Preparing a house for letting

Eliza_2

A friend is thinking of letting her house as she will be moving from the area and we were talking last night about the best way to improve it to make it better for potential tenants as well as maximising rent. It is a 3/4 bedroomed end of terrace. One large bedroom is in the attic conversion and the 4th room is really just a box room/nursery size, other two bedrooms are reasonable doubles. Downstairs has a large through lounge/dining room, decent size kitchen and big conservatory. Smallish easily managed garden. Cul de sac, plenty of on street parking.

It only has one bathroom however, which could be a problem for sharers but less so for a family. Is it worth putting in an extra shower room? The only space for it is in a store room, which is actually nearly the size of the boxroom but is right next to the bathroom. It would be best to put an additional shower in the attic but there's no suitable space, or an extra loo downstairs but there's nowhere to put it.

As well as the extra shower, what other improvements should she be looking at doing? There's no rush for this and she's prepared to spend a bit to make it a nice home. She knows about gas/electric safety certificates etc but really is one step before that at this stage.

It's near a hospital so there are possible tenants there, or otherwise families etc. I'm a tenant so have tried to think about it from a tenant's angle but I'm pretty unfussy and can adapt to the house - I think other tenants might want things to be a bit more perfect!!

Also how would you go about assessing a letting agent? I've read so many dire stories on here about them!

Thanks for any advice

Werdnal

I cannot really advise about the changes to the property, but she would be wise to read this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

To ensure she is complying with all the regulations, and understands what she is getting into.

If she is thinking of letting to "sharers" and there will be 3 or more unrelated people living there, she must find out about the HMO regulations in the area. Some HMO properties need to be registered, and the rules and regs covering them differ from those for a family let.

Does she have a mortgage? Has she asked for consent to let?

Does she understand about declaring rental income for tax etc.

Eliza_2

Werdnal wrote: »

I cannot really advise about the changes to the property, but she would be wise to read this:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

To ensure she is complying with all the regulations, and understands what she is getting into.

If she is thinking of letting to "sharers" and there will be 3 or more unrelated people living there, she must find out about the HMO regulations in the area. Some HMO properties need to be registered, and the rules and regs covering them differ from those for a family let.

Does she have a mortgage? Has she asked for consent to let?

Does she understand about declaring rental income for tax etc.

Yes thank you, I'm pretty certain she understands about the regulations and laws, I don't think she's planning on a HMO, rather 3 or 4 friends renting together. And what she doesn't know she will find out about. Thanks for the link - that's amazingly helpful.

At the moment she's really a few steps before all of that, just trying to work out what tenants would want and what would make it more attractive and workable as a let rather than a family home as at present. Thanks again.

Werdnal

Eliza wrote: »

Yes thank you, I'm pretty certain she understands about the regulations and laws, I don't think she's planning on a HMO, rather 3 or 4 friends renting together. And what she doesn't know she will find out about. Thanks for the link.

As I said - 3 or more UNRELATED TENANTS (ie friends), could make it an HMO - She must check as rules and regulations covering HMO's differ, (even different councils vary on their requirements) and she may need a council inspection and license, and health and safety regs are much stricter.

TBH, the additional rent she might get through letting to friends/multiple tenants, might be outweighed by the extra hassle. and possible costs. In her position, I would tailor the house to a family who would stay longer term - less voids, changes of individual tenants etc.

Eliza_2

Thank you I will advise her to look into that further. One idea we had was to see if there is an accommodation office at the hospital (as they do at universities) so she was going to investigate that, I'm sure they will then advise

dimbo61

Check carefully if she allows the attic to be used as a bedroom you then have 3 storey property and HMO status with need for fire doors, main wired smoke alarms, CO2 alarm, escape route ???
Size of room and state of existing bathroom, kitchen etc can determine rent and if close to hospital/uni what rent she may get

red_devil

Eliza wrote: »

A friend is thinking of letting her house as she will be moving from the area and we were talking last night about the best way to improve it to make it better for potential tenants as well as maximising rent. It is a 3/4 bedroomed end of terrace. One large bedroom is in the attic conversion and the 4th room is really just a box room/nursery size, other two bedrooms are reasonable doubles. Downstairs has a large through lounge/dining room, decent size kitchen and big conservatory. Smallish easily managed garden. Cul de sac, plenty of on street parking.

It only has one bathroom however, which could be a problem for sharers but less so for a family. Is it worth putting in an extra shower room? The only space for it is in a store room, which is actually nearly the size of the boxroom but is right next to the bathroom. It would be best to put an additional shower in the attic but there's no suitable space, or an extra loo downstairs but there's nowhere to put it.

