What Your Letting Agent Does for You

A guide for first time landlords – what they do for money!

Table of Contents

Marketing and Finding Tenants

Your letting agent will list your property on all of the major property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. They will create a description for your property and add all of the relevant photographs. The agent will manage all of the viewings for your property and will carry out all of the credit checks and reference searches on any interested parties. The letting agent will check the applicant’s income, employment history and previous landlord references to assess whether they will be able to afford to pay the rent on time.

Checking Right to Rent and ID

Before any Tenancy commences the agent must verify the prospective Tenant(s) right to rent in the UK. This involves checking the prospective Tenant’s Identity Documents such as Passports, and/or Visa(s) issued by the Home Office as well as verifying their address. The agent will retain a copy of the Identity Documents for future reference.

Setting Up the Tenancy and Deposit

Once your tenant has been approved for a tenancy, the agent will draw up the tenancy agreement which will detail the terms and conditions of the tenancy and set out the rights and responsibilities of both landlord and tenant. The agent will obtain your signature on the agreement as well as that of your tenant(s). Your tenant’s deposit will also need to be registered with a suitable deposit protection scheme within 30 days of the commencement of the tenancy. See also Cheltenham Letting Agents.

Collecting Rent and Chasing Arrears

Good agents make sure rent is collected on time for each date and flag up any arrears immediately. It’s unusual for a single late payment to be an issue that is allowed to slide for weeks and can be sorted with a simple phone call on the second day of late payment. See rent levels for the Cheltenham area from local letting agents [Cheltenham Letting Agents](link).

Inspections and Repairs

For the majority of rentals an annual inspection is sufficient, although where you suspect a problem then more frequent visits may be necessary. Routine inspections enable your letting agent to identify potential problems with a property such as damp, leaks etc. before they cause serious damage and require expensive repair.

Renewals, Notices and Check-Out

They will contact the tenant for you towards the end of the fixed term of the tenancy and negotiate for a further let on the same terms or serve the correct notice to bring the tenancy to an end as required. On check-out they will compare the property to the original inventory and note any damage or missing items and produce a report detailing any deduction from the tenant’s deposit that is considered appropriate.

So there you have it. This is what you pay for with a management fee. It’s quite a list and makes for a very informative read.