Landlord Process

The achievable rental value of your property is determined by many factors including location, number of bedrooms and amenities, the cosmetic appearance and obviously market forces. Next Home Ltd will advise you on a realistic rental value taking into all these factors into consideration together with the current state of the local market.

Looking after a rented property can be time consuming and very stressful. Managing your own property makes you the first point of contact if anything does go wrong, from a boiler breaking down to a tenant losing their job. There is a mountain of legal obligations, with seemingly more forms to complete every day. Let us take the strain and manage your property for you. We can ensure that you’re protected in every way and we’ll work hard to make sure you’re not out of pocket financially. We’re proud of our knowledge of the industry and will always act in your best interests at all times.

When deciding whether to let your property furnished or unfurnished flexibility is key as this will broaden the appeal of the property to prospective tenants as individual requirements vary.

Furnished properties will generally give a better visual impression to the prospective tenants on how the property will look, making it more likely to rent quicker. If the quality of the furniture warrants it, you may be able to charge a premium rental price as opposed to if it was unfurnished. However, the downside is that offering the property furnished could increase costs over time as wear and tear necessitate replacing the furniture.

We recommend that the Landlord provides white goods as a minimum (washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer) if letting the property unfurnished.

Next Home Ltd vigorously market all our available stock across a wide variety of mediums.

We subscribe to Rightmove, Zoopla, On the market and we display your properties on these websites as well as with in our shop window. We have many highly visible, strategically placed ‘To Let’ and “For Sale” boards in the area. Your property will receive maximum exposure using a combination of these traditional methods as well as utilising modern social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. A good Estate Agent will make daily contact with pre-vetted potential tenants from our database and utilise our hi-tech property matching software. The ultimate aim to avoid void periods and to maximise the return on your investment.

At this point, we will ask for a holding deposit from the applicants and ask them to visit the office with their Right to Rent ID which will be checked and copied, we will relay that information to you, together with detailed information on the potential tenants. We check their situation, employment status, who is intending to move in, and how long they are looking to rent for.  As the Landlord, you have the final say as to whether you wish to proceed and accept their offer. If not, viewings will continue until a suitable tenant is found.

We will also commence the referencing process. During this time, viewings are suspended until all checks have been completed to all parties satisfaction. If the deal falls through at any point, we will re-commence viewings immediately.

All tenants will undergo thorough background checks.  We use an independent reputable referencing company to report on their suitability and credit-worthiness, including their payment history on any previous lending and any adverse credit e.g. CCJ’s or bankruptcies.  

Their identity is also verified as is their right to live and work in the UK – We cover the Right to Rent checks including whether they are subject to any immigration control. If they have rented properties in the past, we will ask their Landlords to provide us with a reference.  This information is provided by a variety of sources including credit reference agencies like Experian or Equifax and is compiled into a report which gives a final credit score, and whether they have passed or failed.   From that we can paint a very good picture on their suitability as a tenant for your property.

Once all referencing is completed and deemed satisfactory, we then ask the tenants to pay their first months rent and security deposit.  
Upon receipt of cleared funds, we will arrange for the tenancy agreement to be drawn up and signed by all parties. All deposits are protected in a Government approved deposit scheme.

If an inventory was taken, the Clerk will meet the tenants at the property to conduct the check in process.  The meter readings will be taken, the keys will be photographed and then handed to the Tenant.  If the property is managed, we will also retain a set of keys at our offices.  Within seven days the inventory will be sent to the Tenant for them to agree and sign, with any amendments highlighted within 14 days or the inventory will be locked down.