As Landlords ourselves and with many years’ experience, we know that every Landlord is unique and as such, their needs may differ. 

We tailor our approach, depending on your experience – maybe you are a seasoned investor just looking to find a new Tenant? Are you expanding your property portfolio and looking to become more hands off? Are you a first time buy-to-let investor looking for advice and guidance throughout the whole process? Are you an accidental landlord? Do you have a change in your personal circumstances which perhaps requires a relocation? The list goes on…..Whatever your situation, we are here to help!

Our advice is always honest and clear and our aim is to build a trusted relationship with you so that, for every property decision you make, we’ll be the first people you call!

The details below will hopefully give you an idea of what’s required from you as a Landlord and just a small part of the  process we adopt in helping you find the perfect Tenant for your property and similarly, their perfect home!

The Process 

Appraisal…

Our visit will enable us to listen to your specific thoughts and requirements and match these with the range of services we offer and most importantly present you with an honest and professional rental valuation of your property in the current market.

We will also provide advice on; your responsibilities as the property owner, how best to present your property for a successful let and the marketing of it, on negotiating between you and your applicant to achieve the right tenancy terms and subsequently creating a robust tenancy agreement to suit all parties. We will also advise you on any works that may be required, be it for cosmetic reasons or legislative requirements, including health and safety and relevant consents and conditions for letting your property

Consent to Let…

If you are thinking of letting your flat or a property where you have a superior Landlord, then you will need to seek their permission to let. Insurance companies, Mortgage lenders and even co-owners will also need to be contacted for permission to let. Without the necessary consents you risk having your head lease forfeited, your insurance cancelled and your mortgage lender demanding an immediate return of the full loan amount.

Overseas Landlords and Income Tax… 

The scheme requires UK letting agents to deduct basic rate tax from any rent they collect for non-resident Landlords. Non-resident landlords can apply at any time for approval to receive rent with no tax deducted.

If your intention is to reside abroad then we can offer the following services:

• Guide you through the process of registering with the HMRC Non-Resident Landlord Scheme.
• Arrange for annual rental accounts to be prepared by a local firm of chartered accountants and be submitted to the Inland Revenue at the end of each tax year. Details available on request.

Lets with Pets…

Establish whether you are comfortable renting to a tenant who owns a pet. Allowing pets will no doubt make a property more desirable to potential Tenants and achieve more enquiries/viewings along with encouraging tenants to rent for longer. However, even the best-behaved pets may have an impact on a property over time and you will need to consider this into the wear and tear of the property.

Furniture and Furnishings… 

Prepare your property – If you are offering your property as a furnished home, think carefully about what you can provide. Remove anything valuable or sentimental – aside from the fact they’re at risk of damage, it can be off-putting to rent a property that is filled with someone else’s belongings. All soft furniture and furnishings must meet appropriate fire regulations. Most modern furniture will meet the required standard and include appropriate labelling but older or imported furniture may not. The standard of safety and furniture labelling is required prior to supplying the tenant with the furniture.

Discrimination…

Landlords may be selective in respect of their Tenants, but they cannot discriminate unlawfully. Such discrimination is a breach of the Equality Act 2010 and can include refusal to let to people of a particular sex, religion, sexual preference, age, race, colour, marital status, pregnancy and disability.

Disabled Tenants can ask for non-structural reasonable adjustments, such as handles along the stairs and it would amount to discrimination if the landlord refused the tenant because they asked for the adjustments.

In some cases it may be considered discrimination under the Act to stipulate that a Landlord will not consider an Applicant/Tenant who is in receipt of benefits i.e Universal Credit (UC), Local Housing Allowance (LHA), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Pre-Marketing… 

Once you have instructed Meliora Property Management, we will require you to complete our Terms of Business and Property Information Questionnaire, along with ID for all property owners.

Once we have this… we can get to work..!

Marketing…

Once we have received the completed Terms of Business and Property Information Questionnaire we will arrange to visit the property to prepare accurate marketing details, take photographs and measurements.

