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Landlord-tenant relationship

Be Accessible – Make sure your tenants can reach you by phone or by email if it is more convenient, in case they need you. Responding to requests promptly will help tenants feel heard and supported.

Give Advance Notice: As a property owner, you may feel like you should be able to visit regularly to make sure everything is in order. However, keep in mind that while it is your home, it is your tenants’ home and it is not sensible to enter the property without your permission for any reason. The law states that you must give the tenant reasonable notice (which is considered at least 24 hours) in case they need to see the property.

Be fair: items naturally break from wear and tear. If this happens, consider if the item was old and needed to be replaced anyway. If so, it may be your responsibility to replace the item, not the tenant. Likewise, it is important to inform the tenant of what breakages he will be responsible for in the lease, with costs if possible.

Property Maintenance – Make sure you do your duty to tenants by fixing problems as soon as they occur. Communication is important here. If your tenants feel they cannot come to you with a problem or a break, they may try to fix the problem themselves and make it worse, or leave a problem for a long time, which could make the problem worse.

The Importance of Proper Insurance: You don’t need to have specific homeowner’s insurance, but it’s definitely worth considering as there are a host of benefits. Some companies offer Legal Expense Coverage that gives you financial peace of mind in the event that a dispute with tenants leads to legal action, as well as covers any malicious damage or vandalism by tenants. It’s also worth looking for providers that offer optional rental guarantee coverage to protect you in the event your tenant fails to pay rent. This could also give you the peace of mind you need to hire a tenant who may seem less than ideal, financially speaking, in the first place.

EPC: Each property must be rented with an Energy Efficiency Certificate. EPCs also include a property size estimate, which can be helpful when comparing properties. As a homeowner, you should ideally want a property with a high rating or one that is easy to increase energy efficiency. If you have a good EPC rating (A to C) this should appeal to prospective tenants as it means lower heating bills. New construction must be rated A and the worst properties will be those without loft insulation, double glazing, or hollow walls.

You can organize your EPC by choosing an energy advisor from epcregister.com or your leasing agent should be able to do it for you. Property management companies, like insured properties, have included this in homeowner services. When purchasing, check that you can use the vendor’s EPC.