The in’s and out’s of a letting agent
The house rental market continues to enjoy a steady growth and as the cost of buying a house continues to increase this has a positive impact on the rental market. Most people start of their adult lives renting a property of some description before perhaps moving onto a bigger property or buying their first home.
https://www.pritchards-bath.co.uk was are specialist Letting agents Bath area help couples, individuals and families to find their perfect rental property as well as helping landlords to let their property and also deal with any of the day to day management issues that may occur.
But what sorts of things are letting agents actually responsible for?
It is important to note that whilst letting agents act on behalf of the landlords, it is the landlord that is ultimately responsible for ensuring that they comply with all legislative requirements both in terms of letting a property and in terms of any health and safety requirements. Letting agents are appointed by the landlord and so always act on their behalf, this doesn’t mean that are unsympathetic or ignore the tenants. The agents often end up being the mediator for any issues that may arise between the landlord and the tenant.
The general responsibilities of any letting agents including being a member of a regulated lettings body and following their code of conduct which generally means operating a fair service. They will also provide guidance on tenancy agreements, landlord legal obligations and best practices to follow. Depending on the type of agency that you enlist the services of they may also offer services such as finding tenants and fully managing the whole letting and tenancy.
Finding Tenants
This is essential where the agency will take on the responsibility of finding tenants for the landlord’s property and will involve advertising in numerous places both in print and online forms. The advertising will entail the agency taking pictures of the property and writing a synopsis. Once someone registers their interest the agent will arrange to take them for a viewing of the property and will then arrange for any tenancy agreements to be drawn up and signed along with carrying out references and credit checks. An inventory of any items in the property and the condition of the building including any decoration will be carried out by the agent and confirmed by the tenants.
This includes all the elements of finding a tenant as well as acting as the point of contact for the tenant should any issues arise. For example, if the heating systems stops working the tenant would contact the agent who would in turn speak to the landlord and arrange for any engineers to attend the property to deal with any problems.
