However, there is another safeguard you can put in place to help protect yourself from rogue tenants, and that is to ask for a guarantor. If your tenants are under 30 or earning less than three times the annual rent then I recommend you asking for a suitable guarantor. In the case of tenants who are on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) you should always insist on a guarantor.

Having someone who is prepared to act as a guarantor, on behalf of your tenants, reduces the chances even further of something going wrong.  If everything else checks out, such as the references and the credit check, but they meet the above criteria then asking for a guarantor can give you a great amount of peace of mind when signing on the dotted line.

This is the last tip on choosing a tenant and if you act on all of them, they should prevent you from ending up with any tenants that are unlikely to be able to pay the rent, or cause you any other problems down the line.  

Now that we’ve covered how to choose the right tenant, it’s time to look at what to do before they move in.

P.s.

Don’t underestimate the importance of choosing a suitable tenant, put these tips into action and it should be plain sailing.

This next tip will go a long way to ensuring you pick a tenant who will not only pay their rent on time but pay it in full.  Failure to carry out this check could result in a loss of rental income, and put your property at risk, so ignore it at your peril!

So what kind of check is this? Yes that’s right, we’re talking about the credit check here. This check should cover things like the verification of their current address, their employment status as well as their earnings. This should confirm they are who they say they are and that they are fully employed and earning enough money to cover the rent, as well as their living expenses.

A credit check will also tell you if they are free from insolvency, bankruptcy, debt proceedings or CCJs. Taking on a client who has a bad track record when it comes to paying what they owe and managing their finances, could be a recipe for disaster.

Carrying out a credit check for any tenants that make it to the final stages of the application process is easier to do than it sounds. Simply acquire the services of a credit-checking company, who will do all the leg work for you for a modest fee. Look online for one to make this task even easier to complete or we could do all this for you.

In the next tip I will discuss when it is prudent to ask for a guarantor to finish off the tenant selection process.

P.s.

Don’t forget to act on this tip; carrying out a vital credit check can hugely reduce the risk of landing yourself a problem tenant. See you on my next blog.

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And yes, you guessed it; it involves getting the right tenants for your property.

There is no point putting in the work to ensure your property meets all the necessary standards, looks great and has prospective tenants bidding with each other in order to move in, only to shoot yourself in the foot by selecting the wrong type of tenant. Thankfully, by following my advice on choosing a tenant, you can save yourself a lot of stress and inconvenience.

The first thing you must do when starting the tenant selection process is to get references. Think of choosing a tenant in the same way you might hire an employee. Get in touch with their current landlord or managing agent to find out what type of tenant they were at their last home. However, it is worth noting that their referees might give them a glowing reference in order to get them off their hands! For that reason I recommend contacting their previous landlord as well as they will have nothing to lose when it comes to giving an honest appraisal of your prospective tenant.

All it takes is a quick phone call and you will have all the information you need to make a decision.

While some people might consider contacting other landlords a chore, the information that can be gathered is priceless so make sure you take action on this tip.

P.s.

While obtaining references will tell you if they are trustworthy and reliable there is another check you must carry out in order to properly vet any potential tenants.  Standby for the next blog where the details of that check will be revealed.

Even if nothing goes wrong and your tenants keep the property in great condition, paying their rent on time each month, and you have no intention of asking them to leave, you might still have to serve notice on them.

Why would you want to do that if they are the perfect tenants? I hear you ask.

Well if the tenants decide they want to end the tenancy and move out, giving you ample notice of the date they wish to leave, you should still serve notice. You shouldn’t do this out of retaliation for them choosing to leave that would be childish.

No, the reason I recommend you serve them notice, for the date, they wish to leave, is that they might change their mind nearer the time. While it would be great to have such perfect tenants decide to stay on, by the time they change their mind, it is highly likely you will have new tenants lined up and ready to move in.

Formalising your current tenants desire to move out, by serving notice covering that date, you can ensure things remain manageable and the situation does not develop into a state of flux.

In this case you would be serving them a notice from Section 21. For this type of notice you must give the tenants at least two clear months’ notice, so don’t hang around once you or they decide it’s time to part ways. The day on which the notice period expires must be the last day of the tenancy period, which is the day before the rent is due.

If you are serving the notice by post, make sure you allow at least three working days for it to arrive. Send the notice using recorded or registered post so you have some proof you have sent it. Alternatively, hire the services of an independent company that will service the notice by hand on the tenants.

Now that I have given you some helpful advice on serving notice on your clients, it’s time to start thinking about how to manage the day your tenants leave the property.

P.s.

Depending on the how the tenancy went, the day it ends can be a stressful time. To ensure you do everything the right way, make sure you read my next blog coming soon.

Hopefully it won’t come to this, as it is every landlord’s nightmare, but if your tenants default or fail to pay the rent, then you are entitled to serve notice, in order to end the tenancy agreement.

Unfortunately, it isn’t quite as straightforward as that. You have to ensure that you serve the correct notice.

If you serve the wrong notice, it will not be valid and you will have to start the whole process again, costing you time and money.

When it comes to choosing a notice to serve, there are two options that will do the job. One is under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1998 and the other is under Section 21(1)(b). These notices are designed to get you your property back at the end of the fixed term.

If the fixed term has already expired and the tenancy has become periodic, that is it has no end date and is simply continuing on an on-going basis, then you will need to serve notice under Section 21(4)(a). If you have let the tenancy agreement switch to a periodic, on-going one, then you are required to give your tenants a 90 day notice period.

Any notice you serve will have to be done in writing. It is up to you to make 100% sure the notice has been filled in and written up correctly. If not it could be declared invalid, forcing you to start the whole process all over again, dragging it out even further.

