| Index »Top Tips - Letting A Property |
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| Top Tips - Letting A Property |
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| Letting Your Home |
| If you rent or are thinking of renting out your home, it is vital that you are aware of your legal rights and obligations. When you let your property to a tenant, the tenancy is automatically an assured shorthold tenancy unless you agree otherwise in writing.
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| Shorthold Tenancy |
| A shorthold tenancy means that:
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You have a guaranteed right to get your home back after six months if you need to |
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You can charge a 'market rate' for rent, that is, the going rate for similar property in the area |
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You can get your home back if your tenant owes you at least two months or eight weeks rent |
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You can evict tenants who are causing a nuisance to local people |
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| Getting Your Property Back?
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| You can end the tenancy without giving a reason at any time after six months, provided any fixed term you agreed to has ended. You need to give your tenant at least two months written notice that you want your property back.You can end the tenancy at any time on certain grounds (reasons) for possession set out in legislation. These include rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, and damage by the tenant. The length of the written notice you must give will depend on which ground you are using.
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| What If The Tenant Won't Leave?
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| Most tenants do. You cannot evict a tenant yourself, but you can apply to the county court to get your property back. Where the fixed term has ended you can use an accelerated possession procedure which can avoid the need for a court hearing.
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| Letting Rooms In Your Home
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| Letting rooms in your home can be a useful way to get extra income. However, if you are letting (or thinking of letting) part of your home it is important to understand your obligations.
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| Rights Of Landlord And Tenant
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| In law, a resident landlord letting is one where the landlord and the tenant live in the same building. This includes conversions where they live in different parts of the same property (however long ago the property was converted) but excludes purpose built flats, with landlord and tenant living in different flats.There are two main issues where the rights of landlord and tenant differ for resident landlord lets compared with other types of tenancy - rent and security of tenure.
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| Broadly, someone who lets from a resident landlord:
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Does not have a right to challenge the level of rent that he or she has agreed to pay |
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Can be given less notice to leave if the landlord wants to end the letting |
| It is important to read all the information provided in the links below or to take legal advice if you are unsure of anything.
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| Health And Safety In Rented Accommodation
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| Landlords are generally responsible for the maintenance and major repairs to a property. This includes repairs to the structure and exterior of the property, heating and hot water installations, basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations.
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| Housing Standards
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| A property should be safe and healthy for occupiers, so responsibility should be taken to ensure that:
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The dwelling is capable of providing adequate heating, which ideally means controllable central heating and insulation, with equipment and the fabric of the building in good repair |
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Electricity and gas supplies, and the sanitation (drains, basins, sinks, baths and WCs) are in working order |
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There are no fall or trip hazards |
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Water heating equipment is in working order |
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The property is free from damp |
| Gas And Electrical Safety |
| Your landlord must ensure that:
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All gas appliances and installations are maintained in good order |
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That gas boliers get an annual safety check is carried out by someone who is registered with CORGI (Council for Registered Gas Installers). |
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keep a record of the safety checks, and issue it to you within 28 days of each annual check |
| The occupier is responsible for maintaining gas appliances which they own, or are entitled to take with them at the end of the letting. By law, your landlord must ensure that the electrical system and any electrical appliances supplied with the let such as cookers, kettles, toasters, washing machines and immersion heaters are safe to use. If your landlord supplies new appliances, he or she should also provide any accompanying instruction booklets.If the property is a considered to be a House in Multiple Ocupation (HMO) by your council which is subject to licensing, your landlord must also comply with license conditions in relation to fire safety.
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| By law, your landlord must:
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Make sure that all the gas appliances they provide are maintained in good order and that a Corgi-registered plumber carries out a safety check each year |
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Maintain all electrical installations (ie fixed wiring) and any electrical appliances they provide (ie cookers, kettles) and make sure they are safe to use |
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Make sure any furniture and furnishings they provide meet the fire resistance regulations |
| Your council's Environmental Health Officer will be able to give you more details about your landlord's obligations and can force your landlord to provide adequate fire precautions.
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| Tenancy Deposit Protection
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| What Are Tenancy Deposit Schemes?
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| The schemes allow tenants to get all or part of their deposit back when they are entitled to it and encourage tenants and landlords to make a clear agreement from the start on the condition of the property.
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| The schemes:
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Allow tenants to get all or part of their deposit back when they are entitled to it |
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Make any disputes easier to resolve |
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Encourage tenants and landlords to make a clear agreement from the start on the condition of the property |
| There are two types of tenancy deposit protection scheme available for landlords and letting agents. All schemes provide a free dispute resolution service.
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| Insurance-Based Schemes |
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| The tenant pays the deposit to the landlord .The landlord retains the deposit and pays a premium to the insurer - the key difference to the custodial scheme Within 14 days of receiving a deposit
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| The landlord or agent must give the tenant the details about how their deposit is protected including:
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The contact details of the tenancy deposit scheme selected |
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The landlord or agent's contact details |
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How to apply for the release of the deposit |
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Information explaining the purpose of the deposit |
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what to do if there is a dispute about the deposit |
| At The End Of The Tenancy:
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| If an agreement is reached about how the deposit should be divided, the landlord or agent returns all or some of the deposit if there is a dispute, the landlord must hand over the disputed amount to the scheme for safekeeping until the dispute is resolved if for any reason the landlord fails to comply, the insurance arrangements will ensure the return of the deposit to the tenant if they are entitled to it.
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| Custodial Schemes
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| The tenant pays the deposit to the landlord or agent the landlord or agent then pays the deposit into the scheme Within 14 days of receiving a deposit
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| The landlord or agent must give the tenant the details about how their deposit is protected including:
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The contact details of the tenancy deposit scheme selected |
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The landlord or agent's contact details |
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How to apply for the release of the deposit |
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Information explaining the purpose of the deposit |
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what to do if there is a dispute about the deposit |
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| At The End Of The Tenancy:
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| If an agreement is reached about how the deposit should be divided, the scheme will return the deposit, divided in the way agreed by both parties
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If there is a dispute, the scheme will hold the deposit until the dispute resolution service or courts decide what is fair |
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The interest accrued by deposits in the scheme will be used to pay for the running of the scheme and any surplus will be used to offer interest to the tenant, or landlord if the tenant isn't entitled to it. |
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