Which professional?

bodorange

I am considering renting out an inherited property. It is a 1 bed (leasehold) flat. Cheap rental area. I have a prospective tenant. The flat will be rented unfurnished.

I'm aware of the requirements to verify right to rent, current EPC, gas safety cert, deposit protection, and a tenancy agreement.

I am primarily interested in a valuation, drafting a tenancy agreement, advice on ensuring CT/utilities are made the responsibility of and put in the name of the tenant.

Bearing in mind I have a prospective tenant (so no marketing required), who would be the appropriate professionals to approach? I'd like to avoid or defer signing on to a more complete management package.

Many thanks.

theartfullodger

Before doing this get educated in how to be a landlord and the 100+ acts and regulations covering landlord/tenant law.  Or take a big gamble. 

Can you afford (emotionally as well as financially) the tenant-from-hell (or agent-from??)????

njkmr

If you are going ahead with this , then you can get a letting agent to do all the legal stuff for you and set things up .
You then manage it from there. It's probably the safest way to get started. It may cost a few hundred pounds but at least you know it's all legal.  inventory for property, safety certs , bond scheme etc.
It's not always an easy route to take letting property but you will find that out over time.

Jude57

bodorange said:

I am considering renting out an inherited property. It is a 1 bed (leasehold) flat. Cheap rental area. I have a prospective tenant. The flat will be rented unfurnished.

I'm aware of the requirements to verify right to rent, current EPC, gas safety cert, deposit protection, and a tenancy agreement.

I am primarily interested in a valuation, drafting a tenancy agreement, advice on ensuring CT/utilities are made the responsibility of and put in the name of the tenant.

Bearing in mind I have a prospective tenant (so no marketing required), who would be the appropriate professionals to approach? I'd like to avoid or defer signing on to a more complete management package.

Many thanks.

As to Council Tax, you can notify the local Council's Council Tax department that you are the owner then that Joe Bloggs tenancy commenced on 1st April 2024. You'd also be able to notify the Council Tax department that Joe Bloggs tenancy ended on 31st March 2025 and that his forwarding address is 123 Acacia Avenue, Toytown - or that he left no forwarding address. As you know, you'll be liable for Council Tax for any period the flat is unoccupied so it's in your interest to make sure the correct information is given to the Council Tax department as soon as possible. It's the tenant's responsibility to register for Council Tax but many don't and there's nothing to lose by you also giving the information to the Council.

Alderbank

njkmr said:

If you are going ahead with this , then you can get a letting agent to do all the legal stuff for you and set things up .
You then manage it from there. It's probably the safest way to get started. It may cost a few hundred pounds but at least you know it's all legal.  inventory for property, safety certs , bond scheme etc.
It's not always an easy route to take letting property but you will find that out over time.

As @theartfullodger has said here many times, literally anyone can set themselves up as a letting agent, even if they know nothing about letting and their current address is HMP Broadmoor.

Whereabouts are you? That would help us to give you some useful advice.

Are you in Scotland? If so the Scottish Association of Landlords would be a good place to start
https://scottishlandlords.com/join-us/

propertyrental

If in Eng/Wales, read

Post 7: New landlords (1):advice & information :see links in next post

Post 8: New landlords (2): Essential links for further information

Post 9: Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

from

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180214/tenancies-in-eng-wales-guides-for-landlords-and-tenants/p1

Note some recent leglislation is excluded as G_M was sadly banned from the site.

Mr.Generous

Dont forget electrical safety too. You'll find that most landlord and building insurance will require you to have vetting checks done on tenant anyway, so paying a letting agent for a tenant finding service is a good option. They will ensure you comply to all legal requirements unless they are a dreadful agent. 

Get your prospective tenant to apply via the agent. You can negotiate the fee to around first months rent including VAT - they often state first months rent plus VAT. If you already have a tenant in mind you're making it easy for them. Don't go far below the market rent even for someone you know. Renting is a business, if the going rate is £650 pcm and you really want this tenant offer it for £600.

The ideal tenant will ....

Look after the property

Pay the rent

Cause you and neighbors no hassle

Stay for a minimum of 2 years

RAS

Does the lease allow rental?

_Penny_Dreadful

bodorange said:

I am considering renting out an inherited property. It is a 1 bed (leasehold) flat. Cheap rental area. I have a prospective tenant. The flat will be rented unfurnished.

I'm aware of the requirements to verify right to rent, current EPC, gas safety cert, deposit protection, and a tenancy agreement.

I am primarily interested in a valuation, drafting a tenancy agreement, advice on ensuring CT/utilities are made the responsibility of and put in the name of the tenant.

Bearing in mind I have a prospective tenant (so no marketing required), who would be the appropriate professionals to approach? I'd like to avoid or defer signing on to a more complete management package.

Many thanks.

Neither a letting agent nor a solicitor is going to draft a tenancy agreement from scratch for you.  You mention a leasehold property so I'm going to assume the property is in England or Wales.  You can get a draft AST (England) and draft Occupation Contracts (Wales) for free from the government.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/model-agreement-for-a-shorthold-assured-tenancy

https://www.gov.wales/renting-homes-model-written-statements

NRLA also offers AST and Occupation Contracts to its members and given the kinds of questions you are asking it would be wise to join a landlord association before you end up making a very expensive mistake.  I have two rental properties in England and I use the NRLA AST.

As others have already said, you ensure that you are not responsible for CT and utilities by contacting the council and utility suppliers to close your accounts.  

user1977

_Penny_Dreadful said:

bodorange said:

I am considering renting out an inherited property. It is a 1 bed (leasehold) flat. Cheap rental area. I have a prospective tenant. The flat will be rented unfurnished.

I'm aware of the requirements to verify right to rent, current EPC, gas safety cert, deposit protection, and a tenancy agreement.

I am primarily interested in a valuation, drafting a tenancy agreement, advice on ensuring CT/utilities are made the responsibility of and put in the name of the tenant.

Bearing in mind I have a prospective tenant (so no marketing required), who would be the appropriate professionals to approach? I'd like to avoid or defer signing on to a more complete management package.

Many thanks.

Neither a letting agent nor a solicitor is going to draft a tenancy agreement from scratch for you.

Eh? I'm pretty sure either of them will happily do so.

_Penny_Dreadful

user1977 said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

bodorange said:

I am considering renting out an inherited property. It is a 1 bed (leasehold) flat. Cheap rental area. I have a prospective tenant. The flat will be rented unfurnished.

I'm aware of the requirements to verify right to rent, current EPC, gas safety cert, deposit protection, and a tenancy agreement.

I am primarily interested in a valuation, drafting a tenancy agreement, advice on ensuring CT/utilities are made the responsibility of and put in the name of the tenant.

Bearing in mind I have a prospective tenant (so no marketing required), who would be the appropriate professionals to approach? I'd like to avoid or defer signing on to a more complete management package.

Many thanks.

Neither a letting agent nor a solicitor is going to draft a tenancy agreement from scratch for you.

Eh? I'm pretty sure either of them will happily do so.

They just use a template. It’s not a custom draft and you can get your own templates either free from the government or peanuts from a landlord association.