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The rental market is one of the most competitive markets to be a part of. Whether you are trying to secure your first property, or need to move due to a change in circumstances, we know how hard it can be to find a new home. Similarly, if you’re a landlord, we know that many of you are questioning whether you should continue to rent out an investment property.
As letting agents, your Foden Property team knows how tough the rental market is for both tenants and landlords. Therefore, to help answer any queries you may have, we would like to share our answers to some of your frequently asked questions.
Why can’t I even get a look in when applying for rental properties?
Unfortunately, there are that many people applying for rental properties at the moment that we are often overrun with good quality enquiries. As only one set of tenants can rent a property, there are only so many viewings which we can arrange for each individual home.
How often can my landlord increase my rent?
As a general rule, we would say increasing your rent once a year is fair to both landlord and tenant. However, how often a landlord can actually increase your rent is dependent on what type of contract you signed as part of your tenancy agreement. If you sign a new contract every six months for example then you really need to make sure you thoroughly read the agreement before signing it in case there is a clause which states the landlord can increase the rent every six months.
I have been given notice on my rental property, what do I do?
Work with your letting agent as they can sometimes help you to secure a new rental property. Make sure that your notice has been given properly and if you are unsure, please seek advice from an independent source such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.
If your letting agent isn’t able to secure you a new property, then make sure you register for alerts on all the major property sites such as RightMove and Zoopla. This will give you the best chance of securing a property in your area within your budget.
Finally, we would also advise you to keep paying your rent as any rent defaults may be added to your record which could harm your chances of securing a new property.
How do I get my deposit back at the end of my tenancy?
The official process is that once you have left the property, your property will be inspected. Therefore we would always advise you to leave the property as clean and tidy as possible. Fill and paint in any holes from pictures so that your landlord knows you have tried your hardest to leave the property in as good a condition as you received it in. If you have a garden then make sure you mow the lawn and clear away any rubbish.
So long as you leave the property in as good condition as you received it then you will be giving your landlord very little reason to make a claim on your deposit. In our experience, small problems (such as not cleaning the property) can quickly lead to bigger problems (making a claim on your entire deposit).
Can my landlord withhold my rental deposit?
By law, all deposits for rental properties have to be placed in a rental deposit scheme. If your landlord doesn’t believe that you should receive all of your deposit back then they will have to inform you within a couple of weeks of you moving out. They will then be given a suitable amount of time (roughly a month) to obtain quotes for any repair work they feel is needed on the property.
You, as the tenant, can then decide whether to agree or disagree with the quotes and the reasons for the repairs as suggested by your landlord. During this process your deposit will remain in the deposit scheme so neither you or your landlord can access any of the money.
If you are unable to agree a fair amount for the repairs (e.g. perhaps they use 50% of your deposit for repairs and return the rest), then an independent adjudicator will have to be appointed. Both parties (you and the landlord or letting agent) will then submit evidence to the adjudicator. They will have up to 90 days to make a ruling on your deposit, and depending on the outcome, you will receive either all, part or none of your deposit.
My house is rented out but I need to sell it - what should I do?
One of the first decisions you need to make is if you would like to sell the property with or without tenants in situ. If the tenant is not in the property then you will be opening your property up to more potential buyers. However there are legal implications to having tenants, as they have rights.
As a letting agent, as soon as we let them know their home is going to go on the market, they are likely to start looking for somewhere else to live. Therefore whilst you might like your tenant to stay until your property is sold, chances are you will have a void period where you aren’t earning any rental income.
Another thing to consider is, if your property has a long term tenant, then chances are their rent will be below the current market value for that property. If a potential buyer needs to get a mortgage as a landlord, then on the current market, they will be facing higher interest rates which could mean the rental income is not enough to cover their mortgage. You could as the landlord put the rent up so that it makes it more attractive to potential buyers, but you could also run the risk of losing those tenants if they can’t afford the price increase.
I would like to self-manage my rental property - what should I consider?
There are so many legislation changes that we would generally advise against trying to manage a rental property on your own. You will find it incredibly difficult to self-manage, unless you are a member of a trade body who is told on a regular basis about any changes to legislation.
Unfortunately, we see so many cases where private landlords have fallen foul of a legislation change, not because they’ve deliberately ignored something, but because there has been a change which they weren’t aware of. You might think you have done the right thing for your property portfolio and for your tenant, but if you miss a piece in legislation then you can find yourself coming unstuck fairly quickly.
Get in Touch with Foden Property
We hope you have found the answers to our common rental market questions useful. If there is anything which you would love to know which we haven’t covered then please get in touch with the team at Foden Property.
You can also keep up to date with all the latest rental market news by watching our Ask The Agents podcast over on our YouTube channel.