Renting A Flat To Someone Privately

[chokkie]

I wonder if someone can give us some advice please. The tenant to our flat has just left and, after a refurb of the property, we will be renting the flat to someone else. We rented to previous tenants via a managing agent, but this time we're "going it alone".

The new tenant will obviously be paying us rent on a monthly basis, and we have already bought a proper Rent Book to record the payments, but is there anything else we need to do to keep all this legal? Just to record the payments in a rent book seems simple enough, but we somehow feel that there is more to it than that. Any advice would be gratefully received ... many thanks.

[Buenchico]

Start here:
https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/landlord-responsibilities

[Peter Pedant]

The excellent link BC gives makes a bit of a meal of it

Rent book is a must and so is a tenancy agreement- make it six months renewable to start off with.
tons on the internet free:
goggle "shorthold assured tenancy agreement"
Make sure the CH works ( by having it inspected )
I make sure the burglar alarm works for girlies - I live in a part of the city where I think the male tenants would rather like people to break in whilst they are there.
Dont furnish they will break it up
So demand references and take them up
for people under thirty I have started demanding guarantors
Dont put in white goods you have to maintain them

I mean you know it really is that easy
sit back and let the money roll in

treat your tenants humanely and they will stay

Your first tenant is terribly important - if they are awful you will never let again. try old age pensioners and not students

and good luck

[Maydup]

The Gov link given above is very useful. Click through for all the information you need, but if nothing else create an Assured Tenancy Agreement.

The tenancy agreement should include:

the names of all people involved
the rental price and how it’s paid
information on how and when the rent will be reviewed
the deposit amount and how it will be protected
when the deposit can be fully or partly withheld, eg to repair damage caused by tenants
the property address
the start and end date of the tenancy
any tenant or landlord obligations
which bills your tenants are responsible for
It can also include information on:

whether the tenancy can be ended early and how this can be done
who’s responsible for minor repairs (other than those that the landlord is legally responsible for)
whether the property can be let to someone else (sublet) or have lodgers

[Peter Pedant]

you definitely need shorthold tenancy

see: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Tenants%27%20Tenancy%20guide.pdf

a tenants guide. It spells out in section 2 - that if it is assured only you do NOT have an automatic right to possession at the end of the tenancy period, which you do if it is a shorthold. This is vitally important if your tenant decides to stop paying rent.

[chokkie]

thanks folks, appreciate your help and advice. Will get one of those tenancy agreements, have already got a rent book lined up. The flat's being let unfurnished, so no hassle there. Cheers, Chox.

[lcg]

you also need a tenancy agreement - not just record the payment of rent - and decide on what extra bits you want to put in the agreement. and you also need to register any deposit with an appropriate scheme, otherwise you would be committing a criminal offence.

[themas]

And you need to find out about the law concerning eviction in case you have problems. I've known of cases where the landlord was completely ignorant of the law & as a result had great difficulty in ending the tenancy.

As lcg says, protecting the deposit is vital - if you don't, not only will you be breaking the law but you will have more difficulty getting rid of any unsatisfactory tenant & also lay yourself open to a penalty claim from the tenant.