Rental property contract

[daleyd]

Hi all,

Has anyone got any advice about renting a house out, my elderly aunt has a bungalow she rents out - my uncle used to sort everything out but unfortunately he passed away last year, so I’ve said I’d help her out in sorting it out moving forward.

The people who were renting the property are moving out, so I need to sort out a new contract for the new people moving in - I have found the .gov.uk template for a short term assured contract - I guess this should be good enough?? Anything else I need to be aware of, the people that are renting are friends of the people moving out, who have been there for 7 years and very good tenants so fingers crossed should be ok but I don’t want to leave my aunt ( or myself !) open to any kind of unnecessary strife if I can help it.

Cheers

Dale

 

[Robotstar5]

I did it a few years ago for my moms house when she went into residential care. The safest way is to use an estate agent that does letting, they will advertise it, then do all the vetting/checks on prospective tenants, they check the property from top to bottom and itemise/photograph everything as proof of condition at time of letting, but they do charge the best part of one months rental for the service.

You will also need working smoke alarms on each floor, an EICR and a gas safety certificate, also Landlords insurance (just renewed mine at £109 pa)

Edit to add: you will need to put the deposit into Deposit protection scheme (doesn't cost anything)

 

[roofman]

If you go with a rental company then insist they carry out inspections every 12 months as a lot don't....i had one of my customers crying to me that she had,nt seen inside one of her property's for 5 years thinking the rental company had but unfortunately they had not either resulting in 10K worth of work to make it live-able again...

 

[brightspark]

as above good advice . I work for a few letting agents and got them to find my daughter a good tenant and write up the the agreement for 90 quid . we manager it ourselves or should I say muggins here does all the maintenance for her if needed she just gets the rent and goes round every year to make sure everything's ok . a couple of times in 5 years the rent was a week late but they rang and asked if it was ok they look after the place and arent likely to move in near future

 

[Parm]

Estate agents are the way to go but make sure your estate agent is good with good reviews and feed back

I’ve had a very bad experience

 

[brightspark]

Estate agents are the way to go but make sure your estate agent is good with good reviews and feed back

I’ve had a very bad experience

a one I know lost a guy 15 grand in unpaid rent on one of his propertys and didn't get the electric and gas apportioned to 5 tennants in a block of offices amounting to 25 grand the guy lives abroad and didn't find out till it was 2 late the same agent didn't tell the landlord his tenant had moved out for over 6 month the agent snuffed it so no chance of getting any of it back

 

[MCKDAVID]

tennants are hit or miss, had some excellent over the years, and had some real horrors too... no easy way to tell either. that said I'd agree with the agency being the easiest way to get tennants, get references (even though they're not always a good indication) but as a minimum.

 

[Parm]

a one I know lost a guy 15 grand in unpaid rent on one of his propertys and didn't get the electric and gas apportioned to 5 tennants in a block of offices amounting to 25 grand the guy lives abroad and didn't find out till it was 2 late the same agent didn't tell the landlord his tenant had moved out for over 6 month the agent snuffed it so no chance of getting any of it back

I lost £11K on my house, legal fees, court fees, bailiffs and then to repair damage

 

[gaz1]

for god sake take photos before anyone rents the place take photos of everywhere

also consider wear and tear ive had a few cme back with damage blah blah blah

but i had the photos of moving in which they didnt i could prove the property was in a worse state than i left it in as i took photos as i was leaving th property

 

[brightspark]

I lost £11K on my house, legal fees, court fees, bailiffs and then to repair damage

not saying who but I know a guy got some druggys out. went and cut the gas off and the water then took the front door off then heaved all the gear out there wasn't anything the old bill could do about it . they took the plumber down the factory and all he said was they cut the gas on safety reasons and they had to let him go ive seen a few tenants black bagged the law seems to favour tenants rights even though they work the system for a year to remove them at great cost

 

[pedrobedro]

It cost next door but one £6000 to repair his rental house when one tenant moved after growing cannabis and keeping 5 Rottweilers despite no dogs clause which the agency never enforced then £4000 six months later when the following tenant did a moonlight. He has now sold it and a couple have bought it to live in. Get a good agent and check in regularly to keep them on their toes.

