With the Renters’ Rights Bill set to be made law soon, there’s never been a better time to arrange your health and wealth check. You’ll receive tailored advice about your current lets and be the first to know when any new changes take effect.
To get the most out of your biggest investment, you should make sure your properties are in the best shape they can be. That’s why we’re offering a free landlord health and wealth check at every Hunters branch.
What does the health and wealth check involve?
Our landlord’s health and wealth check has been designed to make sure your portfolio gets all the due care and attention it needs so that you can maximise the profitability of your properties. We’ll carry out a number of checks and assessments to ensure everything is as it should be. Meanwhile, our experts will also be able to identify any areas of opportunity that you may be able to capitalise on. Further information on exactly what these checks entail is outlined below.
Landlord health check
Your health check focuses on the condition of your rental properties, as well as the status of your paperwork and whether you have all your legal documentation in place. A study from Rightmove revealed that the top three concerns for landlords are tax implications, increasing compliance requirements and upcoming changes to the EPC regulations.
If they sound like familiar sources of anxiety for you, then fear not. You can rest assured our health check covers all of the following:
Gas – You need to have a valid Gas Safety Certificate in place and this needs assessing once a year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. This must be checked before a new tenant moves in, on the tenancy start date.
EICR – Your electrical installation and condition report. This needs to be done at least every five years, as per government guidance on electrical safety standards in the private rented sector. As with your Gas Safety Certificate, your EICR must be checked before anyone moves in, on the tenancy start date.
Legionella – This can cause pneumonia and other serious conditions, so a comprehensive check of your property’s water systems is vital before any tenants move in.
EPC – Your energy performance certificate, needs to be renewed every 10 years. Currently, the minimum EPC rating is E, but in the future, rental properties in England and Wales will have to display a rating of at least C.
Blinds, pull cords and cleats – All of yours must have safety catches. By law, they must not be a potential hazard to children. If yours fall short of the requirements, we can recommend the right tradespeople to fix the issue.
PAT – Your portable appliance test. Any electrical equipment within your property needs to be assessed on a regular basis, and we can help you take care of that.
Licensing – We will be able to do a quick check to see if any of your properties need a licence before you can let them out because doing so without the required documentation can result in a significant fine.
Fixflo – Many of our branches use this cloud-based software solution which helps smoothen the process of reporting and dealing with maintenance issues in your properties. Fixflo allows an Agent to keep your tenants satisfied and remain compliant with legal requirements.
Landlord wealth check
Tenants deferring payments or going into arrears and worsening rental yields are a real concern for landlords. We understand those worries, which is why we’ve designed our wealth check to make sure you’re on top of all the financial aspects of managing your portfolio. We can help you with:
Rent – How much are you currently charging your tenants? When does their tenancy expire? Your local Hunters expert can discuss market conditions with you, including the current demand in your area as well as regional rental averages for you to compare.
Yields – Assuming data is available, we’ll calculate your rental yield and compare that against the averages for your region. You can use these figures to make informed decisions about where you set your prices.
Financial services – We can talk to you about your mortgages and funding, including buy to lets. We’ll be able to put you in touch with experts in that field and they can take you through all of the options available to you.
Deposit alternatives – With this scheme, your tenants pay a fee to a third-party scheme which for them means a lower upfront fee and you benefit from the extra security of up to 10 weeks’ protection with free recovery for any additional costs. Find out more about deposit alternatives.
Property standard – The better condition your properties are in, the more you can expect to let them for. If any of your rentals require a bit of work to improve their aesthetics – such as new carpets or a fresh lick of paint – we can refer you to reliable and knowledgeable professionals.
Rent protection – If you get into a situation where your tenant does not pay or falls behind on their rent, you still need to be able to cover your mortgage and keep up with the running costs of owning the property. That’s where rent protection can help you.
What other letting services can Hunters provide?
Hunters offers a comprehensive letting service so that all your needs are met. With that in mind, we can offer expert support and guidance to help you with the following:
Insurance – We can provide you with a free quote for contents and/or liability cover and we have negotiated a 30% discount with our partners at HomeLet.
Information – Our lettings guide is packed full of useful material, which will help to give you a better idea of who we are and what we stand for.
Updates – You can sign up for our newsletters to receive all the latest news, insights and announcements to make sure you stay in the know with everything that’s going on at Hunters and across the wider industry.
Valuations – We can provide you with a free, 20-minute valuation of your rental property with no obligation whatsoever.
Get in touch with your local Hunters letting expert today to find out more about our health and wealth check and what we can do for you.
