How to Reduce the Risks of Tenant Problems

If you are a landlord in London, then it is completely understandable that you will want to have the best possible tenants for your property. To ensure that you find the best tenants in any area, you should know there are a number of pre-emptive steps that you need to take before they finally move into the property. Alongside, you need to consider some decisions that you can make during the tenancy to ensure the stay of tenants runs smoothly without any issues rising to disrupt their stay.

Whether you are a new or experienced landlord, here is an outline of how you can successfully reduce the risk of having problem tenants.

Tenant Referencing

Finding the best and most suitable tenants can be tricky, but rest assured that if you consult the right letting agents you can have a better idea about the history of prospective tenants.

Tenant referencing is an essential process you need to follow when you decide to let out your investment property. Having a clear picture of exactly who is moving into your new property will help you to make a worthwhile decision about the new people you choose and who better you can trust than the leading UK’s referencing provider.

Through tenant referencing, you can have an insight into tenants, the ones who are interested in your property and whether they will be able to pay the rent in future. It helps to give you more insight about credit history, employment status and background of the people planning to rent property from you.

By going through tenant referencing, this allows you to assess a number of potential tenants, check their background via experts such as Fish Need Water. Note that tenant referencing is a vital process when you are looking to let out your investment property. With thorough checks, you will be able to ensure that you accept the most appropriate tenants for your property.

Have a Written Tenancy Agreement

As you put your tenancy agreement into a written form, you will have a clear and update the record of the tenancy rules and the guidelines. Between you and your tenants, a formal contract is important to help set out the legal terms and conditions of the tenancy period. This can either be a fixed or periodic tenancy agreement.

The agreement clearly needs to show the responsibilities and rights for both you and your tenants, displaying clearly who is responsible for what duty around the property. It should include:

  • Names of the people involved
  • The amount of rent and how the payment should be done
  • When and how will the rent be reviewed
  • The full amount of deposit and how to protect it
  • The start and end of the tenancy
  • The conditions involved in subletting
  • Under what circumstances will the deposit be withheld
  • The full responsibilities of the landlord and tenant.

Once you have a well-written, dated and signed a tenancy agreement, you will legally protect you and your property. Your tenants will also have no doubt about their responsibilities yours while they live in the property. Hence, this reduces the risks of you expecting any problems from tenants in the future.

Inspect the Property Regularly

When you carry out regular inspections, as you should legally, you will be able to stop any problems with your tenants before they become serious. For example, inspecting the property quarterly will mean the unlikely chances of condensation to develop into the mould before you can tackle it. You can ask your tenants to follow simple things like opening the bathroom window for a short time each day. This could be enough to save you money and time later.

In addition, inspecting the property on a regular basis is a great way of discovering whether the tenants are treating your investment property in the right way or not. It is also a great way to build a successful rapport with the tenants living in your home.

Maintain a Good Relation with Tenants

By keeping in touch regularly with your tenants, you have a greater chance of the tenancy being a success. This way, your tenants will also be respectful towards you and your property. Interacting with them on a regular basis helps to build a good relationship, and means they contact you if any issue arises during the tenancy. This helps to get the issues resolved quickly before they become serious ones.

When talking about maintaining a good relation, this does not mean that you give them a detailed phone call or engage them in a conversation daily, but a quick text message once in a month is ideal just check in on them.

As you follow these simple tips, you can reduce the risks of problems with your tenants staying in your property. Doing the right preparation through referencing and having the right tenancy agreement will also help to attract the right tenants.

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