A Guide to Property Management and the Responsibility of Landlords

Whether you have one property or ten, understanding property management is important to help you be effective, organised, and profitable. 

What’s more, you need to know what your legal responsibilities are as a landlord to ensure you comply with the relevant regulations.

Here we outline the property management aspects you need to know, your responsibilities as a landlord, the benefits of hiring a property manager and a new property home finder scheme that puts £1000 cash in your pocket. 

The Essentials of Property Management

Property management is the operation, control, and maintenance of investment properties. 

Simply put, it’s about taking care of the property to ensure you maximise your rental return.

Property management includes the following activities:

  • Ensuring the rent is at market price
  • Screening tenants to ensure they’re suitable
  • Collecting rent from tenants
  • Keeping tenant vacancy rates low
  • Consistent communication with tenants 
  • Providing maintenance and repairs 
  • Managing the budget 

Your Responsibilities as a Landlord

Before you buy an investment property, it’s essential that you understand your responsibilities as a landlord. Below are some of the key regulations you need to be aware of: 

  • Prepare the Tenancy Agreement and lodge the deposit in a government-approved deposit protection scheme
  • Verify the immigration status of all adults living in your property. You need to confirm that they can legally rent in the UK
  • Ensure your property has an Energy Performance Certificate
  • Undertake annual gas safety checks by a Gas Safe registered engineer
  • Fit and test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms
  • Ensure that the electrical wiring is safe and have this inspected every five years
  • Provide repairs in a reasonable timescale and with minimal disruption to your tenants
  • Additional requirements for House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) properties:
    • Ensure the property is not overcrowded
    • Ensure there are enough cooking and bathroom facilities for the number of people living in the property 
    • Provide communal areas and shared facilities that are clean, functional and in good condition
    • Provide sufficient rubbish bins
    • Ensure you have a current HMO licence from the council

Benefits of Hiring a Property Manager

When you hire a property manager, you need to check if the service is a full property management service, or simply a tenant find and rent collection service. 

The activities provided for a full property management service differ between different agencies so ask for specific details before you choose an agency.

The best property managers will care about getting you the best return on investment. They will take a proactive approach to help maintain and improve your investment property. And they will communicate in a timely manner.

Here is a list of the key roles that we provide our clients with our full property management service: 

  • Provide accurate rental appraisals based on the market
  • Advertise your property for rent with effective marketing
  • Open your rental property for viewings
  • Screen tenants including reference checks, rental history review, verify immigration status and confirm they can legally rent
  • Prepare and manage the tenancy agreement signing process, handle questions and lodge the deposit
  • Undertake rental collection 
  • Manage your financial accounts for the investment property and provide regular reports
  • Manage the condition report process
  • Inspect the property on a regular basis
  • Organise tradespeople for repairs and maintenance
  • Conduct emergency repairs
  • Conduct rent renewals and negotiate rent increases
  • Solve disputes with tenants
  • Provide regular communication to keep you informed

The Property Home Finder Scheme

As landlords ourselves, we want to help ease the housing crisis in London. Our goal is to supply suitable homes to local authorities within the London boroughs to help families in need.

That’s why we’re an authorised supplier of properties to local authorities in London, as well as members of the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme and members of the Property Redress Scheme.

We’ve created the REKA Property Home Finder Scheme to help landlords immediately let their properties to good tenants while providing quality accommodation for Local Housing. 

We give landlords the opportunity to rent their properties immediately, receive London housing rates, a two-year tenancy agreement with fully vetted quality tenants and a cash incentive up to £1000.

What’s more, the rent can be guaranteed (in some cases), so there’s no loss of cash flow if there’s a vacancy.

Benefits to Landlords:

  • Property let within one week
  • A solid two-year assured tenancy period
  • Fast-tracked housing benefit within days of inspecting your property
  • A cash incentive up to £1000 
  • Fully vetted quality tenants
  • Receive the housing benefit payment directly to you, the landlord, not to the tenants

At REKA Property Management, we give our clients the facts about the property industry and focus on getting the best return on your investment. 

If you want to know how to achieve solid rental returns and have peace of mind with your property, then call us on +44 (0) 203 286 6468 or email us at Admin@RekaProperty.co.uk

Doug 

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