Property/Rental Legal advice

[Magilla 510]

OH is looking to rent out her house, but wanted to have a chat and get some legal advice re: tennancy agreements, her responsibilities etc with someone knowledgable... ideally local (we're in Netheredge).

 

Presumably a one person or small-ish operation, she's only got the one house

 

Any recomendations would be appreciated!

Edited April 11, 2019 by Magilla
typo

[Bash Street 10]

Get her to do stringent checks mate, it can be fraught with danger if she gets wrong uns in.

 

https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/tenancy-agreement/?loc=GB&pid=googleppc-reslse_gb-tenantT0-dy2-ggkey_blank tenancy agreement&gclid=CjwKCAjwy7vlBRACEiwAZvdx9r1TnVNn9bGt8ZXpPN1kDqlBwMfBi343dkO9bhiez6HTYMB7s5xEjhoC8uQQAvD_BwE#.XK_B9y_Mxdg

 

If you follow the link there should be a basic tenancy agreement in there.

 

Consider if it's actually worth the hassle as well, landlords gas and electric checks prior to renting.

Is the property furnished? If so all the furnishings need to be fire retardant or if, heaven forbid there was a fire and someone got injured or worse then you're up the swanee without a paddle.

Any income would be taxable so if she's earning over £12k then 25% would go in tax.

 

I've tried it previously and it was not worth the hassle and worry, especially if you do get a wrong un in, be careful.

[Bash Street 10]

5 hours ago, Magilla said:

OH is looking to rent out her house, but wanted to have a chat and get some legal advice re: tennancy agreements, her responsibilities etc with someone knowledgable... ideally local (we're in Netheredge).

 

Presumably a one person or small-ish operation, she's only got the one house

 

Any recomendations would be appreciated!

Oh, and make sure it's a shorthand tenancy, think it's 6 monthly duration. Then at least you can get them out if you should want even if it did go to court but they can string you along.

Get some legal advice would be the way to go, maybe get the solicitor to oversee it for you (another cost).

And then there's the mortgage if there 's anything owing, they'll (the lender) will be wanting a cut by means of increasing the borrowing rate (well they used to anyway, not sure if they still do).

Then you have the increase in insurance payments.

Better sit down with a pen and paper and work it all out, but if you did get a bad tenant, the sleepless nights really are a pain in the butt and I wished i'd never started it.

Just now, Bash Street said:

Oh, and make sure it's a shorthand tenancy, think it's 6 monthly duration. Then at least you can get them out if you should want even if it did go to court but they can string you along.

Get some legal advice would be the way to go, maybe get the solicitor to oversee it for you (another cost).

And then there's the mortgage if there 's anything owing, they'll (the lender) will be wanting a cut by means of increasing the borrowing rate (well they used to anyway, not sure if they still do).

Then you have the increase in insurance payments.

Better sit down with a pen and paper and work it all out, but if you did get a bad tenant, the sleepless nights really are a pain in the butt and I wished i'd never started it.

Sorry that should read shorthold tenancy agreement, this spell checker does my head in.

[Bash Street 10]

Oh, and if you do it through an agency they'll skim around 10% off as well.

If I haven't already made things clear-BEWARE.

Good luck.

BTW, i'm not a solicitor, the above comments are from personal experience.

[Hippogriff 10]

16 hours ago, Magilla said:

OH is looking to rent out her house, but wanted to have a chat and get some legal advice re: tennancy agreements, her responsibilities etc with someone knowledgable... ideally local (we're in Netheredge).

 

Presumably a one person or small-ish operation, she's only got the one house

 

Any recomendations would be appreciated!

Bash Street is correct in that it's wise to take precautions... although possibly a little pessimistic about it not being worth the hassle. The effort involved in letting a single property can be much the same as letting numerous, so the real benefits do come with scale, that's true.

 

There is a lot of pre-work to do and I've just taken a friend through it all, much the same situation. What I wrote for them ended up at 10 pages (with some screenshots). Start out by looking on Google for something like "landlord checklist", it'll give you an appreciation of it all. One of the first decisions to take is whether to self-manage or go via an Agent (both have benefits and pitfalls).

[Magilla 510]

Nice one, thanks for responses. I'll pass on the info.

 

Where do you get your legal advice when/if you need some? (appreciate you may not have needed any)

[carosio 186]

A friend lets a two-bed semi in Sheffield, as he lives a good way away he lets a local estate agent deal with it. His first tenant, very good, lasted 4 years, his recent couple lasted 6 months and left him with several broken internal door locks and a fist hole through a bedroom door, although they did replace it upon leaving. Was supposedly checked out too by the agents. 

If you have a picky tenant which results in lots of tradespersons' visits then this can be expensive, unless you know some locally who will do a discount. Could end up with regular emulsioning of walls etc unless you can do it yourself.

