New to being a Private Landlord

Bob_24601_2

Hi,

I'm a long time viewer on this forum, but only just joined.

Needing advise about becoming a private landlord (and first time being a landlord)

I currently have a house, where I use Santander to prvide my Mortgage. They have agreed to give consent to let for a small fee.

The people that I will be renting to are long term colleagues working for the same firm.

What I would like to know is the following:

*Where can I get a decent tenancy agreement from? Ideally free
*Do I need any kind of Lawyer to review the agreement or to witness each of it being signed?
*What else do I need to do to make sure I follow the rules and regulations?

Appreciate any help given.

Bob

Werdnal

First rule of becoming an efficient LL is not to fish around for a free, useless and pathetically inadequate tenancy agreement. Either pay a professional to draw up a tailor made agreement specifically for you, your property and your particular circumstances, or join the NLA or similar (membership is tax deductable) and use their proven agreements.

There is no such thing as a one size fits all agreement, and you will only need pay once, and can regurgitate this agreement each time you relet.

Then you need to read this:

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

and all the links it contains. If you still have any queries or need further advice once you have digested this lot, come back and ask again!

These "long term work colleagues" - have you credit checked and referenced them? "Oh no need" I hear you reply "They are known to me so they will be fine" - 2nd rule of becoming an efficient LL - do not take anyone's (even friends, relatives etc) word that they are genuine, excellent renting history, never defaulted on a payment, plenty of salary coming in to cover their rent - ALWAYS credit check them and ask for references AND follow them up. There is a litany of previous "Help I rented to friends and now its gone t!ts up" type posts here - don't let the next one be a post from you!

Welcome to the forum by the way; sorry if I sound a little terse, but you are entering into a business venture - yes even only one rental property is considered as running a letting business, and your opening question about where to find a freebie tenancy agreement always gets my back up! You will no doubt be making a profit on the rent you charge, so as with all businesses, you need to invest some of that back into your "business". LLs who cut corners from the start are often doomed to fail - start as you mean to go on!

Good luck!

Bob_24601_2

Werdnal wrote: »

First rule of becoming an efficient LL is not to fish around for a free, useless and pathetically inadequate tenancy agreement. Either pay a professional to draw up a tailor made agreement specifically for you, your property and your particular circumstances, or join the NLA or similar (membership is tax deductable) and use their proven agreements.

There is no such thing as a one size fits all agreement, and you will only need pay once, and can regurgitate this agreement each time you relet.

Thanks for the above advise, I have had a look at the NLA (today and previously) and I am thinking it might be a great idea to join.

If I did go for this option, by the looks of things do I get all the required forms that I need (tenancy agreement and all the other bits or do they come at a further price?)

And am I legally allowed to change the document to add in any other bits that I wish? Like no pets or can't decorate. Also like that the tenancy will extend if there is no problems with payments or damage (beyond normal wear & tear)

Then you need to read this:

Sorry it wont allow me to post this link as a quick reply.!

and all the links it contains. If you still have any queries or need further advice once you have digested this lot, come back and ask again!

Again thanks, looks a great read too, will have a proper look into that over the next few days

These "long term work colleagues" - have you credit checked and referenced them? "Oh no need" I hear you reply "They are known to me so they will be fine" - 2nd rule of becoming an efficient LL - do not take anyone's (even friends, relatives etc) word that they are genuine, excellent renting history, never defaulted on a payment, plenty of salary coming in to cover their rent - ALWAYS credit check them and ask for references AND follow them up. There is a litany of previous "Help I rented to friends and now its gone t!ts up" type posts here - don't let the next one be a post from you!

Defiantly sound advise I don't want to be having to post one of those posts!, so i'm going to take this on board. Again looking up on the NLA website, I can opt to credit check them. Is there any alternative places I can credit check them? Or is it best & easiest through the NLA?

Welcome to the forum by the way; sorry if I sound a little terse, but you are entering into a business venture - yes even only one rental property is considered as running a letting business, and your opening question about where to find a freebie tenancy agreement always gets my back up! You will no doubt be making a profit on the rent you charge, so as with all businesses, you need to invest some of that back into your "business". LLs who cut corners from the start are often doomed to fail - start as you mean to go on!

Good luck!

Sorry I know what you mean, and I fully agree with this, as I'm new to this whole thing I know it easy to fall into that trap of well free is better.

The main reason why I thought there may be a good free alternative, was that I thought that Martin Lewis might have already got something sorted to help cover this. Its not a problem that I might have topay a little bit, but you can see why I thought id ask before paying for something that I may be able to get here (and a decent version of it)

I really really do appreciate your reply, it has already been very helpful to me, so thank you very much.

If there is any further advise or replies to my further queries,again I will be happy to receive it.

Regards

Bob

G_M

Be VERY wary letting to friends, family, colleagues etc. See the advice in my post referred to by werdnal.

You can put anything you like in the tenancy agreement. It may or may not be enforcible!

Extend the tenancy? Read this post here.

But more importantly, if you are asking basic Qs like this, you need to learn a lot before you start. Don't leave it till the tenant is in place to find out how letting works....

Best of luck!

tbs624

Bob_24601 wrote: »

The main reason why I thought there may be a good free alternative, was that I thought that Martin Lewis might have already got something sorted to help cover this. Its not a problem that I might have topay a little bit, but you can see why I thought id ask before paying for something that I may be able to get here (and a decent version of it)

You're going to effectively be running a business - my understanding is that the site exists to help consumers. You can set down the costs of sorting out your ASTA on your tax return.

Lawpack tenancy agreements are available from stationers, and Oyez the legal stationers also offer an AST. The LL associations and Tessa Shepperson's LL Law website offer membership packages that include ASTAs. Tessa is a LL& T specialist solicitor. Membership fees can also be slapped down on tax return *and* membership will qualify you for some LL discounts of insurance premiums etc.