Letting Guide 

Renting your home can be a daunting task so why not leave it to the professionals…

Customer satisfaction, safety and an overall healthy working relationship are our main goals at CANI. We maintain strong interaction aswel as providing a Transparent, Honest and Committed service between tenant and landlord to work toward a property that is more profitable for the landlord.

 BEFORE YOU ADVERTISE YOUR PROPERTY TO LET

• Get permission from your mortgage lender to let property (if you do not have a buy-to-let mortgage).
• If you are in a leasehold property, get permission from the head lessee to rent property
• Make sure your buildings and contents insurance is appropriate.Get gas appliances checked in accordance with gas regulations.
• Check that furniture complies with Fire Safety Regulations.
• If you are an overseas landlord, apply for the Exemption Certificate from the Inland Revenue.

In order to comply with the Consumer Protection Act, Landlords must ensure that each electrical appliance (kettle, toaster, washing machine and gas cookers with electric ignition, etc.) as well as the electric supply and installation (e.g. Wall sockets and light fittings etc.) is safe and does not present any danger to a user. To ensure compliance with the act a regular (yearly) inspection and testing report is necessary.

All appliances supplied must have all the necessary instruction books and warning details and we would recommend that copies are taken and left at the premises.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994

A survey by the consumer unit of the DTI shows that on an average of 50 people die per year from Carbon Monoxide poisoning by domestic heating appliances. When gas doesn’t burn correctly, excess Carbon Monoxide is produced. This colourless, odourless, tasteless gas is highly poisonous and kills in hours. Early symptoms of poisoning include; tiredness, drowsiness, headaches and strong stomach pains. Landlords must ensure that gas appliances, including LPG cabinet heaters, are checked for safety, including where relevant, checks on the effectiveness of the flue, ventilation, gas operating pressure and gas tightness. These checks should be carried at least every 12 months by fully qualified CORGI (Council for the Registration of Gas Installers) gas engineer who will supply you with a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate. This certificate must pass before tenants can be granted access. Current legislation requires the tenant, landlord and his/her agent to have a copy of the gas certificate.

How we value THE MARKET RENTAL OF your property

An experienced Lettings Negotiator will need to visit your property before being able to carry out a realistic valuation. He/She will carry out a comparative rental analysis which takes into consideration the following:-

• The rental demand for the area
• Proximity to Train and other public transport
• Availability of similar rental properties in the vicinity
• Rental prices being achieved for similar properties taking into account the time taken to achieve the Letting
• Overall condition of the property
• Facilities provided in the property
• Quality of furniture/ fixture and fitting

All these variable factors will allow us to accurately access the rental value of the property having regards to the demand at the time of marketing.

VIEWINGS

At CANI we will always accompany viewings to all of our properties. We strongly advise that we be given a spare set of keys to increase the prospect of Letting your property. All keys that we receive are tagged for your security and are never given out to anyone except for those authorized by yourself or from our Agency. We do nevertheless understand that in some cases prior notice is essential before we can view your property, and we do everything we can to give you as much notice as possible.

AGREEMENT

We will prepare a legal agreement under current legislation. In general this will be for a period of 12 months with a 6 month break clause. This gives you the flexibility to re-occupy the house after giving the tenant two month's notice to quit. Similarly the tenant may terminate after the initial period by giving two month's notice.

DEPOSITS

We collect a deposit from the tenant (normally an equivalent of one months rent) to safeguard against damage which you will hold. At the end of the tenancy (for managed property) we will inspect the property and the costs of any work attributed to the tenant can be deducted from the deposit.

INVENTORY

An Inventory is fundamentally a written record of the items of furniture, together with any observations relating to their condition, which is prepared before a tenancy begins and may be supported by photographic evidence. The significance of this document should not be underestimated; it will allow you to make knowledgeable decisions on any damage that has occurred during the tenancy, on whether you make deductions from your tenant’s deposit. The tenants check, agree and sign the Inventory either before or upon moving in the property and the said document is re-checked again at the end of the tenancy.

MANAGEMENT

This ‘peace of mind’ service will provide you with that extra security should there ever be any shortfall of rent or the Tenant breaches their tenancy obligations and leaves the property with outstanding rent due. There are some Landlords who do not want the inconvenience and sometimes time consuming task of collecting rent, dealing with repairs/maintenance and in fact do not want any contact with their tenants at all. They often live far away and some live abroad. For this type of service, we not only find you suitable tenants but we also provide the following services:-

• Draw up a tenancy agreement
• Provide an Inventory Schedule of Condition
• Collect the rent from the tenants on your behalf
• Send you an Invoice/Financial statement every month detailing all outgoings
• Attend to repairs and maintenance using our contractors
• Agree a fixed budget per month for certain items of repair/maintenance
• Make regular inspections of the property and advise you accordingly
• Arranging a Rent Guarantee Policy and Legal Protection

When using contractors to undertake work to your property we will always endeavour to use only those who provide the best value for money in terms of quality of work and cost. You only pay the value of the contractors invoice. There is no hidden additional administration charge. It is our goal to make your investment as profitable for you as possible.