The photographs are the first part of the marketing that a potential tenant will look at therefore it is important the property is ready with any works completed and the property clean and tidy, internally and externally.

We want your property to look its best and therefore we do not rush this process. We take our time taking many photographs so we can pick the best. We will spend time on the photographs to ensure they are bright and clear, not dull and uninteresting.

First impressions count!

When the marketing details and photographs are ready, we will market your property on various portals including RIGHTMOVE. We also post your properties on our social media channels.

Viewings…

While the property is being marketed you will be notified of all viewings booked and we will provide you with feedback from enquiries and viewings.

Arguably the most important factor when letting the property is the prospective tenant. The whole success of letting, depends on finding the right Tenant. All people wishing to book a viewing are asked a variety of questions via a pre-application form to ensure they are a suitable fit for the property and will meet the referencing criteria. This avoids wasting their time viewing the property and going through the application process, only for referencing to fail and this also helps in reducing the void period.

Referencing…

The references aim to check that each tenant is creditworthy by for example, checking for CCJ’s and arrears and obtaining employer and landlord references. Once references have been received, we will contact you to confirm the results of this and advise of our recommendations for selection – it’s ultimately your decision!

We will also check all applicants’ Right to Rent status and any other legislative requirements.

Inventory…

Once a move-in date has been agreed we will arrange for the Inventory & Schedule of condition to be carried out and Legionella Risk Assessment (where required) 

Tenancy Sign-up and Move-in… 

Once dates have been agreed for the move-in, we will prepare the draft tenancy agreement and mandatory paperwork, which will be forwarded to you first for your approval, before sending onto the tenants for their perusal. We will also request the payment for the first months’ rent and tenancy deposit (where required) to be paid on the tenancy start date.

After the Tenants have signed all the paperwork, we will process any funds due to you via our payment system, into your nominated account along with an electronic copy of the statement of account. We will also provide you with an electronic copy of the tenancy paperwork if you require one.

We will notify the utility providers where we are able, of the commencement of the tenancy and provide them with meter readings etc.

The Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme… 

Under the provisions of the Housing Act 2004 every Landlord or Letting Agent that takes a deposit for an Assured Short-hold Tenancy in England and Wales must join a Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The new regulations came into effect from April 6, 2007. The purpose of this regulation is to ensure good practice. The secondary purpose of the new regulations is to try and keep disputes between landlords and tenants out of the courts by encouraging Alternative Dispute Resolution.

In 2006 three companies were awarded contracts by The Government to run Tenancy Deposit Schemes:

Custodial scheme

• The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS)
• The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)

Insurance backed schemes

• Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd (TDSL) (now trading as My Deposits)
• The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS)
• The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS)

Here at Meliora, we use The DPS

Important Safety & Legal Requirements

Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs)… 

All new tenancies require an Energy Performance Certificate. Their purpose is to determine how energy efficient homes are on a scale of A-G. The most efficient homes – which should have the lowest fuel bills – are in band A. The certificate uses the same scale to define the impact a home has on the environment. Better-rated homes should have less impact through carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The certificate includes recommendations on ways to improve the home’s energy efficiency to save money and help the environment.

Any properties with a rating of F or G are no longer permitted to be rented until improvements are made to increase the rating to E or above. A property cannot be marketed without an EPC.

Gas Safety… 

Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 & 2018. It is compulsory throughout England for landlords to have gas appliances checked annually. These checks must be carried out by Gas Safe approved engineers and a copy of the certificate must be given to the Tenant within 28 days of the check being carried out.

A gas safety check must be carried out and be satisfactory before a tenancy can commence.

Electrical Safety… 

The Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. It is now compulsory in England for landlords to have every fixed electrical installation at the property inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person. This is called an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR. Where the most recent EICR requires an inspection and testing to be at intervals of less than five years, it must be at the intervals as specified in that report.

A valid satisfactory EICR must be in place before a tenancy can commence.

