Landlords insurance information

How to Begin Letting Your Property
Being a Resident Landlord
Being a Non Resident landlord
Tenancy Agreements

• Starting Tenancies
• Ending Tenancies
• How to create an Assured Tenancy
• How to create an Excluded Tenancy
• How to create an unprotected Tenancy

Further Advice

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Complete an inventory

At the start of each new tenancy an accurate inventory (list) of the furniture and fillings in the property should be completed. This inventory should list each item of furniture provided and it should detail the condition of the furniture, fixtures and fittings (e.g. table - coffee mark in centre, carpets in all rooms - good condition, bedroom wallpaper - peeling under window etc.).

It is important to check that the property is secure before the tenant moves in. Check if the windows fit properly, the locks are adequate, the toilet flushes well, and no taps leak. This preventative work will hopefully eliminate complaints from the tenant when they move in.

This inventory should be agreed with the tenant and you should both sign and retain a copy. If a change is made to the inventory at a later stage you should both initial the change on each copy. This procedure prevents arguments at a later stage over damage or missing belongings.

Furniture

From 1st March 1993, The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) (amendment) Regulations 1993, requires all replacement or additional upholstered furniture to meet the fire resistant requirements of the 1988 regulations. Since 31st December 1996, all upholstered furniture in furnished accommodation must meet the fire resistant requirements of the 1988 regulations. For more information about furniture standards contact Trading Standards.

Gas Safety

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994 (as amended) places certain duties on landlords. Gas appliances must be maintained in good order and checked for safety by a Corgi registered engineer at least every 12 months

What repairs will you be responsible for?

1. The structure and exterior of the dwelling.
2. Wash hand basins, sinks and other sanitary installations in the dwelling.
3. Installation for heating water and space heating in the dwelling.

In general you will be responsible for disrepair which affects the health or comfort of your tenant. You cannot make the tenant responsible for carrying out your statutory repairing obligations. In shorter term lettings and in multi-tenanted properties the landlord usually has a lot more responsibility for maintaining a property. Reading Borough Council’s Environmental Health Officers can advise you on the standards required.

However, you can reflect the cost of carrying out repairs in the rent you charge, provided you follow the correct procedure for increasing the rent on any particular tenancy.

Responsibility for carrying out other repairs depends on what you and your tenant agree. Before you find a tenant decide on how much control you want over repairs and over decorations.

To enable you to carry out your repairing obligations, the tenant must allow you access at reasonable times, provided you give them at least 24 hours written notice.

Use a written agreement

A tenant does not have to be given a written tenancy agreement for a tenancy to exist. When you have chosen a tenant it is well worth having a proper written agreement drawn up which sets out the terms and conditions of the tenancy. This could help prevent any difficulties or disputes arising in the future about who is responsible for what.

If you use a standard agreement, read through each paragraph and agree it with the new tenant. If you decide not to use a paragraph or to change parts of it, make any alterations and both you and the tenant should sign next to the change. You should both retain these amended copies.

Included within this guide are some points to discuss with your tenant before they move in. It is written in a checklist format so you can copy it and use if for each new tenancy. If you choose not to use one of the standard tenancy forms available you could also use this guide to create your own tenancy agreement.

It is usually worth while spending some time before someone moves in making sure that a written agreement is completed and that the terms are clear to both landlord and tenant. Both should keep a signed copy for reference. This will often save a lot of time, and usually money, if problems develop at a later stage.

Will you be creating joint tenancies?

A joint tenancy is created where occupation of a room, flat or house is granted to two or more people who move in at the same time. The most common example of a joint tenancy is when a couple or family take up the tenancy and both names are included on the agreement. Sometimes a group of people (e.g. students) will be granted a joint tenancy of a property.

The effects of creating joint tenancies are:

• If one of the joint tenants leaves the other(s) are responsible for finding a replacement or for paying the whole rent and not just their initial share.
• Each tenant is jointly responsible for any damage that may occur.
• If a whole property is let to joint tenants (e.g. a group of students) you will not be able to enter any part of the property without prior notice.

Are there any special conditions you require?

Do you want to include any special conditions in the tenancy agreement, such as no sub-letting, no pets and so on? lf so, you will need to put them into the tenancy agreement.

It is important that the tenancy agreement reflects the true situation. Some agreements try to deny the rights of occupiers by giving false information about the nature of the tenancy (e.g. saying it is a B&B arrangement or a licence agreement when it is not) or placing too onerous restrictions on the occupier’s rights (e.g. saying that the landlord can enter the room whenever they want or that the tenant must leave when given a week’s notice).

The law says that tenants have some basic housing rights that landlords cannot avoid by simply getting an occupier to sign an agreement. These rights mostly concern the tenants’ rights to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the property and to the procedure required when you wish to end a tenancy and ask the occupier to leave. For example if a tenant is entitled in law to two month’s notice you can not get around this by getting the tenant to sign a clause saying they will accept less notice.

