Stratford upon Avon Specialist Independent letting agent
01789 532707
TENANCY HEALTHCHECK
As promised here is your guide to staying safe & legal.
We fully appreciate that you may have sourced your own tenant and you may be self managing your own property, it is our aim to ensure that each and every landlord that we come into contact with has been given the very best and latest advice, is safe and legally compliant at all times and is fully aware of their obligations to their tenants.
There are currently in excess of 184 pieces of legislation that YOU as a landlord of a residential property need to be complying with. Clients of Cribs Residential Lettings Ltd are best protected from legal disputes by our knowledge and continued professional development keeping them safe & legal at all times.
You might have a fabulous tenant, one who always pays the rent on time, cares for the property and is loved by the neighbours, but it only takes one very small disagreement between parties for the relationship between you and your tenant to change....always treat your property and any tenancy as a business.
ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS
Have I protected my tenants deposit?
Have I provided my tenant with all of the required documents?
Is my lease even valid anymore?
Have I completed 'Right 2 Rent' checks? Complied with Immigration Act?
Do I have the required legal safety certificates - Gas Safety, Electrical Safety, EPC, Legionella?
Do I know how to legally increase the rental?
Do I know how to legally evict my tenant?
What is a Section 21, Section 8 and when can I serve it, and how do I serve it?
End of tenancy deposit disputes -what do I do?
IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT ANY OF THE ABOVE YOU HAVE TO SPEAK WITH US WITHOUT DELAY.
TENANCY BEGINNINGS
It is absolutely imperative that at the commencement of tenancy your new tenant is provided with the following:
• Signed Tenancy Agreement
• Signed Section 48 notice
• Deposit protection certificate
• Deposit prescribed information
• How To Rent Government Guide
• EPC report
• Gas safety certificate
• Electrical safety certificate
Failure to provide any of the information above to your tenant will leave you open to prosecution and heavy fines, it will also leave you in a very difficult situation should you ever need to regain possession of the property. You cannot legally serve notice on your tenant by way of a Section 21 notice without having provided your tenant with the above.
If you currently have a tenancy agreement in place and you have NOT issued your tenant with all of the above information you have to ACT NOW.
If you are unsure of what any of the above are or how you can obtain them, please contact us without delay and we will gladly ensure you are fully compliant.
DURING THE TENANCY
Managing a tenancy can be a full time job, whilst your tenant must look after your property and act in a tenant like manner adhering to the terms and conditions of their Tenancy Agreement YOU also have ongoing legal responsibilities toward them.
You MUST attend to maintenance issues raised by your tenant.
You MUST keep a record of your safety certificate expiry dates and renew them when required.
You should be carrying our regular periodic inspections on the property, not everyone thinks that every maintenance issue needs reporting and it's these things that don't get picked up that can often lead to larger more expensive issues later down the line.
You MUST ensure you are always aware of who is residing in the property, has your tenant introduced additional persons to the property? This might have an effect on your insurance. Your property may have inadvertently become a HMO without having the necessary precautions in place.
Have you ever increased the rent your tenant pays? There is a time that this can be done and a correct legal procedure for this process too, you MUST issue your tenant with a Form Section 13b - this is a legal notice informing your tenant of your wish to increase the rental. This also provides your tenant with the information they need should they deem the increase to be unfair or unreasonable.
END OF TENANCY
You're thinking about the end of tenancy now, you might be thinking about renewing the lease again for a further fixed term, you may be thinking about keeping the terms more flexible and approaching a month by month agreement, you may require the property back yourself and thinking about giving your tenant notice to vacate. Whichever you are considering YOU must follow the correct legal process and issue the correct legal documents.
Your tenant has rights and it is YOUR responsibility as the landlord to know these and act within them at all times.
Do you have a process for your tenants lease to become a statutory periodic tenancy?
Do you know HOW to evict your tenants?
You might now be thinking about the vacating procedure, your tenant will be asking about the return of their deposit. Do you know HOW to return the deposit, do you know HOW to unprotect it and do you know the process for determining dilapidations that you wish to charge your tenant for? Do you know HOW long you have to return the tenants deposit back to them?
The government introduced deposit protection schemes to create a secure legal process to protect your tenants deposits, you have a duty to your tenant to know your obligations and the correct procedures for disputes.
What about reletting your property again, you do know that you can't simply turn up unannounced and start showing the property to new tenants don't you?
Book your FREE call with us
LET US HELP YOU