Despite the Covid 19 pandemic, the recent Landlord Confidence Index shows a 50% increase in the number of landlords planning to buy over the next 12 months compared to 2020. With new entrants into the market there are now over 2.66 million landlords in Great Britain. However, with expanding portfolios of rental properties, comes additional time and responsibilities to maintain them.
How can property managers benefit Landlords?
A property management company generally oversees the day-to-day business of dealing with tenants. This can leave the owner of the property free to expand their portfolio or concentrate on their primary occupation.
Landlords key responsibilities can be split into three main areas: Legal Compliance, General Maintenance and Management.
As part of Legal Compliance landlords must ensure that their properties are safe and fulfil current legislation. Currently there are over a hundred pieces of legislation that apply to renting out residential property. These can range from having valid insurance and an EPC certificate, through to the new Electrical Safety Standards Regulations.
This week is Gas Safety Week, a reminder to all property owners, not just landlords, of the importance of taking care of gas appliances. According to the Gas Safety Register 1 in 6 homes have a dangerous gas appliance. Landlords need to have a gas safety report done every 12 months to ensure their property is safe. Property managers can schedule these checks in with registered engineers on behalf of the owner to ensure compliance and safety standards are consistently met.
Maintenance and repair is also essential to ensure good property standards and a good working relationship between landlord and tenant. Most property management companies have an option for tenants to report minor maintenance issues for repair, providing landlords with a hassle-free solution to the day to day requirements of running a property portfolio.
Managing your properties, finding potential tenants, organising and attending viewings, arranging deposits and inspecting the property regularly can quickly become inconvenient and tedious as portfolios expand and tenants move in and out. Property management companies can organise mid tenancy inspections, end of tenancy deep cleans, inventory checks and source and reference prospective tenants, removing all the administrative tasks from your to-do list.
Poole Townsend offers a property management solution to make your life as a Landlord hassle free. Choose from 3 different property management services tailored to your needs: Let only, Let only Plus and Fully Managed (the easiest of them all).
Working as a lettings agency within an estate agency means that we can also advise on potential investment opportunities, so that you can continue to grow your property portfolio at the same time.
If you are a landlord and not sure of your current responsibilities, please get in touch or take a look at our dedicated landlords page for more details.
Letting property doesn't have to be a headache.