Property expert Suzanne Smith has become a best-selling author after her new book - The Good Landlord Handbook - topped the Amazon charts.

Solicitor and portfolio landlord Smith, who is also known for her blog, The Independent Landlord, wrote the guide to help landlords navigate the Renters’ Rights Act ahead of the upcoming reforms.

It’s rapidly proved popular, reaching the number one best seller position on Amazon in multiple categories including real estate, law for small businesses, and business development & entrepreneurship, just days after publication.

Kent-based Smith reckons its success is due to her unique perspective, using her experience as an in-house lawyer as well as a hands-on landlord who cleans the oven between tenancies. She’s already planned her next book – a deep dive on renters’ rights – which is due to come out next year.

“I’m very excited about it,” she tells LandlordZONE. “It’s had some incredible feedback from readers – I’m really chuffed.”

Tenancy

The guide covers the full tenancy journey, from marketing and tenant selection through to tenancy management and end of tenancy, with the Renters’ Rights Act integrated throughout. It includes extensive appendices on legislation, civil penalties and implementation timelines, along with more than 100 footnotes for readers who want to follow the detail.

The book is structured around the lifecycle of a tenancy, covering foundations, before the tenancy, during the tenancy and ending the tenancy – even down to how many keys you need to give a new tenant.

Mystery

“There’s a lot of mystery around being a landlord, while some agents say it’s too difficult for landlords to do by themselves. But with the right handbooks, landlords can learn what they need to do, whether or not they use agents." She adds: "There needs to be a mind shift. We’re in the service industry and need to put our customers – tenants – forefront of what we do.”

Smith believes her book should also prove a valuable resource for letting agents, mortgage brokers and local government officials working with landlords in the private rented sector, who want to understand the Act.

The paperback (£15.99) and ebook (£9.99) are both available from Amazon and The Independent Landlord.

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