Letting out a property is an increasingly popular trend in the UK at the moment, but you must be aware of the common property letting issues you will be sure to encounter along the way. Here at HAP Lettings, letting agents glasgow, located in the city centre, we want to be the agents of your choice when it comes to considering letting a property. Now is the time to do so with an 11.1% increase in property lettings in Glasgow over the last few years. We believe in building, developing and maintain long-term relationships with our clients. There are many pro’s and con’s to letting out a property, but most people will find that they come across the same old issues when the let out their property.
Finding A Tenant
Many factors will influence and affect your experience of being a landlord. It is not all about simply getting someone in to your property to start making a profit, it is best to be aware of the common issues. The main one being that you need to find a reliable tenant. Many landlords will come into play with tenants who regularly let them down and do not pay their rent on time.
This just causes heartache for you and so it is vitally important that you carry out all of the appropriate security checks and credit checks. Not only that, be sure to obtain references from previous landlords or employees – you need to be sure that your prospective tenant is in the position to pay the bills.
Awkward Tenants
Even if the security, credit and reference checks all come back clear and to your standard, you certainly will still come across a few characters. If your surrounding neighbours being to complain and are dissatisfied about your tenant as the are causing disturbances, be sure to follow it up and handle the behaviour accordingly. You want to make sure that your property is fully insured with suitable contents cover if the property you are letting comes furnished. If the tenant continues to disrupt your surrounding neighbours you can serve them with a notice and make them leave at the end of their fixed term.
You may come across tenants who refuse to let you in to the property for gas or quarterly inspections – explain to them that you are entitled under law to inspect the property and report the findings and that by not letting you in, they are breaking the terms of their tenancy agreements. It is normally a good idea to end the tenancy agreement at the end of the fixed term and get a more reliable tenant in to let your property.
Tenant Fails To Pay Rent
Even passing credit checks doesn’t guarantee that your tenant will pay their rent on time, or even at all. Rent arrears can be a big problem and so it is important you keep an eye on the incoming rent payments and make sure to contact your tenant as soon as the fall behind - It has been reported that over 90,000 tenants in England and Wales are in severe rent arrears, not to mention a small area of Scotland where more than 2,000 people are in rent arrears. So it is important that you do not get caught up in this and perform your checks to the best of your ability.
The only way to cover yourself for this is to take out an insurance policy that will cover you for the loss of a non-paying tenant, right up until they vacate your property. If a tenant breaks the terms of their tenancy agreement then you have every right to serve them with an eviction notice and re-let to a paying tenant as soon as possible.
Tenants Leave Belongings Behind
Technically any belongings that your tenant leaves behind are their property and you should normally seek to return these to them as quickly as possibly. Reason being, if you throw away any property that belongs to the vacated tenant that subsequently turns out to be of high value to them, you can become subject to a claim from the tenant for damages to their property.
Make sure to make reasonable attempts to contact them, use tracing agents and make every effort to return this property to them and you will not be held responsible if they were to contact you.
When Tenancy Ends
More than not, when a tenant is vacating your property, you will come across some sort of problems – whether they have left the property dirty, there is damage to the furniture or other household items. You are well within your rights to deduct the cost of repairs and replacements from the tenants deposit before you return it to them.
Finding A Tenant
Many factors will influence and affect your experience of being a landlord. It is not all about simply getting someone in to your property to start making a profit, it is best to be aware of the common issues. The main one being that you need to find a reliable tenant. Many landlords will come into play with tenants who regularly let them down and do not pay their rent on time.
This just causes heartache for you and so it is vitally important that you carry out all of the appropriate security checks and credit checks. Not only that, be sure to obtain references from previous landlords or employees – you need to be sure that your prospective tenant is in the position to pay the bills.
Awkward Tenants
Even if the security, credit and reference checks all come back clear and to your standard, you certainly will still come across a few characters. If your surrounding neighbours being to complain and are dissatisfied about your tenant as the are causing disturbances, be sure to follow it up and handle the behaviour accordingly. You want to make sure that your property is fully insured with suitable contents cover if the property you are letting comes furnished. If the tenant continues to disrupt your surrounding neighbours you can serve them with a notice and make them leave at the end of their fixed term.
You may come across tenants who refuse to let you in to the property for gas or quarterly inspections – explain to them that you are entitled under law to inspect the property and report the findings and that by not letting you in, they are breaking the terms of their tenancy agreements. It is normally a good idea to end the tenancy agreement at the end of the fixed term and get a more reliable tenant in to let your property.
Tenant Fails To Pay Rent
Even passing credit checks doesn’t guarantee that your tenant will pay their rent on time, or even at all. Rent arrears can be a big problem and so it is important you keep an eye on the incoming rent payments and make sure to contact your tenant as soon as the fall behind - It has been reported that over 90,000 tenants in England and Wales are in severe rent arrears, not to mention a small area of Scotland where more than 2,000 people are in rent arrears. So it is important that you do not get caught up in this and perform your checks to the best of your ability.
The only way to cover yourself for this is to take out an insurance policy that will cover you for the loss of a non-paying tenant, right up until they vacate your property. If a tenant breaks the terms of their tenancy agreement then you have every right to serve them with an eviction notice and re-let to a paying tenant as soon as possible.
Tenants Leave Belongings Behind
Technically any belongings that your tenant leaves behind are their property and you should normally seek to return these to them as quickly as possibly. Reason being, if you throw away any property that belongs to the vacated tenant that subsequently turns out to be of high value to them, you can become subject to a claim from the tenant for damages to their property.
Make sure to make reasonable attempts to contact them, use tracing agents and make every effort to return this property to them and you will not be held responsible if they were to contact you.
When Tenancy Ends
More than not, when a tenant is vacating your property, you will come across some sort of problems – whether they have left the property dirty, there is damage to the furniture or other household items. You are well within your rights to deduct the cost of repairs and replacements from the tenants deposit before you return it to them.