The achievable rental value of your property is determined by many factors, including location, number of bedrooms, local services and amenities, the cosmetic appearance and overall condition of the property. Dale & Collins will advise you on a realistic rental value, taking into all these factors into consideration together with the current state of the local market.
The rental market is no longer a cheap option for Tenants. Rents have increased significantly since 2022 and whilst this is great news for investors, it’s all the more important that we source tenants that prove to be reliable, respectful and consideration of your property. Evicting a tenant is a stressful and expensive process – getting a good tenant is often easier to guarantee from the very beginning, when you’re offering good quality, clean, right from the start.
Looking after a rented property is easy when you have responsible tenants and understand the various legal requirements of a Landlord’s role. However, if anything does go wrong, from a boiler breaking down to a tenant losing their job it can get very stressful. There is a mountain of legal obligations, with seemingly more forms to complete every day. Let us take the strain and manage your property for you.
We can ensure that you’re as protected, as a Landlord, from default or eviction costs, with a range of competitively priced services, our regular property inspections, complete tenant liaison and a set of guidance in place that ensures Tenants are understand the extent of their responsibilities. We’re proud of our knowledge of the industry, with over 20 years dealing with Landlord & Tenant legislation, and we have excellent links wit local, reliable, professional contractors to assist with every requirement of your investment property, if or when required.
We recommend that the landlord provides an oven in their rental property, but no white goods, as these require Portable Appliance Testing each year and can be used-and-abused by Tenants. However, the oven is rather a necessity, as connecting a gas or electrical appliance belonging to a Tenant does come with Duty of Care implications for you and us, as Landlord and Managing Agent.
We recommend that properties are let unfurnished, as there is more demand for unfurnished accommodation by far – and less outlay, expense and wear-and-tear for Landlords. Let’s keep it simple!
Dale & Collins vigorously market all our available stock across a wide variety of mediums. We subscribe to Rightmove, Zoopla and we display your properties on these websites as well as on our own website. We have many highly visible, strategically placed ‘To Let’ boards in the area. Your property will receive maximum exposure using a combination of these methods and demand for good quality rental property across Stoke on Trent and the wider Staffordshire area is always high. We are conscious that part of our job is to avoid lengthy void periods and to maximise the return on your investment.
Once we receive an offer, we will relay that information to you via email. However, until the applicant has passed the referencing in full, we will continue to offer the property for viewings. We check the applicants financial situation, their employment status, their credit file and any previous landlord references are obtained.
Should a Tenant require a Guarantor – sometimes credit scores can be too low, through lack of credit lending – the Guarantor is also put through the rigorous application procedure. We use a professional referencing agency to carry out these checks, to ensure compliance with GDPR and to secure additional services such as Rent Protection and Legal Eviction Cost Cover on your behalf, with your consent.
Once a tenant and guarantor – if required – have passed the reference checks all viewings are suspended. We then set a date for the Tenant to move in, check that we’ve got full Terms of Business set with our Landlord, and confirm all services that our landlord wishes to instruct, as part of these Terms.
If the deal falls through at any point, we will re-commence viewings immediately. Tenants can change their mind and withdraw from the move-in – although this rarely happens. However, some things are out of everyone’s control, and we’re here to act as quickly as possible to get things up and running again, should the worst happen.
All tenants will undergo thorough background checks. We use an independent reputable referencing company to report on their suitability and credit-worthiness, including their payment history on any previous lending and any adverse credit e.g. CCJ’s or bankruptcies.
Their identity is also verified as is their right to live and work in the UK – We cover the Right to Rent checks including whether they are subject to any immigration control. If they have rented properties in the past, we will ask their Landlords to provide us with a reference. This information is provided by a variety of sources including credit reference agencies like Experian or Equifax and is compiled into a report which gives a final credit score, and whether they have passed or failed. From that we can paint a very good picture on their suitability as a tenant for your property.
Once all referencing is completed and deemed satisfactory, we then ask the tenants to pay their first month’s rent and security deposit. Their deposit will be equal to 5 week’s rent, which is the most that current Government legislation allows landlords/letting agents to hold. We use the Deposit Protection Service, to hold all our tenant’s deposits.
If an inventory was requested as part of the services we provide, we instruct a professional inventory company to undertaken a full inspection and inventory of the property, the day before the tenant moves in. The meter readings will be taken, the keys will be photographed and then handed to the Tenant. We will also retain a set of keys at our offices. The Tenant has seven days to assess and amend (if necessary) the inventory, after which time the document will be locked down as an accurate reflection of the condition of the property, as at the date that the tenant moved in.