Hopefully you won’t need to serve notice for non-payment of rent but it is important that you know what to do should the situation arise.

P.s.

In the next blog I will explain other times when you should serve notice on your tenants and how to go about doing so.

Another important thing to know is that you do have a right to ‘reasonable access’ to the property, for inspections and repair. However, your tenants still have the right to override any reasons you might have that you think give you ‘reasonable access’. Again this is weighted in favour of the tenants and it is up to them to grant you access rather than it being the other way around.

This highlights exactly why it is a very good idea to keep your tenants onside and ensure you have a good working relationship with them.

Unless you have a court order or there is a real emergency, like a fire, you cannot enter the property without the tenants consent. Ignoring their refusal to grant you access and entering the property using your keys is classed as trespassing and could get you into a lot of trouble.

If you do want to keep an eye on your property, and check that is in good hands during the tenancy then it is a good idea to arrange quarterly inspections in advance with your tenants. Discussing this during the signing of the tenancy agreement will give them plenty of notice of your intentions to inspect the property a few times throughout the year.

Even if the tenants seem like the most responsible people you’ve ever met, I still recommend you carry out quarterly inspections. This can help you to spot any major problems that haven’t been reported to you, allow them to be fixed before they become even bigger problems further down the line.

Whatever inspection schedule you choose to implement, just make sure it is pre-arranged beforehand with your tenants and they are happy to grant you access to the property. In our next blog we will take a look at how best to go about ending the tenancy with the least amount of problems.

P.s.

Ending the tenancy in the right way is just as important as starting it, so make sure you keep an eye out for my next blog.

As previously we talked about things you can do to be a good landlord to your tenants, it’s time to talk about a big no-no to be aware of for those in the role of a landlord.

While, as the landlord and owner, gaining access to your property might seem like something that is perfectly within your rights. However, doing so without your tenants express permission can cause big problems to your relationship with them.

Although the property might be yours, to your tenants, it is their home, a private sanctuary from the outside world. Any unauthorised access can at best remind them their home isn’t actually their own, and at worst, make them feel vulnerable and unsafe in their own home.

You might just be popping round to check the mail or see if the place is in safe hands, but to your tenants you’ve broken the number rule between tenant and landlord, at least in their eyes.

In fact tenants are entitled to the ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the property, so you are not even allowed to turn up unannounced, even if you do knock first. You must ask your tenants for permission to visit the property and give at least 24 hours notice. You cannot even visit unless they give you permission, although they may not unreasonably withhold consent.

Basically, if you feel the need to pay them or the property a visit, think carefully whether it is in fact necessary or not, and if it is, check with them to arrange a convenient time, giving them plenty of notice. You wouldn’t be happy with someone cold calling at your home for a look around so don’t do the same to someone else.

In the next blog I will be covering what to do if your tenants want to make a change to something specific in the property so keep tuned.

P.S.

Hopefully you now fully understand why it’s good to keep your tenants onside, and what you can do to maintain a good working relationship and avoid being a bad landlord. Let us know what you think below?

Hopefully you will have found some agreeable tenants to fill your property and now it is up to you to ensure that they stay this way, and that you build a good relationship with them. This will not only make the life of your tenant easier but it will make yours easier too.

Ways to ensure you and your tenants enjoy a good relationship include returning their calls or messages when they try to contact you. A landlord not being available when something goes wrong can be a real source of frustration to most people so try and be available as much as possible within reason.

Dealing with any problems or concerns they have in a timely manner can also help keep things between you and them positive. If you can make the time your tenants spend in your property as stress free and smooth sailing as possible, there is a greater chance they will want to renew their contract when it is nearing its end. This will save you all the trouble of seeing them move out, updating the property, and then finding new tenants and all that entails. Why not just put in a bit of effort to keep things cordial and save yourself a lot of work in the long run?

Remember, the better you get on with your tenants the more likely it is that they will treat your property with greater respect and care.  Landlords can often underestimate the benefits of getting on well with their tenants; keeping a good relationship with your tenants will set you on a good footing.

So here’s your chance to tell us what you have found works? Just comment in the box below.

This is a fairly new rule that has been in place since 2007 and there a few options available when it comes to choosing a Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme. Your tenants can check on the status of their deposit with these government-backed schemes at any time, so make sure everything is as it should be.

Due to the introduction of this rule, it unfortunately means you can’t use the deposit to do a bit of work on the property and then raise the cash at a later date, when it is needed. However, using one of these schemes does mean the money will be there when the tenants move on and prevents you from having to find the money from another source when the time comes.

Some of the schemes are free to use while others charge a fee. They can handle the repayment of the deposit back to the client once you approve the transaction, saving you the trouble of arranging the return of the money.

Just make sure the terms of the tenancy agreement are met, there’s no damage in the property and rent and bills are paid before the tenancy ends.

Deposits are very important to protect your tenants and yourself as a landlord. Make it a habit to stay within the rules.

Any delay on the part of the tenant should signal warning alarms. Letting them move into the property before they have made this payment could make life very difficult for you in the future as you will have no ‘insurance’ should something go wrong.

The amount of the deposit should be equal to one and a half months rent, and along with the first month’s rent should be collected in advance. Please make sure that the funds are cleared before handing over any keys or granting the tenants access to the property. Make sure you give the tenants an itemised receipt for future reference and keep a copy for yourself.

Asking for one month’s rent up front and a deposit is perfectly standard so don’t fail to act, and don’t let the tenant try and change or delay this process.

This security deposit will be an assurance that any damage will be paid for. It will be your responsibility as a landlord or a letting agent to keep the money until the contract ends or the tenant moves out of the property.

A deposit could be a lifesaver should something go wrong down the line. Securing a deposit is like having a safety net. This helps protect yourself, your property and your tenant as well.