Landlord Rights

If you are considering becoming a landlord for the first time or have experienced bad tenants in the past and are wary of taking on new tenants, research your landlord rights before making your next let. Once you have an understanding of your legal position you can either lease your property through a letting agent or thoroughly check that your tenants have excellent and reliable references before you take them on.

As a private landlord, securing references with new tenants means you are better able to implement your landlord rights further down the line should you need to. Using a letting agent means your tenant will have to provide a guarantor or proof of income in order to qualify for residency.

Literature regarding the rights of tenants is freely available and with the law favouring the rights of tenants over landlords’ rights as a general rule, it can be a confusing business establishing what are your basic landlord rights especially when faced with a difficult situation. Rest assured, you do have fundamental rights no matter what agreement you have with your tenant, for example, the landlord's right to enter the property with appropriate notice.

When problems occur where a tenant does not comply with some or all the terms of the Agreement, landlord rights sometimes become a bit of a grey area. However, in general, when you're owed rent arrears or believe your property is not being looked after by problem tenants, for example, you should serve a notice in accordance with the Tenancy Agreement as soon as possible.

Landlord advice

The commonly accepted definition of a landlord is the owner or lessor of a real property. If you are about to enter into a situation whereby this becomes applicable to you it's important to seek the appropriate legal landlord advice before doing so. In order to understand your legal rights as a landlord you will need to ask an expert in landlord advice before the start date of any Tenancy Agreement.

A landlord has many responsibilities to uphold as far as a legally binding Tenancy Agreement is concerned. For example, it is a landlord's responsibility to make repairs to the structure or exterior of a property. It is also your responsibility to make sure the equipment for the supply of water, gas and electricity is safe to supply the property making it habitable.

If however your property deteriorates as a result of tenant neglect you should seek appropriate landlord advice in order to secure the property’s upkeep. There are plenty of online forums and intervention services that are able to offer correct landlord advice should your tenancy run into these problems.

The most invaluable piece of landlord advice is to stay on top of your paperwork regarding any tenant. Secure a reliable reference and a deposit from a tenant before starting a Tenancy Agreement and in the event of a problem you will be better placed to start legal proceedings. If you are looking to recover rent arrears or repossess your property after the start of any Tenancy Agreement it is essential you seek professional landlord advice before you proceed otherwise you may have your notice thrown out of court.

Rent Arrears

Limiting potential loss is the key to avoiding rent arrears and with this in mind it is essential to keep on top of the monies paid to you by any tenant so you can see what is owed. This will put you in a better position to challenge any late payments. Resolving outstanding rent arrears is a complicated business and in order to avoid the problem escalating to an eviction order, you should act early when payments are missed.

After the first 7 days worth of rent arrears you should write to your tenant and ask why he is not paying. Keeping the lines of communication open in the event of rent arrears is an essential way to recoup your losses. In the event of these breaking down recovery can become an increasingly difficult issue to resolve that can result in expensive court proceedings – far better to communicate early and save unnecessary conflict.

As the owner of any property, you are legally entitled to serve the appropriate order after one month and a day's worth of rent arrears. It is important however to get advice before doing so as, for example, a Section 8 notice served outside of the legal requirements set out by your Tenancy Agreement can be thrown out of court, making it harder to recover the rent arrears owed. Landlords should also recognise that it is a criminal offence to try to evict a tenant without court action.