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Landlord Guide

There are several obligations and responsibilities on a landlord with regards to safety regulations. It is essential that landlord’s prepare their properties in accordance to the prescribed regulations to ensure that their tenants are provided with a safe environment to move in to. Failure to comply with the regulations is a criminal offence. We will help you understand compliance with fire and furnishings regulations and we can also arrange all the checks on your behalf.

The regulations to follow are,

  • The Gas Safety Regulations
  • The Fire and Furnishings Regulations 1988 and 1993
  • The Electrical Equipment Regulations 1994

Following charges will be applicable for the landlords (from the rental income),

  • Full management is 18%
  • Lettings only is 15%

To ensure that your property yields the maximum amount and attracts the right class of tenants, our management team and lettings department will be there to advise you and arrange if needed trusted contractors for small and large refurbishments projects. Wadyi Properties & Management Limited has access to suppliers who can deliver common household items to the property, saving you money and time.

It is always advisable for landlords to offer the property with the option of furnished, part furnished or unfurnished. A flexible landlord will attract more prospective tenants for example.

  • Tenants are often attracted to neutral and modern interior furnishing. Simple furnishings will give of the impression of more space.
  • Generally people staying for short lets prefer furnished apartments including household items.
  • Presentation is key so we can put you in touch with excellent cleaning services or carpet cleaners.
  • Clarity on pets, sometimes this is a deterrent but often filters out wrong tenants.

Tenants will always be responsible for any damages caused to your property and furniture, so as a prerequisite to renting your home we at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited aid you in doing an inventory on your home before allowing a tenant to move in. A returnable deposit is sent to a deposit scheme to be held until the end of the tenancy.

Part of our initial introductory service is to start with a full marketing campaign where your showcased property can be viewed with the use of several leading property portals and property search engines. One of our assigned staff members will then accompany potential applicants on guided tours around the flats. If there is a high volume of interest for the flat then ‘an open House’ viewing technique is then implied.

By staging an open house viewing of the flat, it is easier to find suitable tenants and aspires to give them all some urgency as they know other people are keen on renting the apartment. Once the most suitable applicant has been found we as a company then do strenuous credit checks to measure the affordability of the potential applicant which sometimes includes a rent guarantee or guarantor. An assured shorthold contract is then made which is a legal contract between the landlord and tenant containing terms and conditions of the stay such as the length and amount payable per month. Gone are the days whereby the landlord would hold the deposit so this payment is collected by us and forwarded to a registered tenant deposit scheme. So as you can see the process is very much straightforward and carefully overseen by our lettings manager here at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited. We strive for efficiency and excellent communication throughout the whole process so everybody is happy.

Right to Cancel

If you are a consumer client and this contract was not agreed within our branch you have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day this contract was agreed. To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by sending us a clear statement in writing to the above address or e mailing us at info@wadyiproperty.co.uk.

Deposits

For any landlord unaware, since the 2004 Housing act came into force it is mandatory for landlords to submit deposits into any one of 3 legal governed housing schemes when using an assured shorthold tenancy. It can be deposited in the,

  • TDS-Tenant deposit scheme – www.tenancydepositscheme.com
  • My deposits – www.mydeposits.co.uk
  • Deposit – custody scheme -www.depositprotection.com

As there has been a number of changes to the Housing act over the years, one of the main changes that may affect landlords who prefer to Buy to let, is the clarity of HMO. HMO is abbreviated for House in Multiple Occupation whereby more than two unrelated tenants are sharing a property.

In this situation a license is required by the landlord especially if the building is more than 3 stories and has up to 5 occupants. In many boroughs, local authorities may extend letting licenses to include HMO and ensure that landlords meet the basic standard of management for all their housed tenants. This has been upgraded as the New housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) which aids councils in identifying unacceptable living conditions.

Utilities

The tenants pay for the utilities such as gas, electricity, water, council tax and tv licence directly.

HHSRS – Housing Health and Safety Rating System

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System is a risk base evaluation tool to help local authorities identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health safety from any deficiencies identified in dwellings. It was introduced under the housing act 2004 and came into effect on 6 April 2006 and applies to all residential properties in England.

The HHSRS assesses 29 categories of housing hazards, each hazard has a weighting which will help determine whether the property is rated as having category 1 being serious such as a window with a small window sill which a child could open from the 1st floor resulting in injury or category 2 being other where something is less likely to cause serious injury or death.

Some of the other hazards which are assessed are mould, excessive heat or cold, asbestos, radiation, crowding, water supply just to name a few.
So as a landlord it’s always good to keep up to date with inspections of your properties and any action should be recorded giving priority to serious faults or hazards.

If at the end of the tenancy or 6 months after the beginning of the tenancy you wish to repossess the property, you can by giving 2 months notice under the Assured Short hold agreement, which despite its name does not have to be short.

If for any reason your property is not let after your tenants moved out, or you just wish to keep it empty, we can offer you a separate ‘caretaker’ service where we conduct weekly checks on your property and post, and update you wherever you are.

We at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited take legal matters seriously and therefore always advise landlords to read about taxation matters on HM Customs and Revenue website.

If you are a UK resident, you will be liable for standard rate tax under the Taxes Management Act 1970 Section 79. There are a number of worthwhile allowances to be considered by your accountant such insurance premiums, maintenance during tenancy and managing agent’s fees, mortgage interest. There is also depreciation /wear and tear allowance of 10% of the rental value if property was let out furnished.

Overseas landlords should always apply for an exemption certificate from the Inland Revenue, which would enable you to deal with your taxation matters personally, otherwise our lettings department must collect quarterly payments of 20% of the rent collected less expenses. At the end of the year we will send to you or your accountant a certificate showing the tax you already paid.

Non Resident Landlord Tax

The self assessment Non resident landlord tax was set up in 1996 making it compulsory for anyone with UK income to self assess and report any income payable for tax.

Most landlords who operate from abroad will have the options to exercise a NRU (Non resident landlord scheme) through the use of their tenants or lettings agents and this is a tax which is imposed on rental incomes gained by overseas landlords. However this is not necessary if the overseas landlords have applied to the HMRC to receive all rental income tax free but this is later to be deducted once the yearly tax return has been filled. We at Wadyi Properties & Management Limited can take care of all of these tax requirements should you not have the time to adhere to these issues.

Landlords who reside abroad and wish to receive non taxable income from tenants must fulfill a number of requirements.

  • Tax affairs must be up to date
  • They have never had any tax obligation before your application was submitted
  • They expect not to be liable to income tax

Once the Hm Revenue & customs have approved the application, the landlord will receive a confirmation letter with a reference number and we shall also be sent a letter with an approval number to pay rent gross of tax.

The usual amount payable to HMRC is usually worked out as rental income minus expenses.

Rental income is calculated as the total earnings or rent collected throughout the yearly tenancy of a tenant and expenses are usually things like electricity, gas, repairs, service charges and legal fees just to name a few.

If you are a basic tax payer, you will pay 20% rental income tax on profits and this is usually due by the end of January each year. Any deducted tax is sent to HM revenue and customs on a quarterly basis by us on dates ending 31 December, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December. As the tax year runs from 6th April to 5th April, all paper forms must be submitted by 31 October with electronic forms filled by 31 January and if there are any queries on the amount of tax you are paying, then contacting the landlords tax service should help clarify any problems.