Smoke Alarms & Carbon Monoxide… 

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015. Private sector Landlords are legally required to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room where there is a burning appliance, including rooms where there are for example; coal fires, log burners, AGA’s, gas hobs, gas fires and boilers.

Landlords must ensure that all the alarms are tested and in working order at the start of each new tenancy.

All properties built since June 1992 must have interlinked mains-connected smoke detectors/alarms on each floor of the property.

Legionella… 

The Landlord is responsible for ensuring that the property is compliant with Health and Safety Executive form ACOP L8 ‘The Control of Legionella Bacteria in Water Systems’ at the start of and throughout a tenancy. This is done by properly undertaking a legionella risk assessment and, if necessary, making any required changes to the water system.

Fire Safety… 

Properties should be fire safe and should include an adequate means of escape in case of fire. Landlords should carry out fire risk assessments and should provide tenants with written instructions on how to operate any fire safety equipment (where provided).

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989, 1993 and 2010) sets minimum fire resistance standards for domestic upholstered furniture, furnishings and other products containing upholstery that remain in a dwelling during the course of a tenancy.

These include any of the following which contain upholstery:

• furniture intended for private use in a dwelling, including children’s furniture
• beds, head-boards of beds, mattresses (of any size)
• sofa-beds, futons and other convertibles
• nursery furniture, garden furniture suitable for use in a dwelling
• scatter cushions, pillows, seat pads and loose and stretch covers for furniture 

The Regulations do not apply to:

• furniture made before 1950
• sleeping bags
• bed-clothes (including duvets)
• loose covers for mattresses
• pillowcases
• curtains
• carpets

For items that do apply, a suitable label must be attached to the furniture in a prominent position so that the label will be clearly visible to a tenant of the furniture and the wording on both sides can be read with reasonable ease.

Property Standards… 

1. The Deregulation Act 2015 placed more pressure on property standards. If a Landlord is served with a notice under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) which requires the property to be improved or allows the local authority to do work itself then the Landlord will not be able to serve notice under a section 21 for the next six months. In addition, if a Tenant complains to a Landlord in writing about the condition of the property and then complains to the local authority who take enforcement action under the HHSRS then any section 21 notice served on the Tenant between their initial complaint to the landlord and the enforcement activity will be invalid.
2. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 has also placed even more pressure on property standards. This replaces section 8 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985), in England, with the purpose of improving living standards in the private and social rented sectors and is a very complex Act. Under the Homes Act 2018, Landlords must ensure properties, including common parts where they have an estate or interest, are fit for human habitation at the beginning and throughout the duration of the tenancy.

Tenants will now be able to take direct legal action if their Landlord does not comply with the Act whereas previously a Tenant had to rely solely on the action of the local authority. Property checks will no longer be needed by a local-authority enforcement officers before being taken to Court by a tenant. The ‘hazards’ used in the Homes Act, are the 29 listed in the HHSRS. It is recommended that the hazards identified in the HHSRS are checked and recorded prior to the commencement of a tenancy. Where a Tenant seeks redress under this Act through the Courts, this does not exempt the Landlord from local authority enforcement.

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PROPERTYMARK

Propertymark is the letting Industry’s leading regulatory body and members must comply with a strict code of practice and byelaws for professional standards and best practices.

As a proud member of Propertymark, we can be trusted to be transparent, honest and helpful. We are always kept up to date with the latest legislative changes and lettings industry knowledge, so you can be assured that our professional service and standards, are provided by a qualified expert with over 30 years’ of knowledge and experience to share with you! Find out more.

We are a registered member of the Propertymark Client Money Protection Scheme. This is a client money protection scheme to ensure your money is handled in the correct manner.

Download a copy of our Propertymark Client Money Protection Certificate.

You can read more about the Client Money Protection Scheme here.

We are a registered member of the Property Redress Scheme (PRS)

You can rest assured –  you are in completely safe and trusted hands!

MELIORA – Always Better!