A quick guide for new landlords
Starting out as a landlord can be a daunting prospect. Before starting out, it’s important to fully understand your role as a landlord and any legal obligations that apply. If you’re thinking of renting a property to tenants, here’s a quick run-down of some key considerations.
Safety precautions
As a landlord, you are responsible for the safety of your property and for making sure it doesn’t pose any danger to your tenants. Gas and electrical installations must be regularly checked by a qualified and registered professional to ensure they’re in good working order. You must also make sure that any items you provide in a furnished property comply with fire and safety regulations.
The right insurance
A standard home insurance policy will not usually stretch to cover a property used for business purposes (i.e. one that’s rented out to tenants). A specialist buy-to-let-insurance policy can help cover your rental property for a number of potential issues. As well as helping to protect the building and contents, it can also give you landlord liability cover. This could help you meet compensation claims if someone was injured as a result of landlord negligence. A buy-to-let policy might also include loss of rent cover, which could help maintain financial security if there were problems with rental payments.
TDP Scheme
You are no longer able to hold your tenant’s deposit. All rental deposits must be placed in this secure scheme to help mitigate rental disputes. You must fully inform your tenant about this scheme and give them details about how they can get their deposit back when the time comes.
Getting help
If you don’t fancy taking care of everything by yourself, you can appoint an experienced lettings agent to do the legwork for you. Although they will charge a fee, they can usually offer a shortened tenant-finding service, vetting of potential tenants and rent collection which can provide much peace of mind.