New Landlord Requiring a little advice

eightpints

Ok, so I've finally dived in and got a buy to let, but need a bit of direction, can someone run me through the basics regarding deposits, rent up front etc.

We put a sign in the window and have someone interested in renting (so no agency) , they are dss, they can provide references, what other safe guards should I take, I heard maybe a guarantor?

Thanks.

poppysarah

Go back to your business plan and read the info you had on credit checks, guarantors etc

Hump

Visit your local stationary/ book store and look for a lawpack residential lettings pack for about £15 (others are available).

Housing Benefit (the DSS bit) is paid directly to the tenant either 2 weekly or 4 weekly in arrears, hence it's important your tenant pays the rent in advance from the start.

You can find out how much they will get from the council at the direct gov website - look for local housing allowances (LHA). If they receive Income Support and have no non-dependants living with them i.e. older children not in education then they will get 'upto' the maximum LHA. Their LHA rate depends on the household size and composition and the location of the property.

Assuming the property is in England/ Wales the deposit must be protected.

sonastin

There is a lot more to being a landlord than buying a property and finding a tenant. If that's all that you've done so far, you've got quite a lot of research to do. Start by getting yourself some books on the responsibilities of being a landlord - Tessa Shepperson has written a good one. Join a landlord association and go on some of their courses for new landlords. Make sure you run a credit check - the tenant has to be in quite serious arrears before the council will pay the LHA directly to you so you want to know that they won't be using their housing benefit money to pay off other debts. You'll need an EPC and a gas safety certificate. Which deposit protection agency are you going to use? This is barely scratching the surface of what you need to do to run a letting business - even if you only have the one property, this is now your business. You need to make sure you know what you're doing or you could find your tenant takes advantage of you. And worst case you could end up in prison if you get it really wrong...

Oh yeah - and hang around on this forum for a bit. I've picked up all sorts of useful advice and tips on being a landlord!

eightpints

Thanks for the comments, will look for the law pack, the actual rate of rent is not an issue as I have told the interested party the cost, which was happily excepted.

Indeed got a house, and tennant and know nothing else, knew about gas cert, deposit schemes, insurance but nothing else.

Need to do some research, hence my arrival on this board.

Mrs_Z

As others have pointed out - you'll need to get up to speed with legalities and responsibilities involved in running a business (as even with just 1 property, that's is what you are doing at least in the eyes of the Inland Revenue). Good place for info and a good forum too - I recommend a visit to:

http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/

eightpints

Thanks, the house is being tidied up so will not be let for another month, so in that time I'll see what I can learn,

G_M

Oh my god you've got this far and you are only now starting to ask questions????!!!!

Start here. Read the post and check out ALL the links within it.

sneaky1967

Plenty of great advice here. If its not already been mentioned;-
as the proposed tenant is DSS, it would be prudent to get a garuantor too (someone who is a house owner and preferably employed. They will need some kind on regular income stream if you have to chase them for any unpaid rent)
LHA housing benefit is usually paid directly to the tenant, its then THEIR responsibility to pay you. Sometimes lottery tickets, fags, booze and worse can take priority and rent never reaches you. LHA payment CAN be paid direct to the landlord if the tenent meets certain criteria (mentally unstable, history of debt.....) and also if there is 8 weeks or more arrears (keep this in mind for the future!)
As well as all the other bodies, check out National Landlords Association;Anual joining fee (tax deductable) with sound advice and a helpline. They also have printable AST's, section 8 & 21 should you need it.
Although there are loads that can go wrong you could also find you get a peach of a tenant that never bothers you and the rent appears on time.
Finally, remember that LHA pay 4 weekly - not cal month - and its in arrears. So consider what sort of deposit you will need to get you to the first payment appearing in your bank account.

Everyone has to start somewhere in business
Good luck eightpints!

S

tbs624

Hump wrote: »

Assuming you're in England/ Wales the deposit must be protected.

Not relevant where the LL is - it's where the property is that counts.

For example, Artful who posts on here is based in Berks IIRC yet lets in Scotland where no reposit regulations in place atm .

prudryden

From a landlord's perspective, be careful who you rent to. Since your doing your own background checks and probably do not know if the references are real or not, I would ask to see their original passport and driver's licence plus a recent utility bill from their previous residence. They may not agree to your request or perhaps not be able to produce these docs. In that case, unfortunately, I would look for someone else. A void is better than a trashed property.