How to get the best rent for your flat. (This page is for landlords.)
Estate agents to consider are:
Hamilton Brooks: 73 Long Lane, London EC1A 9ET
Click here to read more.
Scott City Residential : 122 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AA
Click here to read more.
Frank Harris: 87 Long Lane London EC1A 9ET
My mail box is full of “To The Occupier” letters from agents all over the place who have “many applicants” for my flat. Yeah, sure. You have got to use someone who knows the Barbican market, will take people round your flat, and be able to answer their questions about access to the gardens, rubbish collections, afternoon sun (and not with “Er … dunno”).
We don’t deal with lettings directly. But as conveyancing solicitors, we deal with most of the local estate agents on a daily basis, and we can tell which ones are the best for Barbican lettings.
We'll be very happy to give you our recommendation, as fellow Barbican residents. Give us a ring - Michael or Christine on 7404 0702. Or email us at mail@barbicanliving.co.uk
Clean it to show it
Have the flat cleaned thoroughly before showing it to potential renters. People aren't very imaginative. If your flat looks dirty, they won't see the jewel underneath. They'll look for something more appealing. We recommend House Proud - see the information on the right.
Types of residential tenancy
Shorthold tenancy
The ‘shorthold tenancy’ (sometimes also called an ‘assured shorthold’) is the standard form of tenancy. It is particularly popular with landlords because a landlord is entitled to take the premises back at the end of the tenancy. Before the invention of the shorthold tenancy, the law gave tenants extensive rights to stay on at the end of the agreed tenancy. (Even with shorthold tenancies, there are still rules that have to be followed by landlords before they can require a tenant to leave (see ‘Ending a tenancy’ below).
Unregulated tenancy
If the rent the tenant is paying is more than £100,000 a year, the letting ceases to be a shorthold tenancy or an assured tenancy, and it is just a matter of private contract without any additional statutory rights or protections for the tenant.
Assured tenancy
You are less likely to have this type of tenancy, but I will mention it for completeness. With an assured tenancy, the landlord gives up the automatic right to take back the premises at the end of the tenancy. Instead, the landlord can only recover possession on a number of specific ‘grounds’ set down by statute. This is obviously a lousy option. But there is one advantage to having an assured tenancy. If you have a shorthold tenancy, the tenants have the right to apply to a tribunal during the first six months of the tenancy to have the rent reduced if they discover that it is seriously over market value. (This right would apply even though they agreed to the rent in the first place.) But with an assured tenancy, they can’t do that. So if you know that you are charging substantially over the market rent and are prepared to forgo the usual right to be able to take the premises back after the initial tenancy term has run out, then you could consider this. You have to serve a specific notice on the tenant announcing that you want it to be an assured tenancy, rather than a normal shorthold tenancy.
Other tenancies
There are other types of residential tenancy where different rules apply. ‘Company lets’ are where the tenant is a company not an individual. Companies have fewer rights. Tenants also have fewer rights under short ‘holiday lets’ or lettings where the landlord lives in the building as well, or if the premises are the tenant’s second home. The information in this page assumes that it’s a shorthold tenancy being discussed, unless we specifically say otherwise.
Starting the tenancy
References
Your letting agent should take up references on the prospective tenants, to satisfy you that they will be reliable tenants who are able to afford the rent.
Rent
Rent is normally payable monthly in advance. So the tenants should pay one month’s rent before the tenancy starts.
Deposit
The tenants should pay a deposit to act as security for their compliance with the tenancy obligations. The deposit is usually one month’s rent. There is a statutory system for dealing with deposits, involving insurance or a third party holding the money, which the agents can arrange for you.
Tenancy agreement
The letting agent will produce the tenancy agreement on your behalf. Tenancy agreements are usually standardised documents, and you may be presented with one which is a printed form with gaps for the names and tenancy details. Or you may receive the letting agents’ own word-processed tenancy agreement. I give you some pointers on what you should expect to find in a tenancy agreement in the sections below.
Inventory
There has to be some system for working out whether any damages have occurred during a tenancy, and this is sometimes handled by an inventory. Sometimes a list is just agreed between the parties to save expense. Alternatively, an inventory clerk will itemise everything in the premises, producing a list of everything being provided by you (right down to the number of forks) and also noting any specific defects which exist at the start of the tenancy. Then at the end of the tenancy, the inventory clerk will come back again, count the forks, and check if there has been any more damage. That is then used as the evidence for what amount (if any) you can take from the security deposit.
Landlords' insurance
You need insurance specifically tailored to your risks as a landlord. It's called 'landlords' insurance'. I don;t know where you should go particuarly to get the best or cheapest cover. But DirectLine have been advertsing on the TV that they can beat any other quote, so check them out as well as any others.
