Saving money with Landlord Law
Managing rented property yourself – summary of points
In this short guide, we have taken a look at the four main essential elements needed for self-managing your rented property:
1. You need to be reasonably close to the property
However, this can be overcome by having a local representative (such as a relative or neighbour) who can help with emergency visits and having good tenants.
Landlords who will struggle to visit the property however and who do not have local support should use a letting agent.
2. You need to be good at paperwork
The is EXTREMELY important. Gone are the days when landlords could muddle through.
You need to be totally on top of your paperwork with records of everything so you can prove that you are compliant with the ever increasing rules and regulations. If you don’t do this, you can find that your tenants have become unevictable due to your failure to comply with the rules, or that you are the subject of a criminal prosecution (which will normally carry a heavy fine) or rent repayment order.
Failure to have proper paperwork and records can prove VERY expensive so if this is something you struggle with – you should use a letting agent.
3. You need to have sufficient time to manage your property
There is a lot of work involved in managing rented property, although some are more time-consuming than others. However, you need to be able to attend the property at short notice for emergencies, to carry out regular inspections (which are becoming more and more essential and which should not be skipped) and deal with the administration.
- If you have a demanding job (for example) and do not have staff or services to help you with these things, you should use a letting agent.
- However, if you are (for example) recently retired or cannot work due to family responsibilities, managing a small property portfolio can be an ideal occupation.
4. You need to be good with people
Landlords need to be able to sum up people when choosing tenants and deal with them regularly throughout the tenancy.
If you are famous in your family for your enormous tactlessness and frequent dropping of ‘clangers’, then maybe you should limit your contact with your tenants by using a letting agent. Likewise, if you find it hard to judge people and are frequently ‘taken in’.
However, even those with good people skills need to be on the watch for crooks and criminals. Remember that con men generally appear respectable – that’s their job!
If you decide to self manage then Landlord Law can help!
Indeed, it was to help landlords in this position that the service was developed in the first place. We have
- Detailed guidance to help you choose and check tenants
- Legal FAQ and articles to help you understand the rules
- Special kits with guidance on things such doing an annual audit of your property, what to do if a tenant dies, or how to deal with local authority enforcement action
- Our Landlord Law Checklists, which guide you through each stage of the renting process, with links out to further information
- Step-by-step guides to help you understand tricky areas, such as the eviction or deposit rules
- Our own ‘plain English’ style tenancy agreements and extra forms, for example, if you want to allow them to keep pets
- Other forms, for example, for Data Protection compliance and for carrying out ‘right to rent’ checks
- Notices to use if you want to end the tenancy and/or evict your tenants, plus
- Our unique Eviction Guide to help you evict tenants using standard procedures without a solicitor (Business Level members only)
- Regular monthly training webinars with legal and other experts
If you need further help – members can always ask a question in the members’ forum area.
If you need to instruct an agent – then Landlord Law can help too!
There are good agents, and there are bad agents. So it is important that you choose a good one to manage YOUR property. But how do you do this? And how can Landlord Law help?
- There is guidance on choosing letting agents – in our articles and FAQ
- There is also information about the laws which regulate agents and how they work, and
- Our Letting Agents Questionnaire – with questions to ask potential agents
You may also want to retain your Landlord Law membership, even after you have instructed agents, so you can double-check what they are doing and keep up to date with legal changes.
After all, even if you are using an agent, you should understand the work that they are doing for you so you can check that they are doing it properly.