Provision of keys

In a multi-tenanted property (i.e. one where different people rent different rooms or flats in one house) you have the right to a key to the common parts (e.g. hallway, kitchen). You may enter the common parts without notice, as long as it is at a reasonable time and the visit does not disturb the tenants’ occupation of the property (e.g. no putting up shelves with loud banging at 10pm).

However you will NOT have an automatic right to have keys to an occupier’s own room and you should not enter the tenant’s own room without notice and without the tenant’s permission. You also have no automatic right to a copy of the key to a flat or property that has been let out to one household or to joint tenants.

A landlord has the right to enter a property, on proper written notice, to inspect the state of repair of the property. If you wish to inspect the property or visit the tenant, ensure that you notify the tenant beforehand and arrange a mutually convenient time. You should normally give at least 24 hours notice of your intention to visit.

Constant visits and interruptions are likely to cause a nuisance and can cause a break down in relationships between landlord and tenant. lt may also be seen as a breach of the tenants’ right to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the property so it is important to only visit when necessary and to give appropriate notice.

Provide information for your tenant

You must provide your tenant with your correct name and address. This is a legal requirement but it is also very important in case of emergencies. Sometimes a person will need to contact you quickly (fire, burst pipe etc.) and so it is important that you provide an address and also preferably a telephone number. If it is difficult to contact you (e.g. you are out of the country often) then as well as providing your own name and address you should provide a name of someone who can act in emergencies e.g. an agent, a plumber, etc. or a relative.

Explain how the tenancy can be ended

Ensure that both you and the tenant know how you may lawfully end the tenancy. The important thing to remember is that your tenant has a right to remain in the property until the court grants you possession (except for excluded tenancies) and that only a bailiff may finally evict someone from a property.

It is important that your tenant is also aware of the terms of termination as they are legally responsible for rent until the tenancy has been correctly ended.

Grounds for End of a Tenancy

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Mandatory grounds on which the court must order possession

(A prior notice ground means that you must have notified the tenant in writing, before the tenancy started, that you might seek possession on this ground.)

Ground 1: A prior notice ground. You used to live in the property as your only or main home. Or, so long as you or someone before you did not buy the property after the tenancy started, you or your wife require it to live in as your main home.

Ground 2: A prior notice ground. The property is subject to a mortgage which was granted before the tenancy started and the lender, usually a bank or building society, wants to sell it, normally to pay off mortgage arrears.

Ground 3: A prior notice ground. The tenancy is for a fixed term of not more than 12 months and at some time during the 12 months before the tenancy started, the property was let for a holiday.

Ground 4: A prior notice ground. The tenancy is for a fixed term of not more than 12 months and at some time during the 12 months before the tenancy started, the property was let to students by an educational establishment such as a university or college.

Ground 5: A prior notice ground. The property is held for use for a minister of religion and is now needed for that purpose.

Ground 6: You intend to substantially redevelop the property and cannot do so with the tenant there. This ground cannot be used where you, or someone before you, bought the property with an existing tenant, or where the work could be carried out without the tenant having to move. The tenant’s removal expenses will have to be paid.

Ground 7: The former tenant, who must have had a contractual periodic tenancy or statutory periodical tenancy, has died in the 12 months before possession proceedings started and there is no one living there who has a right to succeed to the tenancy.

Ground 8: The tenant owed at least 2 months’ rent if the tenancy is on a monthly basis or 8 weeks’ rent if it is on a weekly basis, both when you gave notice seeking possession and at the date of the court hearing.

Note: This ground was amended by the Housing Act 1996 and applies from 28 February 1997.

Discretionary grounds on which the court MAY order possession

Ground 9: Suitable alternative accommodation is available for the tenant, or will be when the court order takes effect. The tenant’s removal expenses will have to be paid.

Ground 10: The tenant was behind with his rent both when you served notice seeking possession and when you began court proceedings.

Ground 11: Even if the tenant was not behind with this rent when you started possession proceedings, he has been persistently late in paying his rent.

Ground 12: The tenant has broken one or more of the terms of the tenancy agreement, except the obligation to pay rent.

Ground 13: The condition of the property has got worse because of the behaviour of the tenant or any other person living there.

Ground 14: The tenant, or someone living in or visiting the property:

• has caused, or is likely to cause, a nuisance or annoyance to someone living in or visiting the locality; or
• has been convicted of using the property, or allowing it to be used, for immoral or illegal purposes, or an arrestable offence committed in the property or in the locality.

Note: This ground was amended by the Housing Act 1996 and applies from 28 February 1997.

Ground 15: The condition of the furniture in the property has got worse because it has been ill treated by the tenant or any other person living there.

Ground 16: The tenancy was granted because the tenant was employed by you or a former landlord, but he is no longer employed by you.

