• Carluke
  • 01555 759777
  • [email protected]
  • Wishaw
  • 01698 373737
  • [email protected]

Menu

  • Home
  • Sales
    • Estate Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Sold Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuations
  • Letting
    • Letting Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Let Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuation
    • Your Deposit
  • Landlords
    • Landlord Services
    • Renting your property out
    • Property Valuation
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Home
  • Sales
    • Estate Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Sold Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuations
  • Letting
    • Letting Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Let Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuation
    • Your Deposit
  • Landlords
    • Landlord Services
    • Renting your property out
    • Property Valuation
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Sales
    • Estate Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Sold Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuations
  • Letting
    • Letting Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Let Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuation
    • Your Deposit
  • Landlords
    • Landlord Services
    • Renting your property out
    • Property Valuation
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Home
  • Sales
    • Estate Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Sold Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuations
  • Letting
    • Letting Agency Services
    • Property List
    • Recently Let Properties
    • Property Alerts
    • Property Valuation
    • Your Deposit
  • Landlords
    • Landlord Services
    • Renting your property out
    • Property Valuation
  • Finance
  • Legal
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us

Taking the stress out of letting your property

  • Home
  • Landlord Services
  • Renting your property out

Renting your property out

When you rent your home out, it is vital that you are aware of your legal rights and obligations.

You’ll need to register as a landlord. The maximum penalty for letting out a property when not a registered landlord is £50,000. A ban can also be imposed on being registered as a landlord in any council area for a period of up to five years.

Inform your mortgage lender you want to rent your property out. Some lenders have restrictions on who you can rent a property to. Renting your property out can also affect your insurance. You need to make certain your insurers understand you’ll be renting your out your property and provide adequate coverage.

If your property is going to be let to three or more unrelated tenants, then you’ll need to apply for an HMO (house in multiple occupancy) license. There are extra criteria you’ll need to meet if your property will be used in this way.

The private residential tenancy

Any tenancy that started on or after 1 December 2017 will be a private residential tenancy. This new tenancy replaced the assured and short assured tenancy and brought in changes and improvements to the private rented sector, including:

  • No more fixed terms – private residential tenancies are open ended, meaning you can’t ask the tenant to leave just because they have been in the property for 6 months as you can with a short assured tenancy.
  • Rent increases – the rent can only be increased once every 12 months and if the tenant thinks the proposed increase is unfair they can refer it to a rent officer.
  • Longer notice period – if the tenant has lived in a property for longer than 6 months you will have to give at least 84 days notice to leave (unless the tenant has broken a term in the tenancy).
  • Simpler notices – the notice to quit process will be scrapped and replaced by a simpler notice to leave process.
  • Model tenancy agreement – the Scottish Government have published a model private residential tenancy that can be used by landlords to set up a tenancy.

If your tenants moved in before 1 December 2017 then they will still have an assured tenancy or a short assured tenancy.

Getting the property ready

Your property must meet the repairing standard, which means it must meet a specific set of conditions, including:

  • the property is wind and watertight
  • the structure and exterior are in a reasonable condition
  • the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating are in a reasonable state of repair and working order
  • any fixtures, fittings or appliances provided by the landlord (like carpets, light fittings and household equipment) are in a reasonable state of repair and proper working order
  • any furnishings provided by the landlord can be used safely for the purpose they were designed
  • it’s fitted with suitable fire detection devices – at least one smoke alarm in the living room, one in every hall or landing and a heat alarm in every kitchen
  • it’s fitted with a carbon monoxide detector in any room with a carbon fuelled appliance (such as a heater or boiler, but not a cooker) or there is a flue from such an appliance

Electrical safety inspections have to carried out by a qualified electrician at least once every five years. Also, If you have any gas appliances, arrange for a safety check every 12 months, called an Annual Landlord Gas Safety Record. This should be done by a Gas Safe engineer.

You will have to get an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your property and must include the rating in any advertising.

Landlords also have to carry out a Legionella risk assessment of the property.

Advertising the property and references

You need to give the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating and include their registration number in all adverts.

Arrange viewings. If you are currently renting the property out, you have a responsibility to give your tenants at least 24 hours written notice of any visit to the property. Try to have viewings, where it’s possible, at a convenient time for your existing tenants.

Ask for references from a previous landlord, employer or friend. If these are satisfactory, arrange a moving in date with the tenant.

Dealing with tenancy paperwork and deposits

Give the tenants a copy of the tenancy agreement to read through, remember after 1 December 2017 all tenancies will be the new private residential tenancy, you can create a tenancy agreement by using the model tenancy agreement from the Scottish Government.

You also need to give your tenants the Annual Landlord Gas Safety Record certificate, Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and electrical safety certificates. Tell them how to report repairs and emergencies.

Arrange payment of rent and deposit. Ask them to put the property address as the ‘reference’ if they pay by bank transfer so it’s easy to keep track.

Put the deposit straight into one of the approved Tenancy Deposit Schemes. You have to give it to the scheme within 30 days of the tenancy starting. Tell the tenant which Tenancy Deposit Scheme their deposit is in.

Inform your council of your tenant’s details and moving in date. Let your tenant know the council have their details for council tax purposes. Let the tenants know what council tax band the property is so they can work out how much their bills will be.

At Independent Estates we can help you every step of the way.

Contact us today for more information

Rent your property with us

Whether you’re ready to rent, or are just curious and considering renting at a later date, contact us today. Get a free market apparaisal today

Click here

Estate Agency

  • Services
  • Property List
  • Property Alerts
  • Property Valuations
  • Recently Sold

Letting Agency

  • Services
  • Property List
  • Property Alerts
  • Property Valuations
  • Your Deposit

Financial Services

  • Mortgages
  • Insurance
  • First Time Buyers
  • Financial Advice
  • Finance Review

Independent Estates Copyright © 2023

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Unsubscribe

Independent Estates Copyright © 2023

Website by Rycramweb Ltd

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

This website also uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Cookie Policy

How do we use cookies?

• We use cookies to track your use of our website. This enables us to understand how you use the site and track any patterns with regards how you are using our website. This helps us to develop and improve our website as well as products and / or services in response to what you might need or want.

• Cookies are either:

– Session cookies: these are only stored on your computer during your web session and are automatically deleted when you close your browser – they usually store an anonymous session ID allowing you to browse a website without having to log in to each page but they do not collect any personal data from your computer; or

– Persistent cookies: a persistent cookie is stored as a file on your computer and it remains there when you close your web browser. The cookie can be read by the website that created it when you visit that website again. [We use persistent cookies for Google Analytics.]

• Cookies can also be categorised as follows:

– Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies are essential to enable you to use the website effectively, such as when buying a product and / or service, and therefore cannot be turned off. Without these cookies, the services available to you on our website cannot be provided. These cookies do not gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you have been on the internet.

– Performance cookies: These cookies enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. For example, they allow us to count visits, identify traffic sources and see which parts of the site are most popular.

– Functionality cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced features. For instance, we may be able to provide you with news or updates relevant to the services you use.

More information about our Cookie Policy.