We are, of course, seeking to increase our portfolio of property to manage. If you have a quality house or apartment, that you need to be efficiently and effectively managed, then we will be pleased to hear from you.
Either way, if you are a landlord or a tenant, enjoying or aspiring to that certain lifestyle, looking for a property management company who does things just a little different from the rest, then we're just what you're looking for!
We offer a ‘Full Management’ service which aims to completely remove the hassle of managing your property. This includes inventorising the property, checking it regularly, overseeing maintenance, advising utilities of changes etc, as well as rent collection, production of statements, management of arrears collection etc. In some situations where the landlord wishes to retain full control of the management of the property we can arrange to find and present a fully referenced tenant for the property
We are happy to offer a no-obligation rent assessment. We will advise you of the rent we believe is achievable and realistic for the current market conditions. There may well be improvements and alterations which could help ‘place’ the property and secure a swifter let. The actual amount of the recommended rent will be a product of location, condition, facilities and level of equipment/furnishings.
You must usually inform your Building Society/Bank that you intend to let your property. Failure to do so may invalidate the terms and conditions of your mortgage. You may also need inform anyone who provides insurance for your property or its contents. You must provide us with copies of letters confirming permission to let from your lender and insurer, together with details of any special conditions they apply.
All properties must have working and in-date smoke alarms at the start of the tenancy and if the property has gas burning or solid fuel appliance, a Carbon Monoxide alarm (or alarms) should be provided. We will keep a record of all alarms, their expiry date and status and will arrange to change alarms which are nearing the end of their life. This will usually be on a like for like basis, however we now use sealed units with a 7 or 10 year life as these require no battery changes. Where we inspect a property and we cannot determine the age of the alarm, we will change it for a new unit.
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 require that all electrical equipment over 50 volts must be safe and satisfy requirements relating to sleeving of pins on plugs, mains lead colour coding, labelling of cabling and fuse information. Whilst it is not a legal requirement to test electrical equipment, there is a statutory requirement to ensure that it is safe and we will usually arrange periodic inspections of any portable appliances on your behalf. Portable Appliance Testing must be carried out before the property is let the first time and we will be happy to arrange this for you. You should also be aware that following changes to the law in January 2005, it became illegal for unqualified persons to alter or connect domestic wiring to the electrical mains.In addition to the above, it is now a requirement that the landlord supplies any new tenant with a record of electrical installation inspections. If your property is new, this will have been provided by the developer and will normally last 5 or 10 years. Re-inspection should normally be carried out every 5 years and we will schedule and arrange for these checks for you.
All properties made available for letting must have a current EPC before they are advertised for letting. Additionally, the landlord must provide the tenant with a copy of the EPC before the tenancy starts. From 2017, it will only be premissable to let a property which has an EPC rating of E or above. All other properties (those rated F or G) will need to be improved and retested before they can be let. We will be pleased to advise or arrange on works necessary to achieve this.
Risky Business?
Everything we do for you is aimed at minimising the risks however things can still go wrong and you need to be aware of this. Letting your property is a speculative venture and your tenants may not adopt the same ‘TLC’ as you would as an owner occupier. There is also a risk of the occasional rogue tenant who will default, despite previous good references. You will need to set this against the benefit of having what is generally viewed as a sound capital investment as well as a potential income opportunity. We strongly recommend that you take out legal and rent protection insurance and there are a number of specialised companies who provide this.
We will undertake to find a suitable tenant for the property, within as short a time as possible using a wide range of media. We have an excellent regularly updated website and circulate to major organisations in the vicinity on a regular basis. We advertise in the local press and use the www.rightmove.co.uk internet property portal. We will use other local advertising, including posters and ad-boards where appropriate. All these measures are aimed to give your property the widest possible exposure but you must note that we cannot be held liable for any losses incurred through the inability to secure suitable applicants. We would ask that you ensure that any information you give us regarding the property is accurate as we may be liable under the ‘Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations’ if we make any misleading statements or omissions.
We take all reasonable steps to research the background of prospective tenants. This starts when we first meet the prospective tenant for a viewing of the property. We then use a national agency for taking references from banks, employers and previous landlords and to confirm identity and the tenant’s ‘right to rent’ as defined within current government legislation. Unless you instruct us otherwise, the final decision to select a tenant lies with you, the client. We will advise you of the applicants outline details and results of references in order to obtain your confirmation to proceed.