Ground 17: You were persuaded to grant the tenancy on the basis of a false statement knowingly or recklessly made by the tenant, or a person acting at the tenant’s instigation.

Note: This is a new ground added by the Housing Act 1996 and applied from 28 February 1997.

Notice Periods

You must serve notice seeking possession of the property on the tenant before you start court proceedings. You must give the following amount of notice:

• for grounds 3,4,8,10, 11, 12,13, 15 or 17- at least 2 weeks
• for grounds 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 16 - at least 2 months
• for ground 14 from 28 February 1997 you can start proceedings as soon as you have served notice.
• lf the tenancy is on a contractual periodic or statutory periodic basis, the notice period must end on the last day of a tenancy period.

Main Duties as a Landlord

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You are required to:

• Ensure gas fittings and flues are maintained in a safe condition;
• ensure an annual safety check is carried out on each gas appliance/flue. Before any new lease starts, you must make sure that these checks have been carried out within one year before the start of the lease date, unless the appliances in the property have been installed for less than 12 months, in which case they should be checked within 12 months of their installation date;
• have all installation, maintenance and safety Checks carried out by a CORGI-registered gas installer;
• keep a record of each safety check for two years;
• issue a copy of the safety check record to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check being completed, or to any new tenant before they move in (in certain cases there is an option to display the record).

The regulations specify the gas safety matters to be covered. You should not assume that an annual service inspection meets the safety test requirement, or that a safety check will be sufficient to provide effective maintenance. Ask the advice of a CORGI-Registered gas installer where necessary.

Which Gas Equipment is Covered?

The safety check and maintenance requirements generally apply to any gas appliance or flue installed in the ‘relevant premises’ except that:

• Appliances owned by the tenant are not covered
• Flues/chimneys solely connected to an appliance owned by the tenant are not covered;
• Any appliances and flues serving ‘relevant premises’ (such as central heating boilers not installed in tenants’ accommodation, but used to heat them) are covered.

The safety check does not apply to any gas appliance (such as gas fires provided for customers in non-residential areas of public houses) that are exclusively used in a part of premises occupied for non-residential purposes. Your duty to maintain and carry out safety checks applies to fixed as well as portable appliances, such as LPG cabinet heaters.

Can I Delegate Duties to a Tenant?

No, except that a contract may be drawn up between a landlord or tenant for an appliance or flue installed in a non-residential part of a premises, for example shops and public houses etc.

What Happens if I use a Managing Agent?

You need to ensure that the management contract clearly specifies who is responsible for making sure that maintenance and safety check obligations are met and record kept.

What if a Property is Sub-Let?

In these situations the ‘original’ landlord may retain duties which overlap with those acquired by the person who sub-lets. In such a situation, close co-operation and clear allocation of duties is essential to ensure that legal duties are fully met, and that the terms of the contract properly safeguard tenants’ safety.

What action is required to gain access to property?

The contract you draw up with the tenant should allow access for any maintenance or safety check work to be carried out.

You have to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to ensure this work is carried out, and this may involve giving written notice to a tenant requesting access, and explaining the reason. Keep a record of any action, in case a tenant refuses access and you have to demonstrate what steps have been taken. If a tenant continues to refuse access after repeated contacts, you may need to consider proper action through the courts under the terms of their tenants’ contracts, but not use force to gain entry into the property.

How do I know whether the gas installer is Corgi registered?

They should be able to provide you with a current CORGI registration certificate, or a CORGI ID card. This contains relevant details of the installer, including their CORGI registration number and the sort of work they are competent to carry out, but if you are in doubt you can always check by phoning CORGI on 01256 372300.

What if an appliance fails the safety check?

The safety check record will contain details of any defect identified and remedial action taken. You must ensure that any safety defect is rectified (by a CORGI-registered gas installer) before the equipment is used again. It is an offence to use, or allow the use, of a gas appliance you know to be unsafe. In no circumstances should you reconnect an appliance that you have been told is unsafe, which has either been isolated or disconnected for safety reasons, until the fault has been rectified.

What action do I take in the event of a gas escape?

If you smell gas, or suspect there is a gas escape, you should immediately shut off the gas supply and contact the Gas Emergency Freephone Number 0800 111 999.

If you provide liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for use by a tenant in premises other than a building, eg a caravan or holiday home park. You must discuss emergency arrangements with your LPG supplier and agree what action to take in case of a gas escape or emission of carbon monoxide from any LPG appliance.

What happens if I don't maintain my tenants' gas appliances?

Failure to do so may result in loss of life. Not only that, you risk being prosecuted, and this could result in you facing a maximum penalty of £5000 for each offence. If the case is then referred to the Crown Court the maximum penalty may be an unlimited fine and the possibility of imprisonment.

If you need further advice about any of the gas safety issues mentioned in this document, ring the HSE Gas Safety Advice Line - 0800 300 363

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