Letting property

Checks required before letting/renting, Landlord responsibilities Being a landlord is rewarding but at the same time involves a responsibility. 99home has compiled a starter checklist for awareness of tenants and as a piece of very important information for landlords which they must know and abide by, before letting their property.

• Ensuring the property is safe and clean.
• Arranging an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate)
• Check if your property requires a Landlord Licensing
• Give your property the right exposure
• Carry out a Right to Rent Checks (immigration)
• Check your prospective tenant’s reference and credit History
• Arrange a Gas and Electricity Safety Certificate
• Arrange an appropriate tenancy agreement (contract)
• Apply for a landlord insurance (to protect your property)
• Protect your tenant's deposit in government approved scheme
• Serve prescribed information of Deposit, handover an agreement to tenants
• Conduct a professional inventory and take signatures
• Transfer utility bills and inform the local authorities of new tenants
• Give payment instruction to tenants for future rent, along with your contact details
• Make sure to conduct the periodic inspection
• Give rent receipt to your tenants

A regulation says below:

EPC (Energy Performance Certificate): From 9 January 2013, all advertisements for either selling or renting property must clearly show the energy rating of the building. This includes newspapers and magazines, any written material produced by the landlords or estate/letting agents, also on the internet. Penalties: £200 for failing to provide an EPC. The letting agents, if they are not displaying the EPC Graph on their window adverts, that will incur a £200 per advert charge – i.e. possibly running into £1,000s.

GAS SAFE (Gas Safety Certificate): The landlord has specific legal responsibilities regarding gas safety. Even if a property is only rented for a short time, like holiday accommodation, the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations require your landlord to: Maintain pipe work, appliances and flues provided for your use in a safe condition. Carry out a 12-monthly gas safety check on each gas appliance/flue. Also providing with a record of the annual gas safety check within 28 days of the check being completed or if you’re a new tenant before you move in. If a property or room is hired out for less than 28 days at a time, it is also permissible for your landlord to display a copy of the current Landlords Gas Safety Record in a prominent position within the property.

ELECTRICAL SAFE (Electrical Safety Certificate): The landlord has specific legal responsibilities for electricity & related appliances in the household. Electrical appliances provided by the landlord must be safe at the commencement of the tenancy. There will be a legally implied term on the tenancy that the electrical installation is kept in good repair and proper working order. There are detailed regulations relating to electrical appliances and plugs and sockets. A landlord is potentially liable under the Defective Premises Act if a tenant or resident suffers death or injury or has personal belongings damaged because of a defective electrical system in the premises. In case of houses in multiple occupation (whether licensable or not) there is a requirement to have a five-yearly safety check carried out to the electrical installation by a competent electrician. This must be produced to the local authority on demand. All certificates and reports should include the relevant test results.

Any queries, feel free to contact 99home.