Got it covered?

Under the Homes Act of 2018, landlords are obligated to ensure that their rental property constitutes a safe and habitable home for their tenants. However, Government analysis* has found that just 30% of landlords demonstrate good practices regarding renting compliance.

There are many reasons for this, some of which may relate to the availability of time, and/or a lack of awareness of the often complex legislation in place, but none of these would be a defence if a serious compliance issue arose. Other landlords will point to the cost, but saving money ‘today’ could cost a great deal more ‘tomorrow’.

We firmly believe that the best, and most comprehensive, form of protection for landlords is to invest in a Fully Managed service.

What are the benefits?

As a brief overview, included in our fully managed service package, we find your tenants, collect your rent, chase late payments and arrange for any repairs. But we can do a lot more than that for you, including but not limited to:

• Setting up rent & legal expenses cover;
• Service of Legal Notices;
• Keeping you compliant with the various pieces of legislation, including provision of valid safety certificates;
• Conduct regular rent reviews and serve the necessary paperwork to ensure your rent remains competitive;
• Deposit protection and administration, and;
• Inventory services, including comprehensive checks in and out of each set of tenants.

Keeping your property in check

A further valuable feature of the service is the provision of regular property visits throughout each tenancy. Our team of Property Managers is ready, willing and able to take reports of new maintenance issues, but tenants are not always aware that a problem is developing. In this scenario, there is no substitute for a series of proactive visits, giving the landlord regular updates as to how the property is being cared for, but also to help tenants understand the common issues that can be encountered, and ideally, how to avoid them happening altogether.

Andrews recommends that a visit be carried out every three months. Our clerk will contact the tenant directly to book each visit. They will then compile and share a written report of the property’s condition, including photographs of any areas of particular concern. If you would like anything specific to be checked and commented upon (eg: previous repairs, ongoing issues previously recommended for attention but not yet actioned), we will ensure that the clerk follows those instructions. We will ask that they make clear reference to those points in their report, which will be circulated after the visit to the designated property manager, the landlord and the tenant. The property manager will then liaise with the landlord for their further instructions, re:action on any points noted.

If you would like to know more about the benefits of our managed service, and/or adding property visits to your current managed service, get in touch with your local lettings branch or property mananger for more details.

David Bryant, Senior Regional Manager (Property Manager)

 ^{*source, https://reports2go.co.uk/The-benefits-of-mid-term-inspections}