Top Tips for Landlords
As attractive as investing in a ‘student property’ may sound, student lets do have to be managed carefully and with a pragmatic, sensible approach in order to ensure both parties benefit from the arrangement.
Having dealt with student properties for over a decade, we’d like to think we know a thing or two about the needs of both landlords and tenants. Here are some hints and tips that landlords may not have considered;
Let with the experts – As there are no restrictions on who becomes a letting agent, there are some unscrupulous agents who may not have a landlord or tenant’s best interests at heart.
CPS Homes are members of a vast number of industry-recognised organisations, such as ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents), The Property Ombudsman and Landlord Accreditation Wales. These affiliations mean that the methods and procedures we have implemented over the years have been tried, tested and approved. Agents of such organisations must adhere to a strict code of conduct, as well as offer client money protection and redress schemes, which protect all parties if things go wrong.
Better Together - While many students find friends for life at university, there are can also be a fair number of fall-outs – whether that be before or after they move into the property. As a landlord, one simple measure to protect yourself from tenants moving out unexpectedly is to write a joint and several liability clause into any tenancy agreement.
Every tenancy CPS Homes sign is a joint, assured shorthold tenancy agreement, meaning that regardless of how the tenants choose to split their share of the rent individually, they all remain liable for the full amount of rent each month.
Parent Protection – As student tenants will not be in full-time employment and may not have rented a property previously, they can often prove difficult to vet in terms of their suitability for a tenancy. Requiring a parent or guardian to sign a guarantor form for each tenant acts as a welcome level of security. In short, they are agreeing to cover the rent should their son or daughter’s account ever fall into arrears and are also an additional party to pursue should the property be left in a state of disrepair that will cost over and beyond the amount of the deposit taken to rectify.
All of our prospective tenants, whether they’re a student or a professional, must pass our strict referencing criteria before they’re granted a tenancy and if anything untoward crops up as a result of our checks, we’ll be sure to run it past the landlord before anything is signed. The final decision, of course, lies with them.
Protect your property - Students don’t always have the best reputation as tenants, though in the majority of cases this is unfounded. That said, whether it’s a student let or a professional let, carrying out a comprehensive inventory at the beginning of the tenancy is vital in order to protect yourself – even more so since the introduction of deposit legislation in 2007. The inventory should list the fixtures and fittings within the property, as well as detailing their condition and that of the property itself. A well constructed inventory provides useful evidence to protect both the landlord and tenant in the event of a dispute.
We ensure that we carry out an accompanied check-in inspection with tenants at the beginning of their tenancy, which is when we agree the condition of the property upon move-in and sign off the pre-prepared inventory. It also serves as an opportunity for tenants to raise and report any niggling issues they may have encountered in the short time they’ve been in occupation.
Have your paperwork up-to-date and to hand - Student unions offer comprehensive advice on renting, so don’t be surprised if students ask to see a copy of their gas safety, electrical or fire safety certificates, or even a copy of the property’s EPC (Energy Performance Certificate). The latter is becoming ever more important as the rising cost of utility bills impacts student budgets.
If you aren’t in receipt of these certificates or you are but they aren’t up-to-date, you will not obtain be able to obtain a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) License for the property from the local authority. And seeing as pretty much every student property in Cardiff’s most popular student area, Cathays, requires one since Additional Licensing was brought in in July 2010, you will not be able to rent your property to a group of three students or more without one.
CPS Homes enjoy a close relationship with Cardiff County Council, as demonstrated by being the first agent in Cardiff to become accredited with the Landlord Accreditation Wales scheme. The scheme, run by the various Welsh local authorities, recognises good landlords and agents and helps them differentiate themselves from those who give the rental market a bad name.
