 days of receiving it. When the tenancy comes to an end, you are required to return the deposit to the tenant within 10 days of two parties reaching an agreement if there are no deductions. If you and the tenant end up in a dispute over this, the deposit will continue to be protected in the protection scheme until the issue is resolved.
If you have chosen a regulated agent like Legal Lets, then your money will be protected through the Propertymark Client Money Protection . We are members of NRLA Propertymark and the PRS Property Redress Scheme.
For a periodic tenancy (rolling on a week-by-week or month-by-month basis) you can't normally increase the rent more than once a year, unless you seek the tenant's agreement. For a fixed-term tenancy (running for a set period of time) you can only increase the rent if your tenant agrees.
If your tenant refuses to leave the property then legal action will be necessary. Evicting a tenant is never an easy job and it does come with a lot of issues, but in certain cases, it is the only way to proceed. To avoid complications and potential lawsuits being filed against a landlord, you must follow the procedures set out by the government to ensure that the eviction is fair, proper, and legal.
An inventory is a detailed list of the contents and condition of your property taken before the tenant moves in. It is important that if there is a dispute over damage at the end of the tenancy, you have proof of the original condition of the property and its contents.
We strongly recommend that you take the option of a professional inventory. It helps you protect your property and forms part of the contract between you and your tenant. It will detail the condition of the property when a tenant moves in and at the end of their tenancy.
Either the tenant pays to fix the damage, or the cost for fixing the damage is deducted from the tenant’s deposit at the end of the tenancy. Fair wear and tear should be allowed for.
If a tenant is fully referenced before moving into a property and the tenancy is managed carefully then situations where tenants don’t pay will be rare. In the occurrence that they don’t pay, here at Legal Lets we help the tenants by getting back on track by setting up a payment plan. There are insurances available that can insure you against non payment of rent though we would advise you read and fully understand any terms and conditions before proceeding.
No, landlords cannot enter their rental property without permission. There are various reasons why you might need to gain access during the tenancy, such as conducting property inspections, safety checks etc however prior to entering you must have expressed permission from the tenants to do so.
Renting a property out gives the tenant exclusive possession of the property and exclusive rights to control who enters the house during their period of occupancy - the landlord/owner of the property is also subject to this condition. They have a right to “quiet enjoyment” - which means they are entitled to live peacefully in the property without being disturbed.
To gain access to the property a landlord can enter a rental property legally if they have given the tenant at least 24 hours’ written notice, if the tenant is comfortable with this request then they may allow the landlord to enter. However, tenants also have the right to deny the request to enter their property. If the tenant does deny entry to the landlord, then they may negotiate on the terms on entry, providing a valid reason as to why access needs to be granted and the risks that come from not allowing access
There are some situations when the landlord is able to demand entry without prior notice, these situations are emergency situations where 24 hours’ notice period would not be possible. These examples in which the landlord entering the property without permission would not be considered punishable by law, include: a gas leak or the signs of such, serious flooding, a fire, structural damage requiring immediate care, possible violence or criminal activities taking place inside the property.
Yes, you could become a ‘resident landlord’ - the term used for a landlord who lets out part of a property they use as their only or main home.
As a resident landlord, you would be required to keep the property safe and in good state of repair. You would also have a number of additional rights not usually available to landlords.
There are varies steps to becoming a landlord - such as getting in contact with a mortgage lender, researching the legislation and the property market. However, various responsibilities come with being a landlord - including but not limited to:
It would be illegal for a landlord to do this on a property without the tenant’s permission. Tenants have the right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their home - not matter how difficult the relationship between the tenant and the landlord may be.
Even if a tenant refuses to leave the property or pay you rent they owe and you have served them with an eviction notice, you must adhere to the correct legal procedure for evicting them. If you change the property’s locks to keep the tenant out, you will be guilty of an illegal eviction.
The landlord or the letting agent the tenant at least 24 hours notice that they will be visiting the property to check it is being looked after and kept in a well maintained and clean condition, these visits are also to check for any maintenance or repair issues in the property.
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a report detailing the energy efficiency of a property. It give a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and is valid for 10 years.
All landlords are required to have an EPC for their rental property before it is let agreed and they must provide a copy of the EPC to tenants when they first move in. From 1st April 2028, a rental property must have the minimum EPC rating of an E, it will be unlawful to rent a property which breaches this requirement with a penalty of up to £4,000.
