Furnished, unfurnished or even part furnished. As a landlord, you have several options when you let a property. There is no legal requirement for you to furnish your property and there are pros and cons whichever route you go down. We've put together this guide to help you decide which option is best for you.
Last month we reported how Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was calling on the government to invest £2.7billion a year in affordable housing in the capital.
Homeowners have enjoyed years, perhaps even decades of low mortgage repayment costs and this has also kept down the cost of rents. Whilst most people in the private rented sector believe the recent interest rate rises, as well changes to tax and regulations will to put pressure on landlords. Millions of landlords around the UK are beginning to consider passing on costs to their tenants and it begs the question: “How much more can rents rise?”
It is a legal requirement that landlords protect their tenant’s rent deposit. They must do so by using the government's deposit protection scheme.
A new type of tenancy comes into force in Scotland on 1st December. This tenancy will be known as the Private Residential Tenancy and it will replace assured and short assured tenancy agreement for all new tenancies in Scotland.
Across the UK there is a trend for high street letting chains to charge landlords in the region of an average of 12% of their annual rent to find new tenants for their rental property. In addition, there are all sorts of other costs associated with letting a property that can make the process very costly for both a landlord and a tenant.
The Autumn Budget was a mixed bag for landlords and whilst some hoped there would be concessions, many anticipated the additional taxation of private landlords and that didn’t come to pass either.
The Guardian newspaper recently carried out research into the English private rented sector and has found more than a third of councillors in England’s rental hotspots are private landlords or own a second property.
Tenants just want a home.
Landlords just want a good tenant.
What is a ‘good’ tenant and what is ‘home’?
A detailed inventory can protect a landlord from financial loss. Which makes it surprising when a landlord lets a property without taking an inventory. Yet figures suggest this happens with almost a third of all privately rented homes.
On 1st November the Government published a draft Tenants Fee Bill which outlines plans to make big changes to the way landlords let properties in England, by banning tenant fees.
When this bill is brought into law it - which is likely to happen early next year - it will become illegal to charge tenants fees for referencing, inventories and the various other fees associated with letting out property.
Summing up the draft Tenant Fee Bill
As a landlord, you’ll have a unique set of circumstances and you’ll find you may experience issues that none of your other landlord friends are likely to have experienced. That’s not to say the issues landlords face can’t be categorised. Most of these categories of problems can be prevented by taking certain steps.
