Advice regarding letting privately

[Tivoli]

Hello everyone, I am seeking some advice. In 2005 I moved abroad and let out my flat through a letting agent and all went very well indeed. I am now back in this country, I have wonderful tenants and am considering dispensing with the agent and letting directly to my very good tenants. Presumably I should draw up some form of contract between me and them? And presumably I can ask the letting agent to return to them their deposit and request one from my tenants as and when the agent is out of the picture. Can anyone offer me advice about the best and simplest course of action. All advice very gratefully received. Many thanks - Tivoli

[R0b]

Hello, as you have been a bit skinny on the details, I'm going to assume you have no knowledge or experience of manaing tenants and give you some pointers.

1. Have you checked the contractual position with the letting agents such as whether you have a right to terminate, what's the notice period, are there exit fees, other liabilities etc.

2. I don't think you'll need to draw up a contract with them because a contract already exists presumably but depends on what the current terms. You should inform the tenants that you are now managing the property yourself and moving forward all correspondence, issues then they contact you directly. This means giving them certain information to contact you such as telephone number, email address, correspondence address etc. Also think about if they have to call you out of hours like in the middle of the night if there's an issue with the property - are you going to be able to respond promptly?

3. Deposits need to be put into some kind of deposit scheme. Failure to do so means that your tenants could sue you for failing to do that and because its a strictly liability i.e. no defence, the court must award between 1 and 3 times the amount. If the letting agent has already deposited into a scheme, ask them to consider transferring the details over to you if that's possible.

4. The law has changed recently on fees and charges under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. You would be wise to familiarise yourself with it (click here).

5. You should also sit down and read other relevant guidance the Government has published: How to Let (click here), Land and Tenant Rights in Private Sector (click here) and HHSRS (click here).

6. Shelter (click here) is another great source of information and although it is aimed at tenants, it is nonetheless helpful in giving guidance on certain matters as well as an explanation of the applicable law.

Most importantly, I would very much suggest getting at least some initial legal advice on a tenancy agreement being drafted for you, as most firms will have a template already prepared. Also you can get a high level overview of what you need to be aware of and common problems encountered. Of course if you skimp on legal advice then you always run the risk of breaching your legal obligations.

[Tivoli]

Thank you so much for this! I shall follow all your links and get back to you should I have any further questions - really appreciated!