With people renting for longer, landlords have shifted their priorities to focus on how they can turn their rental properties into comfortable, long-term homes for their tenants.
According to Statista, the number of households occupied by private renters in England has increased gradually since the year 2000, reaching 4.61m households in 2022.1 In response, the lettings industry has undergone a huge number of changes over the past two decades, most since the Housing Act came into force in October 2006.
There are now around 200 laws and regulations governing the private renting sector2, with more changes being introduced all the time to raise standards in the sector and make it safer and more secure for everyone involved.
As a landlord, you’ve got a huge pool of prospective tenants and the potential for a significant long-term investment. With this in mind, you’ve got to make sure you remain on top of legislation at all times and adhere to best practice, providing your tenants with a safe, high quality home.
At the same time, if you’re a new landlord, you might not be aware of just how much is involved in operating a buy-to-let property. To start as you mean to go on, check out our top 10 tips on how to be a better landlord:
1. Research your local area
To get the most out of your buy-to-let property, you’ve got to invest in the type of property in demand for renters. Speak to reputable local agents about where the shortages in demand lie, which tenants are most likely to give you the rentals and returns you’re looking for, and what tenants look for in a property. Once you have a clearer idea of the latter, you can then make sure you give them as much of their ‘wish list’ as possible.
2. Provide the best quality you can
While it may be tempting to cut corners and try to make savings when preparing your rental property, you’ll only get the best tenants paying the best rent if you have a great property to offer. That means:
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- Clean, modern finishes
- Attractive décor
- Coordinated furnishings
- Well-functioning utilities (e.g a high pressure shower)
- High speed, reliable WiFi connection
3. Know and understand your legal obligations
These days, keeping track of your legal responsibilities as a landlord is almost a full-time job in itself. In addition to all the health and safety requirements (which include carrying out a risk assessment on any potential hazards and ensuring you obtain the necessary gas and electrical safety certifications), there’s so much you have to consider, such as:
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- Complying with your local authority licensing rules
- Understand your obligations under the terms of the tenancy agreement
- Know when you can and cannot enter the property
- Understand the correct legal procedures for giving notice and evicting tenants
- Understand your obligations for carrying out maintenance and making necessary repairs
- Know about protecting your tenants’ deposits and the information you must legally provide them with
These are just some of the legal responsibilities you’ll have in your role as landlord, and it’s important that you keep abreast of all of the latest legislative changes regarding renting out a property to ensure you remain fully compliant.
4. Join a landlord association
National associations, such as the National Landlords Association (NLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), are there to keep you up-to-date with legislation and other industry news, help you understand best practice, and provide legal advice. If there is a local landlords association in your area, it’s a good idea to join that as well, as each local authority has its own particular planning, licensing and regulation policies in addition to national laws.
5. Consider using a managing agent
You might think you’ll save money by letting and managing your property yourself, but that often turns out to be a false economy. There’s so much involved in referencing tenants, from ensuring paperwork is correctly administered, knowing what health and safety checks need to be done and when, remaining legally compliant, handling maintenance requests properly, and dealing with tenants if they’re having issues.
By using an agent that is a member of ARLA, RICS, NALS or UKALA to let and manage your property, you can pass on some of the legal responsibility and have peace of mind knowing that it’s in the hands of professionals.
6. Make sure you and your property are properly insured
It’s essential to consider which landlord insurance is right for you. Insuring a buy-to-let property is different to insuring your own home, so you need a specialist policy that protects you against all the common property risks, as well as those that come with letting to tenants – such as malicious damage. Having the right insurance means both you and your tenants (if necessary) will be looked after if the property sustains damage.
7. Make sure you’re protected against problems with your agent
Before you engage a managing agent, check that they have both professional indemnity insurance and client money protection (CMP), so you’re covered if they are negligent, go bust, or misappropriate monies. Any agents who are members of ARLA will also have CMP, as will agents who are members of RICS, NALS or UKALA. However, the rest may not, so be sure you have financial protection and that the agent operates to a code of practice.
8. Forge a good relationship with your tenant
Even if you use a managing agent, you can make it clear to your tenant that you’re a professional, fair, and reasonable landlord. Be prepared to compromise on small things if it means attracting and/or keeping a good tenant. For example, as more tenants are looking for longer-term tenancies, it may be worth letting them repaint some rooms that are to their own personal taste.
9. Don’t be greedy!
Don’t make the mistake of hanging out for the highest possible rent. It often makes sense to accept a little less if it means letting quickly, rather than having a property standing empty for weeks while you wait for an extra £10-15 a month. When it comes to rent reviews, if you have a great tenant who looks after the property and pays on time, always try to increase rent in line with costs (i.e. inflation) if you can.
10. Keep the property looking good
It’s easy to let a rental property get tired, but remember that every time you have a change of tenancy, it’s a new home for the next tenant. Landlords across the board are stepping up their game, so you’ve got to keep your property looking fresh and attractive. Refresh paintwork and soft furnishings, and check fittings between tenancies to make sure everything’s in good order, investing in repairs and replacements as necessary. When you give a tenant a good home and show you care, you generally find they look after it in return.
For further guidance on becoming a landlord or for buy-to-let mortgage advice, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the team here at Mortgage Advice Bureau.
Important information
There is no guarantee that it will be possible to arrange continuous letting of the property, nor that rental income will be sufficient to meet the cost of the mortgage.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
There may be a fee for mortgage advice. The actual amount you pay will depend upon your circumstances. The fee is up to 1% but a typical fee is 0.3% of the amount borrowed.