.jpg){kind=logo}
FREE Landlord Guide
Before you get started here, please ensure that you have the following:
EICR Certificate [with a date - you'd be surprised]
Gas Safety Certificate [if your property is solely electric you can ignore this but not the above]
EPC [99% of residential properties require this]
We also suggest you get the additional:
Smoke/CO2 Alarms
PAT
Legionella Test
Now you have this, please set a diary invite for their expiry dates. The top three are vital for any possession hearing or disputes you may have.
Next ensure your property looks good. A great test is "would I live in these conditions?" Granted everyone's standards are different, but as long as you hold yourself accountable that's all that matters.
You're now ready to find your ideal Tenant!
You can use us [Drummonds Property - admin@drummondsproperty.com] to do this, or you can do it yourself. I mean that is why we've created this FREE Landlord Guide. This is your life saving checklist.
Find your Applicant. You can do so with many online mediums.
Sign and date, and keep a copy of their ID for "Right to Rent".
Now collect your Holding Deposit [HD] to begin referencing. The maximum you can take is one week's rent. Please note this sum is to go against the total amount due, should they pass referencing. To ensure you calculate this correctly, the correct formula is:
The monthly rent x 12 months / 52 weeks
You now need to reference your Applicant. Long gone are the days of you needing to do this yourself, you can employ someone for that. We charge £50 for referencing [admin@drummondsproperty.com]. However, if you want to do it yourself we recommend obtaining:
o Verified Landlord Reference. By verified we mean the letter/email should match the details on their current Tenancy Agreement. Ask to see this too.
o Verified Job Letter. By verified we mean this should be on a company letterhead, this attachment should be emailed to you from a company email address. Then do your due diligence, search the name mentioned on LinkedIn or the Company website and confirm their job title.
o Request 3 months payslips. Pay attention to the monthly amount and compare this with the rent you are charging. How much will they have left. What are the rough utility expenses and council tax. Will they be able to afford the bills and your rent?
o Request their Credit Report. Pay attention to any defaults, especially recent ones. This should show you how reliable they are at paying their bills.
Once referencing has been completed request the deposit and rent in advance, minus the HD. The maximum deposit is 5 weeks. Use the formula mentioned above. You have 30 days to register the deposit in a government backed scheme. There are only 3. TDS, DPS and My Deposit. This is extremely important! We suggest you do this as soon as you receive the money to prevent yourself from forgetting. The fine is 3x the amount of the deposit collected. This includes partial payments. As soon as you receive money intended to be a deposit put it in the scheme. We recommend custodial as they will handle all disputes. You MUST provide the Tenant with the Prescribed Information as well as the Deposit Certificate.
At this stage we recommend you provide your new Tenant with:
How to Rent Guide [2020, download the correct guide here]
Gas Safety Certificate
EICR Certificate
EPC
We recommend you do this by email and saving this in your files. If you want to send this by hand, get them to sign a clearly written receipt. Download our example here.
Now you can draft your Tenancy Agreement [TA]. Make sure you capture the following:
Full names that match the ID
Where and how notice should be served to satisfy s.48 for a valid TA
Notice period before entering to carry out essential work
Tenant Obligations
Landlord Obligations
If you need help drafting a TA, we can do this for you. We charge £100 only [mailto:admin@drummondsproperty.com}.
You’re good to go. NO…WAIT!!! This next tip could be the difference between a disrepair claim for the Tenant or a happy Tenant. DO AN INVENTORY!!! This is where we simply must insist that you use a third-party company. They are impartial and could be the deciding factor in a Court of Law. They’ll also document all keys and fobs handed to your Tenant if they do the Move In for you.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us. 0208 138 1990 or admin@drummondsproperty.com. We’ll be happy to help!