Listed within the EPC report there are ways to improve your EPC rating varying from ensuring all of the lightbulbs are energy saving bulbs, check the loft insulation is at least 270mm, and replacing an old, inefficient boiler.
In order to comply with The Gas Safety (Installation & Use) Regulations 1998, landlords must obtain a gas safety record on their rental property. A Gas Safety Record is in place to ensure that all gas appliances, pipes and flues in a property are in safe working order. You must instruct a qualified Gas Safe Register engineer to carry out this. This needs to be checked and tested every 12 months, a copy of the new gas safety record needs to be provided with the tenant within 28 days of it being completed.
Yes, in order to comply with Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector 2020 and EICR must be carried out by a qualified individual before you let your property. This test should be done every five years and the tenant should be provided with a copy.
It is recommended best practice to have a Portable Appliance Test (PAT) carried out to make sure the appliances included in the let are safe.
To comply with Furniture & Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations 1988, all compliant furniture must display standard labels in a prominent position. This is to reduce the risk of fire within the property.
To comply with The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 and the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022. Rental properties are required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every floor, and a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in any room where solid fuel is burnt (eg where there are wood, coal and/or multi-fuel burners, gas boilers and open fires).
If you want the property back from your tenant, the amount of notice that you must give them, and the other rules you re required to follow, will depend on such factors as the type of tenancy agreement and its terms.
If you wish to end an assured shorthold tenancy, the most common way to do this is by issuing a Section 21 Notice. This type of notice is sometimes referred to as the ‘no fault’ notice, given that the landlord does not have to provide a reason for the notice. In this sense, it differs from a Section 8 Notice, which requires the landlord to have a reason, or ‘ground’, for the notice that they can prove in court.
Some less common types of tenancy can be ended using what is known as a ‘notice to quit’. This procedure can only be used to end a rolling agreement - for instance, a monthly or weekly agreement - and you will still have to apply to court if your tenant doesn’t leave by the time the notice ends.
A ‘notice to quit’ must satisfy the following conditions:
The acronym ‘DSS’ stands for the Department of Social Security, the term is commonly used in reference to tenants who clam any kind of taste benefit, such as Universal Credit or housing benefit. When advertising properties to rent, landlords and letting agencies must avoid policies that amount to universal rejection of all applications from prospective tenants who claim benefits and consider the would-be tenant’s application properly alongside other applicants, instead of rejecting them purely because they receive benefits.
In particular, ‘no DSS’ policies have been criticised that they could be a form of indirect discrimination against groups explicitly protected under equality law - such as women, who are likelier to be recipients of childcare benefits.
The Client Money Protection (CMP) Scheme provides compensation for landlords, tenants and other clients when agents misuse or misappropriate their rent, deposit or any other client funds. Legal Lets has Client Money Protection.
The ARLA Propertymark is the leading professional and regulatory body for letting agents in the UK. ARLA Propertymark is dedicated to protecting consumers by improving standards and professionalism within the lettings industry. Lettings agents are not regulated by law, Legal Lets choose to be members of a regulatory body.
The Right to Rent scheme, which helps to make sure that people renting property in the UK have a legal right to be here. Private landlords and agents are legally required to check the immigration status of all tenants, lodgers, HMO occupiers or ay other adults living in a rented property. This check should take place before the tenancy starts.
Landlords usually prefer that pets are not kept in rented properties due to the damage that can be caused however, this does divide a portion of the rental market who would be looking to bring their pets with them. If you decide that your property is pet-friendly, this can often be a factor that allows you to increase the cost of the rent to cover any potential repairs or additional cleaning costs that may be needed.
Private landlords have discretion to use a model tenancy agreement drafted by the Government - January 2021. This agreement was drafted to “help responsible tenants in England with well-behaved pets… to secure leases more easily”. It’s used for landlords not to unreasonably without consent where a tenant asks for permission to keep a pet. A tenant must seek the prior written consent of the landlord short they wish to keep pets or other animals at the property. A landlord must not unreasonably without or delay written request from a tenant without considering the request on its own merits. The landlord should accept such a request where they are satisfied the tenant is a responsible pet owner and the pet is of a kind that is suitable in relation to the nature of the premises at which it will be kept. Consent is deemed to be granted unless the written request is turned down by a landlord with good reason in writing within 28 days of receiving the request.
Landlords are not legally obliged to allow tenants to keep pets. Some landlords may be especially concerned about their tenants wishing keep exotic pets, such as snakes, lizards and big cats. In these cases, permission will be required from the landlord as well as a licence from the local council.
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