Did you know?

Did you know?

FAQ’S for landlords

If you’re lucky enough to be a landlord you can count yourself as one in less than 1.5% of the population. But being one comes with some serious responsibilities, legalities and potential pitfalls. We help uncover some of them here. Find more at brik.co.uk

020 7384 6790 brik.co.uk

01

DID YOU KNOW

The best time of year for renting houses are the months of July and August, as families want to be in their new home before the start of the school year in September. The best months for renting flats are July to October. Avoid having your property come available in November or December as these are by far the quietest times and will likely cost you some hefty void periods.

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02

DID YOU KNOW

If your rental property doesn’t already have a dishwasher - and many don’t installing one is a cost effective way of improving demand for your property, increasing the rent you can charge and reducing your void period. Other simple improvements that will speed up your let include replacing worn out shower heads, curtains or screens, removing old or unnecessary pieces of furniture to create more space, replacing the washing machine if its best days are long gone, and if your property is a flat, giving the communal entrance, hallway and frontgarden-slash-bin-store a good clean up.

03

DID YOU KNOW

You can offset many of the expenses of owning a rental property against income to reduce your tax bill, and that’s always a good thing! These include the cost of letting fees, management fees, cleaning, contents and building insurance, ground rents, service charges, gardening, utility bills and council tax, and if you pay them, security, landlord association subscriptions and many more. It’s even possible to claim for costs that you incurred up to 7 years before letting the property. Finally, if your property is fully furnished you can claim an annual wear and tear allowance of up to 10% of the net rent. Nice.

04

CORPORATE TENANT

DID YOU KNOW

If your tenant is a business rather than an individual or group of individuals, or if the rent is more than ÂŁ100,000 per year (ÂŁ1,923.07 per week), the Housing Act 1988 states that the tenancy cannot be assured, and by extension will not be an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST). Instead it is known as a Common Law tenancy.

You do not have to protect the deposit with a deposit protection scheme for this type of tenancy.

05

DID YOU KNOW

For all Assured Shorthold Tenancies, by law you not only have to register it with one of the three government approved deposit rotection schemes, you must also provide your tenants with the ‘Prescribed Information’ on the scheme at which it is registered too. Failure to do so could make it more difficult to claim on your tenant’s deposit and as Landlord you could be liable to a penalty between one and three times the deposit amount!

06

DID YOU KNOW

If your property has a garden, and especially if you’re particularly proud of it, it’s always a good idea to incorporate the cost of regular maintenance by a gardener you either know, or who has good references, into the asking rent. That way you can rest assured your garden will be looked after and returned in an acceptable state at the end of the tenancy. This will not only allow for happier tenants during the tenancy but it’ll also likely reduce void periods come the end of the tenancy.

07

DID YOU KNOW

If your tenants are renting for a term of over three years, section 52 of the Law of Property Act 1954 states that the tenancy agreement must be signed as a ‘Deed’.

This is a stronger form of agreement that requires a witness and must be correctly ‘delivered’ for it to be enforceable. Failure to create a proper deed in this scenario could make it very difficult for you to enforce any non-standard terms in the agreement should you and your tenants fall out.

3

YEARS

08

DID YOU KNOW

If your tenant remains in occupation after the end of the fixed term of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST), it automatically transforms into a monthly periodic tenancy with the same terms as the original agreement. To properly end the tenancy and gain possession of the property after the end of the fixed term, Landlords must provide the tenant with a ‘Section 21 Notice to Quit’ at least two months before the date on which possession is required.

09

DID YOU KNOW

It’s always worth having a professional clean for your incoming tenants as everybody’s idea of an acceptable domestic clean is different, and this is a good way of increasing the chances that your property will be returned in an equally clean state.

Where appropriate, cleaning should include carpets and windows. Professional cleaning along with general basic maintenance, such as repainting, are some of the most overlooked and potentially costly mistakes that some landlords repeatedly make.

Scrimping on cleaning is a false economy that puts you at risk of a longer void period.

10

AST

DID YOU KNOW

One-sided break clauses in Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreements may not be enforceable as they are seen as an unfair contract term under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. A typical example of a one-sided break clause would be where only the tenant has the right to break a tenancy after a certain amount of time e.g. after 6 months.

26%

50%

OF LANDLORDS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR PAY MONTHLY OFFER

OF OUR AGREED 12 MONTH TENANCIES HAVE A BREAK OF 6 MONTHS

97% OF RENTAL ASKING PRICE ACHIEVED THIS YEAR

The proof’s in the pudding Contact us to book a free rental valuation now.

020 7384 6790 brik.co.uk