If you’re a landlord with one or more properties, you may be thinking about the best ways to save money and maximise your rental income. You may think that one of the best ways to increase profit is by cutting out the middleman and renting the property out without the help of a letting agent. But is this really the right way to go?
As experienced letting agents, at Brookings, we understand that you may want to avoid paying out for our services, especially if you plan to manage the property yourself. What you’ll miss out on is the peace of mind that comes with working with a company that really knows what it takes to protect you and your property.
It’s not just a way to get your business – of course we want more landlords to trust us to find their tenants and manage properties – but by going it alone, you might be putting your rental income and property at risk.
Read on for why DIY tenancies could lead to disaster.
Online Tenancy Agreements
Any search engine will give you thousands of results when you search ‘tenancy agreement’. So, getting the right documents for your tenants is easy, right? Wrong. Many of these contracts have not been checked by legal professionals. They could contain misinformation that puts you at risk if ever there is a tenancy dispute. Our contracts have been put created by legal professionals AND are regularly updated our legal team, so we know that both the landlord and tenant are covered. Don’t make the mistake of using a non-legally compliant contract when you’re about to trust your property to tenants.
Referencing
A reference gives you confidence to know whether your tenant will be able to afford the rent you are charging. Without a thorough reference check, you won’t know if a tenant has the right to rent, their employment status, rental history and so on. If something goes wrong, you might not be able to claim on your insurance if you haven’t got all the correct information and if a tenant does not have the right to rent, you could face some serious fines.
Letting agents always carry out reference checks and always provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision.
Starting a New Tenancy
Before a new tenant moves in, there are a number of steps you should go through to ensure your property is looked after. A check in or inventory report is vital so that you receive the property in the same condition as it was provided in when a tenant moves out. Without an inventory, you may have to foot the bill for any damage, as it would be difficult to prove that it was caused during the tenancy period. Letting agents will work with trusted and reliable inventory professionals who can get a detailed report ready prior to check in.
Reminders
Most landlords have full-time jobs, busy schedules and lots going on. So, it’s easy to forget details of your tenancy as time goes on. For example, are the smoke alarms working? Have you had them checked? Is the gas safety certificate in date? Is the EICR in date? Has the fixed term tenancy agreement come to an end? You can save yourself the stress and hassle of trying to remember everything that needs to be done by working with an agent who will ensure you know what to do and when.
The Rental Market is About to Change
By the end of 2025, the Renters’ Rights Bill is due to be made law. This is one of the biggest upheavals to the UK rental market in a long time and will bring huge changes with it. As an experienced landlord, you’ll need to keep on top of all these changes and make sure you’re compliant. And if you’re doing things without the guidance of a letting agent you could miss out on some of the major details that will affect every single tenancy and landlord once the law is passed. As letting agents, we live and breathe rentals, and we will already have prepared our landlords to ensure they meet all the new changes, so can you really afford not to have the right information?
Our Service
At Brookings, we offer our landlords a variety of services to make sure their income and investment is protected whilst also making sure their tenants are happy. We offer three types of letting service: let only, fully managed and our premier service. So, if you’re renting out a property in East London or Essex, get in touch with us on 0208 591 9088 to see how we can help.
