Has anybody rented out their u.k home without using a letting agent.

[scarlet mia]

Hi

 

I have already submitted a post earlier but didn,t have much response. I basically just wanted to know if anyone has rented their house out and not used an agent ? Iam just trying to get some info together I just really wanted to know if it is easy enough to do and just about the tax side of it. We are not using an agent as we have found long term tennants and the fee,s are really high and we wouldn,t be able to cover them.

 

Thanks Karen x

[dxboz]

Hi Karen I would really not recommend this unless you have someone who can look after your property for you i.e. checking it is ok, getting repairs organised, evicting tenants for non payment etc. Therefore it would have to be someone who is really on the ball and is aware of regulations etc. I rented a house without an agent in Australia and it turned out to be a really bad idea. Learned my lesson and doesn't matter how well you know people! I have rented one in UK using an agent. Things you need to do (this is in Scotland) are ensure you are a registered landlord with your local council, provide a Gas Safety certificate and have electrical appliances PAT tested (both need to be done annually). You also need to obtain an EPC Certificate (Energy Performance). You will also need consent to let from your mortgage provider and landlords insurance. You need to lodge a tax return every year and keep all receipts for things spent on the property. If you really do not want to use an agent I would definitely just use them initially for drawing up contract, credit checking, references etc. then you do not pay monthly fee however as I said before you really need to have someone in UK looking after it for you otherwise things can go very, very wrong.

[Guest Kelly R]

Hi Karen I would really not recommend this unless you have someone who can look after your property for you i.e. checking it is ok, getting repairs organised, evicting tenants for non payment etc. Therefore it would have to be someone who is really on the ball and is aware of regulations etc. I rented a house without an agent in Australia and it turned out to be a really bad idea. Learned my lesson and doesn't matter how well you know people! I have rented one in UK using an agent. Things you need to do (this is in Scotland) are ensure you are a registered landlord with your local council, provide a Gas Safety certificate and have electrical appliances PAT tested (both need to be done annually). You also need to obtain an EPC Certificate (Energy Performance). You will also need consent to let from your mortgage provider and landlords insurance. You need to lodge a tax return every year and keep all receipts for things spent on the property. If you really do not want to use an agent I would definitely just use them initially for drawing up contract, credit checking, references etc. then you do not pay monthly fee however as I said before you really need to have someone in UK looking after it for you otherwise things can go very, very wrong.

 

I agree even if you are the best of friends if anything goes wrong its difficult to sort it out from the other side of the world, have you tried using a local agent that isn't one of the big companies, the agent I used was a small business and a friend of my Mums he was a lot cheaper than the big agents and he didn't just put anyone in the house the big agents only care about getting your money and are usually very expensive, I can understand you putting in someone you know but perhaps you could use an agent just to make it legal then you are both covered.:cool:

[nicolaj]

I would agree with the comments made. I think it is better all round to use an agent, at least you both know where you stand. Also, as others have said, if something needs repairing on the house the agents will organise a reputable tradesman to come and fix it, not botchit and scarper! I'm not saying your friends would do this, but it is YOUR investment at the end of the day.

 

Regarding tax, you will need to get approval from the HMRC about not having to pay UK tax, we obtained a certificate from them and the agents don't have to withhold the 20% tax. (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm).

 

Of course on the downside, we get charged finders fees and if the tenants we have in sign another lease, we get charged again! Bloody cheek! But, I know from speaking to our tenants when they viewed they preferred having an agent to deal with rather than a private landlord.

 

I did have friends who said they would be happy to 'look after' our house and such like but, I didn't want to burden them with it. Especially as now one of my friends is having a lot of personal difficulties, the last thing she needs is to be worrying about our house.

 

Good luck with whatever route you decide on.