FAQ Category: Landlord

We offer three service options Full Management Service, Tenant Find Service and our Rent Collection Service. Click here for a full breakdown of our services and what we offer.

Many landlords believe that letting and managing a property is a simple task. However, they are rarely aware that there is now about 160 different pieces of legislation and regulations that have to be adhered to when letting a property. Understandably many landlords choose to go with a tenant find option to save costs but rarely account for the amount of time it takes to manage a property and ignorance of the law can be very very expensive.

If your property is managed by a Fair-Way Properties, we will arrange with your tenant to carry out periodic inspections during the tenancy as required. The inspection is to check your property is being looked after properly, to raise and report any potential maintenance issues. Appropriate notice to the tenant must always be given before attending. The cost of the property inspections are included in your management fee.

The holding of deposits changed in April 2007 as new legislation means that all deposits received from the tenant by law must be registered with a government run deposit protection scheme within 30 days of receiving the deposit.
Fair-Way Properties are members of the Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) which is a government backed scheme. The deposit will be protected throughout the length of the tenancy and re-paid at the end to the tenancy to the appropriate parties, as long as the deposit is not in dispute. Any dispute at the end of the tenancy is supported by an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution service.

An inventory is a document that describes the condition of the property and the condition of anything left behind by the you this will be supported by several hundred photos. The inventory will be carried out before the tenants move in to the property and will be signed by all tenants at the start of the tenancy to agree that the inventory is correct, this will help with any disputes at the end of the tenancy if necessary.

It is your tenant’s responsibility to get their own TV licence, unless you provide a Television in the property when it becomes your responsibility to provide a TV licence.

Your tenants are responsible to pay all the utility bills and council tax for the duration of the tenancy, unless you rent your property out with these included. In the case were the property is vacant responsibility for the council tax and utility bills falls back on to the landlord.

The Right to Rent scheme now requires Landlords to check all tenants or lodgers aged 18 and over have the right to rent a property in the country, even if they are not named on the Tenancy Agreement. Failure to comply to the new scheme can result in a £3,000 penalty per tenant.

From October 2015 it is now a legal requirement for Landlords to install smoke alarms on every floor in a rented residential property. Landlords are also legally required to install carbon monoxide alarms in every room with a solid fuel source or a gas applicance such as a boiler, gas fire or gas hob.

Since the 1st April 2021 it is a legal requirement for all privately rented properties to hold a valid Electrical Safety Certificate (EICR). Any C1 or C2 remedial works identified must be completed.