Landlord Tips

Landlord Tips for landlords needing to protect their investments. Having a detailed Inventory report supplied by Pinnacle Property Services will definitely help benefit you and protect your investment, as our professional inventory clerks will make sure that the detailed report includes all details of your rental property.

Many Landlords years ago used to withhold deposits because they were not governed by law. In 2007 the Tenancy Deposit Scheme came into law to protect mainly students and tenants from rogue landlords who were making ridiculous excuses when it came to, refunding deposits of which they were hardly returned.

There are now a few Tenancy Deposit Schemes in place to protect all tenants against the false or unrealistic landlord/agent claims, tenant rights have to be respected. Pinnacle Property Services will save you as a Landlord, hundreds if not thousands of pounds, in the event that a claim for damage or repairs to your property needs to be made. 

The proof of the property condition is in our detailed professional Inventory Services report, that our Professional Inventory Clerks provide.

Landlord Protection

Get a professional Inventory for any tenancy agreements you provide to protect your investment, as the courts and tenancy deposit schemes usually side with tenants rather than Landlords or Estate Agents who do not have a Professional Inventory to back up any claims of damage.

A House of Multiple Occupation can sometimes be more problematic when it comes to proving who broke what and when. The tenants are all liable collectively if the Landlord has a professional detailed inventory as proof of the original condition of the property. If a Landlord/Agent does the inventory with a tenant themselves and there is a dispute, then the tenant will always win as the Tenancy Adjudication Team will only accept the word of an impartial Inventory Specialist with a report containing detailed photographs.

Protect your property and comply with the law by, protecting any Tenant Deposits received within 14 days of collection from the tenant and register it straight away. If you protect their deposit and let our inventory clerks issue our professional inventory inspection report, then your tenant can view the deposit protection by visiting our deposits page and clicking on the relevant links.

The best Landlords Tips in regards to the tenancy is, make sure that your tenant’s deposit is protected, even if it were received before April 2007. For important guidance notes about this issue click here and understand what the implications could mean for you as a landlord if you fall foul of the law.

Gas Safety Certificates

Ensure that you have a valid Cp12 also known as a gas safety certificate to protect your tenants, this must be carried out every twelve months if you have any gas appliances in your property (Boiler, Cooker, Gas fire). A guide to landlords duties in respect of Gas safety and knowing your rights is available to download.

Always make sure that an experienced Gas Safe plumber attends to any gas-related works on your property, we are able to supply Gas Safe engineers in most areas but you can check the Gas Safe register yourself if you want to.

As a private landlord, you will be aware that most reputable estate agents will not rent out your property for you unless you have a valid Electrical safety Certificate or valid CP12 Gas Safety certificate if your property has gas.

Electrical Safety Certificates

Landlords have often forgotten to get valid Electrical safety certificates and do not realise that without one, an insurance claim for fire through electrical fault will invalidate your insurance. Private Landlords are required to have these carried out once every five years or after each tenancy has ended.

A good Landlord Tips are if you decide to evict your tenant, this will become a much harder process where you haven’t followed the letter of the law and protected the tenant’s deposit through the schemes available.

Landlord Immigration Issues

Recently the government initiated some hard-line proposals that will target Landlords in regards to tackling immigration in privately rented accommodation. The most frightening thing about this subject is that the ukba has spent around £2bn trying to track down illegal immigrants and now with that budget expanding, Landlords/Agents are being coerced through threats of fines to freely target foreign tenants to find out whether they are illegal or not.

The problem for all Landlords/Agents now is that from October 2014, they are required to police the system as if they are immigration staff members of the Uk Border Agency, which is unfair. This type of check could lead to Tenants of ethnic minorities or particular religious groups, complaining of being singled out which eventually will be classed as some type of racial profiling for housing.

The growing lapse in national security has caused this problem, as most taxpayers have argued for years about the immigration situation and the demand for action from all the national parties, has caused the government to force the hand of private Landlords and Estate Agents with this new law.

Landlords or Estate Agents will be expected to check Visa’s and Immigration status of particular tenants. The problem is that having a tenant who is illegal could land the landlord/agent themselves with a hefty fine, although it’s unlikely to lead to a criminal conviction.

Click on the Assured Shorthold Tenancy tips, which you should already know about if you are an experienced Landlord as this is provided from the government website.

Cheap deposit protection for Landlords is available.

HMRC have introduced additional legislation now whereby any rental income that is collected on behalf of a landlord, has to be declared to HMRC through an annual submission service.  This gives them clarification that landlords are declaring the correct income on their tax returns.  It is outlined in paragraph 18, schedule 23 of the Finance Act 2011.