 

[angellonewolf]

mate rents a couple houses learned that the way to do it is through agency the extra money you pay them is off set with the problems you get if the rental price goes you they get a letter informing them its going up

they dont know you so no phone calls saying xyz

 

[wristpin]

A good agent is worth his weight etc but do your research and get references for the agent. An annual inspection is not enough . Six months is optimum .
The latest twist tolandlord’s responsibility is ensuring that the tenant is legally in the country. Copies of passports etc.

 

[brightspark]

A good agent is worth his weight etc but do your research and get references for the agent. An annual inspection is not enough . Six months is optimum .
The latest twist tolandlord’s responsibility is ensuring that the tenant is legally in the country. Copies of passports etc.

well up to now daughters house has been rented for over 6 years . in that time
my mate put a few tiles on the roof for 50 quid . ive changed the the tap on the sink. fixed a leaking flexible bath pipe changed the lock on the back door and that's it . some people don't want the hassle or are incapable of getting the job done and pay the premium .im in building trade and can do all the repairs cheap or for nothing. if the boiler knacked that's the only thing I cant touch and I have mates for that . just don't rent in a crappy aeria and don't rent to dhss

 

[andymfell]

some agents have a system of Landlord cash reserve (float) so they hold an amount of your money to pay for repairs and inspections rather than waiting til the rental money comes in and using that

other things to consider are
a valid EPC is required for a change of tenant
a legionella risk assesment
landlord supplied appliance safety testing

 

[angellonewolf]

^^^^^not that i know but is pat testing in companys actual law i thought it was just good practice?

 

[Morrisman]

For every tale of success in renting, you will hear a dozen horror stories. We had the same barrage of negativity when we decided to let our semi when we moved abroad. So we engaged a local agent who charged 12% to look after it, and appeared to cover all the bases. Damage and losses and suchforth were covered as part of that 12%.

Anyway, they were pretty slack, hard to contact, big turnover of staff, but we had the perfect tenants for seven years so luckily no great dramas.

My ex wife is renting a house off a friend of mine, and he uses an agent who charges just 3%.

You can do it all yourself, but you are better off using a recommended agent.

 

[Kayos]

First time I rented a house out it was to the ex's sister, her mum started by saying "its family, you don't need a tenancy agreement"
Once I'd stopped laughing I produced the one I had had drawn up, some extra clarification the solicitor called it.
She trashed the house, ripped doors off, holes in walls, filth in the bathroom. She was booted out at the same time I gained an ex, nearly ruined me and I had to sell at a price that just covered the mortgage, meaning I effectively lost it.

It wouldn't put me off doing it again, do research on the agents, a good one is well worth the fees, bad ones will make you want to hurt them

 

[TechnicAl]

A friend of mine is a letting agent....the area he covers is mostly occupied by EE migrants....the majority leave the place in a mess and owing rent....one house had been rented out by the owner who then passed it on to my mate....when they finally evicted the occupants they sent in a team to clean it up ready for thye next tenant....One of the cleaners reported that there was a very nice chair in the lounge and should he keep it....my mate phoned the owner and informed him about the chair.....his reply " a chair, one effing chair, the place was fully furnished when I rented it out".

You wouldnt believe some of the stories he tells me. I darent repeat them as they could be construed as racist but they are true, and you wouldnt believe the conditions some people live in....yet they have a deep understanding of the UK Benefits system.

 

[daleyd]

Thanks chaps, all good advice.

I have to admit my preference would be to let an agent deal with it, my uncle didn’t (mainly because he was as tight as a gnats chuff) and he was retired so he had time to deal with it, so I’ll see what my auntie says. There are new tenants already lined up so advertising or finding someone to rent is not the issue, but really it’s her choice.