Being a landlord can be an incredibly rewarding, exciting and lucrative job. But it’s also just that – a job, and it requires a lot of work. If you’re new to being a landlord, or you’re just looking at buying your first buy-to-let property, then you might not know just how many things you will need to take care of before you can rent out a property. To help you out, we’ve put together this basic checklist, which covers the things you need to get done before you open your doors to new tenants. There’s a lot to cover here, so we’ve split it into 2 posts to make it a little easier to read!
Make Sure the Property is Safe
First off, your property needs to be in good condition, and most importantly it need to be safe to live in. It’s your legal duty to keep your tenants safe, and if you don’t then you could end up with a heavy fine or even a prison sentence. A few of the basic things you need to do for this:
- Install smoke alarms on every floor where there’s a room used for living space
- Install carbon monoxide alarms in every room with a solid fuel-burning appliance
- Provide tenants with a valid Gas Safety Certificate at the start of their tenancy
- Ensure the electrical system is safe and tested by a professional.
- Ensure all appliances you supply (like ovens, cookers and kettles) are safe
Arrange an EPC
Another legal requirement is being able to provide tenants with an Energy Performance Certificate (or EPC) on the day they move in. This has been the law since 2008, and you even have to include it in your property adverts. You’ll need to issue it to every new set of tenants as well. If you don’t, it can affect your ability to evict them in the future, should you need to. While we’re talking about energy, it’s also good practice to take meter readings at the start and end of each tenancy, and contact energy companies so that they know who’s responsible for the bills going forward. It’s not required, but it makes things easier for you and your tenants, so it’s a good habit to get into.
Download a ‘How to Rent’ Guide
Along with the EPC, you also have to provide your tenants with a ‘How to Rent’ guide. Luckily, you can download a copy of this from the Gov.uk website here, as well as read more about it. Your tenants are also legally entitled to know where you live, which can usually be found on your rental contract.
Because there’s so much information you have to provide to your tenants, a lot of landlords opt to create an ‘info pack’ for tenants that has all the basics and can just be updated for each new tenancy.
Right to Rent Checks
Before you allow a tenant to move in, or even choose the tenant you want to live in your property, you need to do a Right to Rent check. This is to ensure they are legally allowed to rent a property in the UK, and has been a requirement since 2016. Immigration status can usually be checked when you take copies of tenant’s identity documents, but they can also provide a Home Office Immigration Status document, or a registration of naturalisation as a British Citizen. If you don’t carry out these checks and you’re caught, you could be fined up to £3,000 per tenant. If you’re using an agency to rent your property, they will usually handle this for you.
That’s all we have time for in this blog – but stay tuned for part 2, which will be up soon. In the meantime, if you have any questions about renting your property for the first time, or you would like some help managing your property, we would love to have a chat. Just get in touch with us today to arrange a meeting with one of our advisors.
