Landlord Process


1Accurate valuation

The achievable rental value of your property is determined by many factors including location and number of bedrooms, local services and amenities, the cosmetic appearance and overall condition of the property. Home Connect LTD will advise you on a realistic rental value taking into all these factors into consideration together with the current state of the local market.

2Consider Property Management

Looking after a rented property is easy when you have responsible tenants and live locally. However, if anything does go wrong, from a boiler breaking down to a tenant losing their job it can get very stressful. There is a mountain of legal obligations, with seemingly more forms to complete every day. Let us take the strain and manage your property for you. We can ensure that you’re protected in every way and we’ll work hard to make sure you’re not out of pocket financially. We’re proud of our knowledge of the industry and will always act in your best interests at all times.

3Preparing your property for tenancy

Decide whether to let your property furnished or unfurnished. Furnished properties will give a better visual impression to the prospective tenants on how the property will look, making it more likely to rent quicker. If the quality of the furniture warrants it, you can charge a premium rental price than if it was unfurnished. However, the downside is that offering the property furnished will increase costs over time as wear and tear necessitate replacing the furniture.

We recommend that the landlord provides white goods as a minimum (washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer) if letting the property unfurnished.

Flexibility is key as this will broaden the appeal of the property to prospective tenants as individual requirements vary. Anything surplus to requirements should be removed and placed into storage if need be.

4Marketing your property

Home Connect Esates vigorously market all our available stock across a wide variety of mediums.

We subscribe to Rightmove, Zoopla and we display your properties on this website as well as within our shop window. We have many highly visible, strategically placed ‘To Let’ boards in the area. Your property will receive maximum exposure using a combination of these methods backed up by daily contact with pre-vetted potential tenants from our database. We aim to avoid void periods and to maximise the return on your investment.

5Receiving an offer

Once we receive an offer, we will relay that information to you, together with detailed information on the potential tenants. We check their situation, employment status, who is intending to move in, and how long they are looking to rent for. As the Landlord, you have the final say as to whether you wish to proceed and accept their offer. If not, viewings will continue until a suitable tenant is found.

6Offer agreed

At this point, we will ask for a holding deposit from the applicants and ask them to visit the office with their Right to Rent ID, which will be checked and copied. We will also commence the referencing process. During this time, viewings are suspended until all checks have been completed to everybody’s satisfaction. If the deal falls through at any point, we will re-commence viewings immediately.

7References checked

All tenants will undergo thorough background checks. We use an independent reputable referencing company to report on their suitability and credit-worthiness, including their payment history on any previous lending and any adverse credit, e.g. CCJ’s or bankruptcies.

Their identity is also verified as is their right to live and work in the UK – We cover the Right to Rent checks, including whether they are subject to any immigration control. If they have rented properties in the past, we will ask their Landlords to provide us with a reference. This information is provided by a variety of sources including credit reference agencies like Experian or Equifax and is compiled into a report which gives a final credit score, and whether they have passed or failed. From that, we can paint a very good picture of their suitability as a tenant for your property.

8Move-In Monies taken and the agreement signed

Once all referencing is completed and deemed satisfactory, we then ask the tenants to pay their first month's rent and security deposit.

Upon receipt of cleared funds, we will arrange for the tenancy agreement to be drawn up and signed by all parties. All deposits are protected in a Government approved deposit scheme.

9Move-In Date

If an inventory was taken, the Clerk would meet the tenants at the property to conduct the check-in process. The meter readings will be taken; the keys will be photographed and then handed to the Tenant. If the property is managed, we will also retain a set of keys at our offices. Within seven days, the inventory will be sent to the Tenant for them to agree and sign, with any amendments highlighted within 14 days or the inventory will be locked down.

Fees

Refundable Holding deposit

Capped at 1 weeks rent

Security Deposit

Capped at 5 weeks rent for annual rental under £50,000, or 6 weeks rent for annual rental over £50,000

Rent

The agreed monthly rent

Changes to tenancy

Capped at £50 inc VAT

Early termination charge

Not exceeding the landlord’s financial losses

Late payment of rent

Interest of 3% above BoE base rate for each day the rent is late, once it is 14 days overdue

Replacement keys

Reasonable costs or give the tenant the option to purchase themselves

Utilities, council tax, communication services, TV Licence etc

Tenants own responsibility unless otherwise stated in the contract

Client Money Protection Scheme Membership details

CMP009486

Property Redress Scheme Membership details

TPOS - D9386