Newbie needs advice on renting his property

[Jimbo2000]

Hello

Looking to rent my 2 bed maisonette and go travelling for 1 year and need some advice on the following questions:

1. Legally what certificates/testing do I need - gas & electric ?

2.A friend of mine was talking about giving it to the council for year and you get a guaranteed in plus a signing on fee. Has anyone had any experinece with this would be interested t hear from you good or bad.

3.As my property is leasehold do I need to inform them I am renting? The reason I ask this is because the company that owns the leasehold is a company called Pier Management and they charge for absolultely everthing. I recently split up with girlfriend and had to buy her out and when the solictor contacted them for info on the lease they charged me about £70 thenif I wanted it posted out with in the next 5 days I had to pay another £50 !!

I am scared that if I tell them that i will be renting the property that I will be stung with huge fee so it would be good to know if I legally have to tell them.

3. As I will be not around to manage the property I was going to take out British Gas home care cover for the plumbing and electrics and some form of insurance for the fridge freezer oven and hob. Has anyone had any experience with this good or bad would like to hear from you.

Also any other advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks

Jim

[Ericthelobster]

Originally Posted by Jimbo2000

1. Legally what certificates/testing do I need - gas & electric ?

A landlord's gas certificate is an absolute legal must - look at the CORGI website for info on this. You don't have to have any electrical testing done, but if anything were to 'happen' to a tenant as a result of any iffy electrics you'd be held criminally responsible - therefore testing would be very prudent to say the least.

2.A friend of mine was talking about giving it to the council for year and you get a guaranteed in plus a signing on fee.

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole, especially if presumably this is your home which you want back to live in. I'll probably get shouted down for daring to say this, but frankly you have a much higher risk of getting your house trashed. Bear in mind that the council are likely to have a legal obligation to house even the very worst members of society, who would never pass muster if they came to you or an agent direct - do you really want to give the council carte blanche to put them in your home? Why do you think they pay a premium?

As I will be not around to manage the property I was going to take out British Gas home care cover for the plumbing and electrics and some form of insurance for the fridge freezer oven and hob. Has anyone had any experience with this good or bad would like to hear from you.

I think you'd be far better off spending the money on using a good agent to let and manage the property. As you're both (a) a newbie and (b) not even going to be around, I really think you'd be nuts to try and manage this yourself. (In my opinion either (a) or (b) on their own would be good enough reason to use an agent - but both together??!!)

[Jimbo2000]

Thanks for the advice...

[Poolboy]

hi, I was tempted by the council offer too but then thought about it. It´s just not fair on the neighbours & it will at some stage be our home again.

Also, local universities & colleges have similar schemes so you could try those. In my case their offer was c 50% of the market rent but guaranteed for 3 years, not bad if I wanted such a guarantee but my flat is in a good letting position anyway. Ironically the tenant is a student & he´s been there 3 years.

Good luck & read through the posts here, they are invaluable & unusually for free advice, true!

[samantha1609]

Jimbo - with regards to the British Gas cover - personally and professionally I've found it to be pretty useless. Their version of service and mine greatly differs!!

[Jimbo2000]

Thanks for the replies.

Just another quick question what type of insurance do I need ? As it is leasehold in a block of 4 maisonettes the building insurance will be through the leaseholder but is there anyother insurance a landlord should take out?

[jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Jimbo2000

Thanks for the replies.

Just another quick question what type of insurance do I need ? As it is leasehold in a block of 4 maisonettes the building insurance will be through the leaseholder but is there anyother insurance a landlord should take out?

A flat should NOT be insured by individual leaseholder. There should be a single policy for the entire block, procured in name of freehold reversioner for benefit of all leaseholders (and their respective mortgagees).