Advice wanted -renting flat out.

Chris51

Chris51

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I live in a bungalow with double garage attatched and joined onto that is a "granny flat " that was used by my late inlaws.Because it is attatched and in the same grounds as my bungalow it is exempt from paying rates (although rated at band A ).I am concidering renting it outmainly so someone is "on-site" when we are away as its out in the country.Any tips on what to be aware of when renting out as have heard some sad tales?
 
Best to call a few home insurance companies.
 
Use a good agent if you are away for any length of time. They charge us a reasonable fee and look after the let. If you are at all worried, get them to offer you a landlords insurance for peace of mind. We use leaders for ours. Reasonable to deal with and if you want more info, PM me.
Phil
 
As said, get a good agent, one who has emergency contacts for repairs just in case you're not around to sort any problems out.
 
Just to give you my experience.

I have been renting out my house in leafy SW London for about 10 of last 19 years.

I chose an agent that only does rentals. They have since been taken over by sales agents but the rental office has been left intact with smany of original staff. The office is 400m from the property so easy for them to do inspections, which they do regularly and provide reports and photos.

They are very conscientious about taking references from prospective tenants and provide me with copies.

Because they specialise in rentals in a highly populated area they have many properties under management and know contractors; the original owner of the agency had a husband in the building trade so the staff gained knowledge through them, so are less likely to be conned.

So far I have had no problems with tenants, but I let unfurnished and to City professionals at quite a high rent, so they are not likely to trash a place and cause themselves problems in court. Current couple have joint income of £200K.

The last void between tenancies(4-5 years ago) was 2 weeks, so just enough time to do some freshening up and flooring replacement.

Maybe you would not be able to match some of the advantages I have with my house.

You do not say whether you will let furnished - I personally feel if unfurnished they will look after their furniture and your property better. Also no problems with getting fire certificates for the furniture.

If your main intention for security for your bungalow I would suggest accepting a lower rent from a reliable tenant is an option.

Geoff

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I agree with above, use a good agent, make sure they are members of ARLA. I rent out 2 flats and a commercial shop. I use an agent for the flats but not the shop as it is a totally different lease. There are so many rules and regulations governing landlords now, right to rent, you cannot hold the tenants deposit it must be in a separate fund, and many more. For only 1 property it’s not worth doing it yourself, use an agent. Ours charges 10% + vat.
 
I've just finished doing up a 2 bed flat after having had a good tenant in it for a decade; although the place required a complete going over. I am selling it now as the hassle of dealing with tenants and their demands outweighed any profit made. The requirements on the landlord from the rental legislation and the lack of tax relief on mortgage payments now makes it much less attractive.

I never used an agent, they take 10-15% of rental income for really doing SFA and then charge you every time they have to attend to change a lightbulb. Use them only to source a tenant, about £200, they do all the checking, other than that avoid them, shysters the lot of them. Get good insurance coverage that covers vacancy, damage, loss of rental income etc.

Try your local council for tenants, some local authorities do a preferred scheme and underwrite them for the first six months for rent and deposit purposes.

For emergencies get a good quality home breakdown insurance cover for gas, lecky, plumbing etc, costs about £20/mn.

Have a pet plumber and sparky on speed dial.

You will need to get safety certs for all your utilities, annually. You wil need to hard wire a fire detection system into the property. I would also change the utility meters to PAYG. THen you don't get humped if they skip.

Don't forget to tell your mortgage provider as it will change your terms and conditions of any current deal.

Go unfurnished, its cheaper and you don't have to replace and maintain.

Get a good accountant for your end of year tax return, very much worth the £150 p/a, you'd be amazed at what you can claim for/write off/write down.

Join a professional landlords association. Join Property Hub on line, both are a mine of usefulness.

Do an ind epth inventory and a photographic/video survey of everything, inside and out.

However, make careful decisions. If the property is attached to you will have the annoyance of a tenant at you all the time. You won't be separated from it - ever. unless you stand to make over £2-3K p/a I wouldn't bother, change its use, adapt it, modify it but don't rent it out! I couldn't think of anything worse that a tenant having access to me 24/7 as they are attached to my property. It also makes it very difficult to change your mental approach to the property. If you are renting a property out it has to be as a business, if you are emotionally attached to it then it will be harder for you, emotional detachment will save a lot of heartache.

Hope this helps you out.

Good luck.
 
I always asked for a reference from their employer and proof of earnings.
 
i belive there are also capitol gains disadvantages as well as its no longer you main residence so would be liable for some cgt when you come to sell
 
Perhaps someone on Fun would like it, providing you have room for 2 Camping Cars!!!

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If it was council tax exempt, you will have to pay unless you rent it out to a relative.
 
@movan ??? ... better than Mo's old shed! :D
 
We have part of our property that used to be my business office now converted to one bedroom self contained dwelling, which we now let as a holiday let

Rates were covered when an office as part of our house although we now think we maybe should have paid business rates, which we now have to on the holiday let, which our council see as a business

Luckily for us a local rule for small businesses reduces the tax to zero, but just another heads up for you to watch for
 
DavidG58 said:
We have part of our property that used to be my business office now converted to one bedroom self contained dwelling, which we now let as a holiday let

Rates were covered when an office as part of our house although we now think we maybe should have paid business rates, which we now have to on the holiday let, which our council see as a business

Luckily for us a local rule for small businesses reduces the tax to zero, but just another heads up for you to watch for
Click to expand...
Another thing to consider is the effect of using part of your property as a business as that may affect what you pay in the future if you sell the property ... @Jim may be able to advise on this due to using part of his property for his MHF etc business.

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We let our house for three years while we were away, two separate tenants during the period, one for 1 year and one for the their 2.

We let via an agent but arranged for a build er friend to do any repairs, if needed. The agent simply had to ring him, nothing else. They also did reference checks etc.

As they had no work to do regarding repairs etc they charged us just under 5% of income. Worked well for us.
 

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