Renting out Flat - Things to ask Letting Agents

PaulB79

My girlfriend has asked me to move in with her. I have decided that I will rent out my flat, as if it all goes pear shaped I have somewhere to go back to.

I have no experience doing this so I have decided to enlist the help of a letting agent to fully manage this for me.

What sort of things do I need to look for in a good agent and how many should I see before making a decision on who to go with.

Thanks for your help.

Paul

BitterAndTwisted

Have you been granted Consent-To-Let by your lender yet?

Are you aware of your (very many) legal responsibilities when going into business as a landlord?

Are you aware of the tax-implications?





The first thing you need to consider is precisely what service you will require from an agent:

Tenant-finding only

Tenant-finding and rent-collection.

Tenant-finding, rent-collection and full repairing.

All of these different bands of service will attract different scales of charges often based on a percentage of the rent collected, but some will be one-offs for each tenancy granted on your behalf.

One thing you MUST NOT do is to allow an agent to grant a tenancy on your behalf without you having sight of the credit-checks and references beforehand.

PaulB79

Many thanks for your helpful reply.

Looking in to renting my flat is is only in the early stages she only ask me at the weekend if I wanted to move in so I haven't asked my lender about consent to let yet but I was aware that I needed to do this.

I'll be honest that I am not aware of the many legal responsibilities which Is why I want an agent to do the work.

I have definitely decided that I will go with the following service:

Tenant-finding, rent-collection and full repairing

What other tax implications are apart from the need to complete an annual tax return with the rental income?

I moved into the flat 12 years ago and never intended to have to rent it out.

Thanks again for your help.

BitterAndTwisted

The only one I can think of is that should you choose to sell at some point in the future after letting without establishing it as your primary residence first it could attract Capital Gains Tax.

G_M

See:

New Landlords (information for new or prospective landlords)

Letting Agents (Tips for selecting, and tips for sacking them)

dancingfairy

Whilst it can be useful to have a good letting agent to guide you, don't forget that ultimately it falls to you to ensure that you stay within the law.
The ones off the top of my head concern things like a gas safety certificate and protecting the tenants deposit.
A lettings agent works for you so make sure you shop around as a good one will be worth their weight in gold whilst a bad one will be a millstone around your neck.
It can sound onerous to start with but the more reading you can do beforehand the better. It might seem like there is a lot to do and regulations to adhere to etc but they are there to protect you and the tenant so getting it right at the beginning will make things a lot easier for you.
Hopefully if you do the ground work you will find things run smoothly but obviously bear in mind that things can sometimes go wrong and that it is not an easy guaranteed way to make money. If you do your research and treat it like a business then hopefully you will be fine.
Best of Luck
df

Yorkie1

Have you checked your lease allows you to let the flat out?

harrys_dad

Congratulations!

PierremontQuaker03

I am close to deciding what to do with my property in terms of renting and after having letting agencies round and all the money they charge you I am thinking with going with an online agency such as Upad - I live close by to my house so I can keep an eye on it and get tradesmen round if anything needs fixing.
My main bug bear with agencies are that they set everything up and then they expect 8% a month +vat to look after it, for doing what , I know you can have a tenancy only but even then they charge £250, where Upad is £99.
When asking what an agency would do if a tenant didnt pay they said they would "point me in the right direction" - I think the people on this board could do that rather than me paying 8% for the privelege.