Your obligations as landlord
There are a few obligations imposed on you by law.
Structure and supplies
The landlord is responsible for repairing the structure of the building and its services (meaning the pipes, wires, drains etc). It is illegal for responsibility for these to be passed on to the tenants in a tenancy agreement. However, this does not extend to the appliances connected to the services, such as washing machines, cookers etc, which can be made the tenants’ responsibility.
Furniture
You have a legal duty to ensure that items of furniture which might be a fire hazard, such as mattresses, padded chairs and sofas, comply with appropriate fire safety regulations. This means that soft furnishings must all be of recent manufacture
Energy efficiency check
At the start of every tenancy you have to give the tenants an Energy Performance Certificate, as to how energy and carbon efficient the flat is. This will be arranged for you by the letting agents. It’s an absolute waste of time, but there you are.
The tenants’ obligations
The tenancy agreement will set out a long list of obligations or ‘covenants’ which the tenants have to observe. These are the main ones.
Rent
The tenants will usually be required to pay the annual rent by monthly instalments, in advance. Normally, they will be expected to pay this by bank transfer to your bank account. But you should note that tenants are not allowed to pay rent to a bank outside the United Kingdom. If they do, then they are liable to the tax authorities for the landlord’s tax if the landlord doesn’t pay it.
Repair
The tenants will be required to keep the premises in the same state of repair and condition as they were in at the start of the tenancy. This means the interior of the premises and the decorations. The tenants cannot be made to repair the structure or exterior of the building, or the services. If the premises have been redecorated and in perfect condition just before you let the flat, there is no way, in normal family life, that the premises will be handed back in exactly the same condition, however careful the tenants may be. So there is an exception for ‘fair wear and tear’ – the tenants should not be made responsible for normal use of the premises. If they actually break or seriously damage something, they should have to pay for it, but if they just make it look second-hand, they shouldn’t.
Furniture
If you let premises already furnished, then the tenants will have exactly the same obligations as apply to the interior of the premises themselves: they must return the furniture in the same state and condition, but also with that same proviso that they should not be made responsible for ‘fair wear and tear’.
Alterations
The tenancy agreement will usually say that the tenants can’t make any alterations at all to the premises; usually they can’t even fix pictures to the walls without your prior consent.
Permitted occupiers
There will usually be a clause in the agreement saying that only the named tenants and their family can live at the premises, and they are not allowed to sublet it, transfer the tenancy to anyone else, or let anyone live with them.
Ending a tenancy
Ending shorthold tenancies
If you are granting a shorthold tenancy, you have a right to have the premises back at the end of the tenancy. But there are safeguards for the tenant. First, the tenancy does not actually end when the tenancy agreement says it ends, unless you serve the tenants with a written notice two months in advance saying that the premises are required back at the end of the agreed term. If you don’t do that, then the tenancy is just extended. So if you want to bring the tenancy to an end, you always have to give the tenants two months’ written notice. (You also must check your tenancy agreement because it may specify a slightly different arrangement which you must follow.) Another protection for shorthold tenants is that, no matter how short the original shorthold tenancy may be, a landlord can’t end it until at least six months have passed from the start of the tenancy. So even if the agreement is to allow the tenants to occupy premises for one month, you still have to assume that legally they can stay for at least a minimum of six months.
Ending unregulated tenancies
If you are receiving more than £100,000 a year in rent (which means it is an unregulated tenancy), then when the termination date stated in the agreement arrives the tenants must move out, unless they enter into a new agreement with you to extend the tenancy. However, you should bear in mind that you can never turn up with a locksmith and change the locks. No one is allowed to take any steps to force someone to leave residential premises - and this even applies to squatters - without first getting a court order.
Ending tenancies early
There are grounds which can be used to get bad tenants out of premises, even during the first six month period. For example, if they stop paying the rent or start burning the furniture, you can probably get an order requiring them to leave.
Break clauses
If you let the premises for longer than a year, or if there is a chance that the tenants might be moved to another town or country by their employer, you may be requested to negotiate a ‘break clause’. This is a clause in the tenancy agreement saying that, if the tenants are relocated, they can end the tenancy early by giving, say, three months’ notice to you. Most tenancy agreements state that tenants cannot pass the agreement on to anyone else, or let a fellow employee or partner occupy the premises in their place. So a break clause allows them to avoid the risk of having to pay rent for a long period on premises they no longer need. You wouldn’t normally negotiate this in a term for a year or less.
I recommend House Proud for your flat cleaning. They are meticulous and trustworthy. (They are used by Frank Harris and Hamilton Brooks.) They have their own office in Willoughby House.
Have a look at their website www.houseproudcity.co.uk for all their services.