As well as the extra shower, what other improvements should she be looking at doing? There's no rush for this and she's prepared to spend a bit to make it a nice home. She knows about gas/electric safety certificates etc but really is one step before that at this stage.

It's near a hospital so there are possible tenants there, or otherwise families etc. I'm a tenant so have tried to think about it from a tenant's angle but I'm pretty unfussy and can adapt to the house - I think other tenants might want things to be a bit more perfect!!

Also how would you go about assessing a letting agent? I've read so many dire stories on here about them!

Thanks for any advice

why go through a letting agent why not save herself money and do it herself. Also if doing up a bathroom and kitchen use the special paint for bathrooms. Moisture resistant or something. In my house they used the same paint throughout and the bathroom etc needed redoing by me. SO tight............

G_M

dimbo61 wrote: »

Check carefully if she allows the attic to be used as a bedroom you then have 3 storey property and HMO status with need for fire doors, main wired smoke alarms, CO2 alarm, escape route ???
Size of room and state of existing bathroom, kitchen etc can determine rent and if close to hospital/uni what rent she may get

Yes - avoid the HMO scenario.

Oh - and there is never a need for CO2 alarms - global warning is not yet so serious that we have to have alarms fitted in our homes to alert us to the rising temperatures resulting from destruction of ozone layer..

It's a CO alarm you need!

Eliza_2

Many thanks, bathroom and kitchen are in excellent condition having recently been completely redone. They have wired smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector - this is their family home after all.

She wanted to go through an agent as she won't be living in the area and not so easy to get back to the property. She wants to do it very professionally and therefore wants a very professional agent. However judging by these forums that is a rare thing!

Thank you all, it looks as if the family rental is the way to go - and most suited I think. So one bathroom would be sufficient then would you say?

IveSeenTheLight

Eliza wrote: »

One large bedroom is in the attic conversion

As others have said, check out the requirements for the attic / loft and need for fire doors / escape route etc.

Eliza wrote: »

It only has one bathroom however, which could be a problem for sharers but less so for a family. Is it worth putting in an extra shower room? The only space for it is in a store room, which is actually nearly the size of the boxroom but is right next to the bathroom.

What is the target market for the property.
Reading the thread, it looks like you really should be targetting a family.
Can a family live with one bedroom, yes.
Would it be easier with an additional shower room? yes
Would another toilet be better?

but look at the costs. is it worth / will it gain additional rent?

Eliza wrote: »

As well as the extra shower, what other improvements should she be looking at doing? There's no rush for this and she's prepared to spend a bit to make it a nice home. She knows about gas/electric safety certificates etc but really is one step before that at this stage.

We've just bought a 4 bed property and modernised.
It has also just been agreed on a 2 year lease.

The main things we did were: -
Replaced the kitchen (new appliances)
Replaced all carpetting
Painted the whole house (including tile painting the bathroom / ensuite / tiolet)
We put in new bathroom accessories and
Replaced light shades throughout.

All in it cost us just over £6,500, but we received an increase rent on similar properties (£1,800 per year more) and should need little maintenance for a number of years.

Eliza wrote: »

She knows about gas/electric safety certificates etc but really is one step before that at this stage.

I would recommend getting the boiler serviced and on a maintenance plan.
the costs are tax deductable and provides security of mind should the heating stop working.

Eliza wrote: »

Also how would you go about assessing a letting agent? I've read so many dire stories on here about them!

I used a local reputable estate agent on a tenant finders option only.
They help to get tenants and credit check them as well as draw up the initial tenancy agreement.
Since then, I've been able to replicate the tenancy with tenants directly whilst checking credit / references through a credit checking agency.

Be prepared if using a EA, you'll usually have one months rent + vat to pay if not using their management service.

tbs624

red_devil wrote: »

why go through a letting agent why not save herself money and do it herself.

I hold no torch for LAs but note that the OP says her friend is moving out of the area. Unless you are very organised, and have reliable local trades people who can deal with maint & repairs issues on your behalf it can be hard to self manage at a distance.

OP - as Werdnal has already said - if your firend plans to let to sharers rather than a family then the first query should be to the local Council on licensable HMO definition for the area. There is mandatory licensing, and some Councils also operate selective and additional licensing. HMOs can also need planning permission - this is an effort to restrict the numerical growth of HMO properties with any one area