Advice on renting out property

jennifernil

Thanks.

The cottage is lovely inside, it's just the outside that needs attention....nothing that will affect the tennant, no damp or anything. They were aware of the need for repairs before they purchased.

I am just trying to keep them straight and legal as they do not have any experience of this, and very little time to look into it ,with demanding jobs and 2 youngsters.

G_M

jennifernil wrote: »

Also that they just have standard buildings/contents insurance.

They are saying the guy just wants to rent "informally" for 3 months at a time. Is that OK?

NNNNNOOOOOOOooooooo !!!!!

:eek:

What if he 'informally' sets the house on fire? Insurer says: "So who was this guy? Family?" It comes out he's a tenant. Insurance invalid. Son and DIL lose everything. And that's just for starters. Do it PROPERLY!

jennifernil

Yes, quite, that was my thought too! As I said, they really do not have much of a clue!!

The cottage is totally separate from the main house, so "losing everything" is unlikely, but even so, they need to do it properly.

tbs624

They do need to sort out Consent to Let from their Lender, and the lender would usually insist that an SAT ( Short Assured Tenancy) is in place.

They should run a third party credit check unless they know this potential T and his background already. Google Maras, Homelet , tenantverify for examples.

They would need to familiarise themselves with the correct notice paperwork and read up on how "tacit relocation" operates - you could point them in the direction of Shelter Scotland's tenant advice webpages and http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/926/landlords-advice_and_support

jennifernil

Thanks.

The tenant is kind of known to them, in so far as he has rented the property for several months from the previous owners,

Thinking more about it........I am wondering if the rental has been on the basis of 4 nights per week, rather than a SAT, thus looking more like a "holiday let" than anything else. Hence the business rates.

Will see them next weekend, so will pin them down re consent and insurance.

I gather this is only a short term thing as DIL's Mum is to move into the cottage eventually.

tbs624

jennifernil wrote: »

Thinking more about it........I am wondering if the rental has been on the basis of 4 nights per week, rather than a SAT, thus looking more like a "holiday let" than anything else. Hence the business rates.

Have a look at the PIM on the HMRC website - it has a section on what can qualify as a holiday letting:)