 

Gas certificates (landlord's certificates) can be had for around £60 (qualified person).

Edited April 12, 2019 by carosio

[Hippogriff 10]

1 hour ago, Magilla said:

Nice one, thanks for responses. I'll pass on the info.

 

Where do you get your legal advice when/if you need some? (appreciate you may not have needed any)

What "legal advice" are you thinking of? Doing things legally and legal advice are very different things in my mind... finding a Landlord Checklist will make you aware of the obligations a Landlord has... you don't need to employ a Solicitor for any of the things you need to do... where's your mind at, exactly?

 

EPC, GSC, electrical safety (no certificate required), Landlord Insurance, smoke alarms, CO alarm, advertising, viewings, referencing, Right to Rent checks, How To Rent booklet, Deposit protection, tenancy agreement, Check-In, Inventory, maintenance, taxation (self-assessment).

[Bash Street 10]

 

7 hours ago, Magilla said:

Nice one, thanks for responses. I'll pass on the info.

 

Where do you get your legal advice when/if you need some? (appreciate you may not have needed any)

 

6 hours ago, carosio said:

A friend lets a two-bed semi in Sheffield, as he lived a good way away he lets a local estate agent deal with it. His first tenant, very good, lasted 4 years, his recent couple lasted 6 months and left him with several broken internal door locks and a fist hole through a bedroom door, although they did replace it upon leaving. Was supposedly checked out too by the agents. 

If you have a picky tenant which results in lots of tradespersons' visits then this can be expensive, unless you know some locally who will do a discount. Could end up with regular emulsioning of walls etc unless you can do it yourself.

 

Gas certificates (landlord's certificates) can be had for around £60 (qualified person).

 

5 hours ago, Hippogriff said:

What "legal advice" are you thinking of? Doing things legally and legal advice are very different things in my mind... finding a Landlord Checklist will make you aware of the obligations a Landlord has... you don't need to employ a Solicitor for any of the things you need to do... where's your mind at, exactly?

 

EPC, GSC, electrical safety (no certificate required), Landlord Insurance, smoke alarms, CO alarm, advertising, viewings, referencing, Right to Rent checks, How To Rent booklet, Deposit protection, tenancy agreement, Check-In, Inventory, maintenance, taxation (self-assessment).

I had a great experience when I first started, had a young woman studying law at University, she was away from home and her dad was a solicitor. He drafted everything up ( which was just a standard tenancy agreement) at no charge I couldn't have wished for better. She left and then the troubles started.

The next tenant was a Spanish woman. Came into winter and she complained of damp and she stopped paying the rent. She had me round and showed me damp patches all over the inside of  the front of the  flat, this was a downstairs of a detached house basically. The front bedroom wall was wet through.

I had to get a surveyor in which cost a few quid. I did have a damp proof certificate so I just couldn't figure out what the problem was. That's when the sleepless nights come in. Turned out she wasn't putting the heating on and had all the windows shut so condensation from the showers she was having was settling on the coldest wall which was the front bedroom wall. I thought it was coming from the outside.

Honestly mate, if you can avoid it, steer clear. I can imagine if you have 50 properties and you get a couple of wrong uns you can live with it, but if you have one property and get a wrong un you're up the creek, and for what? Not much really. Time to roll the dice.

[Magilla 510]

7 hours ago, Hippogriff said:

What "legal advice" are you thinking of? Doing things legally and legal advice are very different things in my mind... finding a Landlord Checklist will make you aware of the obligations a Landlord has... you don't need to employ a Solicitor for any of the things you need to do... where's your mind at, exactly?

She may not *need* legal advice, but apparently she'll be happier getting some (at least initially).

 

There's no point telling her not to do it her way I'm afraid.. resistance is futile

[Bash Street 10]

1 hour ago, Magilla said:

She may not *need* legal advice, but apparently she'll be happier getting some (at least initially).

 

There's no point telling her not to do it her way I'm afraid.. resistance is futile

Oh contraire, tell her she's making a mistake and when it goes t.ts up you win, and if it doesn't you win again, it isn't hard mate.

[Jomie 30]

She will be liable for tax on the income and will need to keep accounts in order to complete self assessment at the financial year end. Can be done online but she must keep records of all expenditures and income.

 

She will also need to have landlord insurance cover and legal advice/expenses can be added on but that will raise the price.

 

A landlord has responsibilities 24/7 and tenants can be quite demanding. If there is a leak or boiler breaks down it will be her responsibility to sort it ASAP, whether it be Christmas, middle of the night or any other inconvenient time. If the house becomes uninhabitable due to damage she will have to deal with temporary rehoming of the tenant although a good insurance policy may cover that possibility. 

 

If the house is still mortgaged she will have to inform the lender. Possibility of having to remortgage as buy to let? Not sure about that but needs looking into.