Becoming A Landlord: Your Responsibilities

Becoming a landlord comes with many rights and responsibilities that you may not have considered. It is your responsibility to ensure all these measures are carried out, understood, and followed in order to protect your property and keep your tenants satisfied with their living conditions.

As a landlord, a responsibility that you have will be organising insurance. The purpose of the insurance is to protect the property in terms of flooding and damage etc. However, if your tenant wishes to protect their personal belongings, they will have to cover their own insurance for these possessions.

If you make the decision, as a landlord, to supply furniture with the property, you will then take on the responsibility of paying for repairs and replacements. This is a factor to take into consideration as you must be reliable for your tenants to contact and prioritise the repairs to keep their living conditions up to a high standard. Landlords are responsible for things like roofing, drains, windows, sinks, baths, gas appliance, boilers etc.

Another large responsibility that you will take on as a landlord, is to ensure that the property is aligned with laws to keep the place safe. This could be fitting smoke alarms for fire safety, using an electrician for electrical safety and carry out risk assessments for asbestos. These safety measures must be fulfilled for a high standard of safe living.

You also must ensure that you are communicating with your tenant regarding rent. It should be made clear to them when rent is due, what method they can use to pay it and how much it is. In terms of increasing rent, this can be done for example, if your tenant decides to sign a new contract. However, as a landlord, you must give a minimum of one month’s notice if your tenant pays weekly or monthly. If they pay yearly, you must give 6 months’ notice.

However, some people may wish to take another approach to making a profit from property investment. This could be using a Property Investment Company. These companies will take care of the paperwork for you and can guarantee a monthly income. This can make the process easier and smoother until you are ready to take on the projects solely.