Posts Tagged ‘preparing to let’
Preparing to Let Your Property: TV Licenses
There are a lot of issues to think about when you’re preparing to let your property and it’s easy to overlook the issue of TV licenses in favour of more important considerations. But you can’t guarantee that your tenants will put TV licenses at their top of their lists either, so be on the ball and know where you stand.
If you’re letting out an unfurnished property to one single tenant, a couple or a family, then one TV license is required for the property. If several tenants are living in the property under separate tenancy agreements, but there is only one TV in a communal area, then technically only one TV license is required. However, if any of the tenants have their own TVs in their rooms, or watch TV on the Internet, then by law each of them should have their own TV licenses. In cases where there are several tenants, but they have a joint tenancy, then only one TV license is required for the entire property.
For fully furnished properties, or if you’re including a television in the rental, you need to be extra clear about who needs to purchase a TV license. If you provide the TV, both you and your tenants can be held responsible if a license is not purchased. When you’re putting together a tenancy agreement you need to specifiy exactly whose responsibility it is to purchase the TV license.
To make doubly sure that a license is purchased for a property where you supply a TV, you could consider buying it yourself and adding the cost of it into the rental fee. That way you can be sure your property will be fully covered and not have any unwanted TV licensing issues in the future.
Anyone watching TV or using any other devices to watch or record television programmes without owning a TV license could face prosecution, a court appearance and a fine of up to £1,000.
Related Posts
Other posts in the Preparing to Let Your Property series include:
Preparing to Let Your Property – Landlord Insurance
In the run-up to preparing to let your property, you need to give some careful thought to insurance issues.
Having proper insurance policies in place is crucial for any landlords letting out properties, as you’re likely to have a considerable amount of money tied up in the property and don’t want to lose money as the result of accidents or unexpected events. For example, if your property is affected by fire, burst pipes, leaks, theft or flooding, you need to ensure that you’re properly ensured and won’t end up out of pocket by having to pay for the cost of damage.
When you’re choosing building insurance, aim to find a product that covers all the costs that would be involved in re-building your property, not just the market value of the building. A good policy will also provide some form of compensation for loss of rent, if the building becomes unfit for letting as a result of damage from flooding or a fire.
As well as building insurance, don’t forget to consider contents insurance too. If you’re letting out a fully furnished property, then a full contents cover may be required – but do check the level of coverage it offers and whether it will sufficiently cover the cost of replacing everything before signing on the dotted line.
For part-furnished or unfurnished rental properties, where you’re supplying items such as kitchen equipment (oven, fridge and freezer), curtains, carpets and other fittings, then a limited contents policy may be adequate to cover your needs. Of course, all tenants in your properties will need to purchase their own insurance to cover their contents.
Liability insurance is also useful for landlords to have, as accidents caused by items in your property could result in tenants claiming for personal injuries. For example, a tenant could claim for an injury caused by slipping on a loose tile in the bathroom or tripping over a badly laid carpet.
Not all insurance policies are equal, so be prepared to shop around, check out the best deals and find the most appropriate landlord insurance for your individual needs.
Preparing to Let Your Property: Getting an Energy Performance Certificate
Finding and buying the right investment property for your needs may seem like hard work, but it doesn’t stop there. Before you’re able to start renting it out, there are various rules and regulations you need to adhere to and steps you need to take to get it fit for renting. One of these is obtaining an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
Energy Performance Certificates became a legal requirement for residential landlords in October 2008. They have to be obtained before you begin marketing your property for rent and, if you fail to do so, then you could end up being fined £200 by Trading Standards.
The Energy Performance Certificate provides a rating about how energy efficient your property is. It uses a rating system from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient, and G the least efficient; the average level is about D. You’ll need to have your property looked at by an energy assessor and, as well as providing your rating and certificate, they will provide ideas for how you can make your property more energy efficient (you don’t have to take these ideas up, but it can be useful if energy efficiency is a concern).
In fact, research suggests that tenants are becoming more concerned about environmental issues, the cost of household bills and the impact a building has on the environment, so the extra advice may help you make practical steps to improve the overall efficiency of your property and make it more desirable to tenants.
Find more about how to go about getting an EPC. Once you’ve obtained your EPC, it’s valid for 10 years and you can take the next step towards advertising your property for let.
