In this three-minute read, we look at the documentation landlords need to meet their legal obligations – and avoid messy disputes.

First-time landlords often make the rookie mistake of underestimating the amount of paperwork involved in letting a property.

Many assume that once the ink dries on a tenancy agreement, they’ve got the paperwork sorted – but nothing could be further from the truth.

Record-keeping is an integral part of a landlord’s duties and falls into two categories:

• Documents that you must keep. Landlords are required by law to keep records covering things such as safety inspections and deposits.
• Documents that it is wise to keep. Although not obligatory, these records serve as an unofficial insurance policy should a dispute arise. If you wind up in court, you don’t want to rely on a vague recollection that “you paid a guy who was either called Terry or Trevor sometime in 2019 to sort out a few maintenance issues”. Firm dates, times and details of conversations and actions provide a vital paper trail.

Here’s a checklist of documents landlords need to keep:

 1 Gas safety certificate – Landlords are required by law to have gas appliances such as hobs checked every year by a Gas Safety registered engineer.

2 Electrical safety report – Electrical safety inspections must be carried out by a qualified sparky every five years.

3 Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TPS – A landlord must place a tenant’s deposit in an approved TPS within 30 days of payment.

4 Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) – Landlords need to get an EPC every ten years. A registered assessor must carry out the inspection, and the property must have at least an E rating.

5 Landlord registration – Some local authorities in England require landlords to sign up to a register. Check the rules in your local area.

6 Fire safety – Keep all paperwork relating to smoke alarms (you need one on every floor) and carbon monoxide alarms (you need one in any room with a solid fuel-burning appliance).

7 Property inventory – An in-depth report of the property and its furniture, fixtures and appliances will help you resolve any quibbles over belongings or damage at the end of a tenancy.

8 Landlord insurance – A condition of most buy-to-let mortgages, landlord insurance covers you in the event of flood or fire and for legal claims if someone injures themselves in your property.

9 Repair works – Keep all paperwork relating to repairs carried out on the property.

10 Tenant inspections – Keep a record of when you visit the property during the tenancy, and any issues raised. Follow up conversations with an email outlining your discussions.

11 Right to Rent – A landlord must check that tenants have the correct immigration status to reside in the UK. Landlords must keep copies of all relevant documents.

When it comes to record-keeping, many landlords have good intentions but struggle to keep up over time. If you don’t have the energy or inclination to handle the paperwork that is part and parcel of being a landlord, a letting agent can do it for you.

Here at Chamberlains, we’re pedants when it comes to paperwork and pros at keeping tabs on tenancies. If you’d like us to help you manage your property, get in touch.

Our offices are now open – but we are proceeding with caution.

Eight weeks have now passed since we were placed on lockdown and the estate agency industry virtually stopped. During that time we have been working hard behind the scenes to keep potential buyers keen and positive about the market and we’ve  also been managing sales that are going through the conveyancing process.

As you will have seen in the media, on Tuesday evening we were given the green light to re-open in order to begin getting the market moving again. There was no advance warning to the industry and so we found out at the same time as the general public.

We are now returning to work but we have to ensure the safety of our staff and customers and so we have been busy creating the procedures that will become applicable for the foreseeable future.

We are closely following the advice that has been published by the government in order to ensure that we are doing all we can to help keep everyone safe.  If you would like to read the government advice you can do so by clicking this link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

To ensure we return in a controlled manner, we are opening the offices from 9am until 1pm Monday to Friday to begin with, this will enable us to have a member of staff in the office during the morning and to carry out essential appointments in the afternoon.

We need to ensure we follow the guidelines as best we can, and your help is greatly appreciated and in particular your attention is drawn to the following:

• Initial viewings should be done virtually wherever this is possible we can help you to do this.
• All physical viewings should be limited to members of the same household and open house viewings should not take place. – We have a great offer for you, details will follow soon.
• If people are being shown around your current home, you should open all internal doors and ensure surfaces, such as door handles, are cleaned after each viewing with standard household cleaning products.
• As most people choose to, we recommend that you vacate your property whilst viewings are taking place in order to minimise your contact with those not in your household.
• Anyone involved in any aspect of the home moving process should practice social distancing in line with public health advice.

As an additional precaution we have created a health assessment for all viewers to complete before the appointment. They will sign this electronically in order to confirm that they present a minimal risk to you.

We are also doing our best to ensure that viewings are only carried out by potential purchasers who are able to buy or who have at least agreed a sale on their own property.

Thank you so much for your understanding during this time. We really appreciate your patience as the market gets moving again. We are in uncharted territory but can assure you that we continue to work hard and always keep your best interests at heart.

Thank you.

James Cooper MNAEA

Director

This is the latest advice from Government in regards to the property market during COVID-19

What does this mean for my property move which is scheduled whilst the stay-at-home measures to fight coronavirus (COIVD-19) apply?

• What does this mean for my property move or purchase which is scheduled whilst measures to fight coronavirus apply?

  People are free to move home, however the process of finding and moving into a new home is likely to be different, as those involved in the process will need to adapt practices and procedures to ensure that the risk of spread of coronavirus is reduced as far as possible. It is vital that everyone stays alert and safe.

  • Initial viewings should be done virtually wherever this is possible and property agents should help you to do this.
  • All physical viewings should be limited to members of the same household and open house viewings should not take place.
  • When physically viewing properties, where possible, you should avoid touching surfaces, wash your hands regularly, and bring your own hand sanitiser. The number of people on a viewing should be minimised to those from your household that absolutely have to be there. If you need to be accompanied by small children, you should try to keep them from touching surfaces and ensure they wash their hands regularly.
  • If people are being shown around your current home, you should open all internal doors and ensure surfaces, such as door handles, are cleaned after each viewing with standard household cleaning products.
  • As most people choose to, we recommend that you vacate your property whilst viewings are taking place in order to minimise your contact with those not in your household.
  • Anyone involved in any aspect of the home moving process should practice social distancing in line with public health advice.
  • When moving between properties, you and those in your household should try to do as much of the packing yourself as you can. Where this is not possible, you should speak to removal firms in advance. There is further advice about this below.
  • If you are particularly worried about the risk of infection, then speak to the professionals involved, your landlord, estate agent or removers as they may be able to put in place extra measures.

  Everyone involved in the moving process must follow social distancing to minimise the spread of the virus.

  1. Preparing to buy, sell or move home

  You can put your home on the market and start to look for properties you want to move into. If any member of the household being viewed is showing symptoms or is self-isolating then estate agents should not physically visit the property.

  • You can begin to market your home and estate agents are able to visit in order to take photos/videos of the property.
  • To help prevent the spread of infection, we encourage people to do the majority of their property searching online; for example only physically viewing those properties which you believe you are most likely to want to move into.
  • As usual, you can also start to bring together the documentation necessary to sell your property (more information on these documents is available in the government’s guidance on how to sell homes).
  • If you wish to buy a new build property you should make contact with the developer in the usual way. You should be able to view the show home or visit the particular plot you are interested in purchasing, although there will be appointment systems in place.

  2. Viewings

  People should use virtual viewings before visiting properties in person where possible, in order to minimise public health risks. If any member of either the household being viewed, or the household undertaking a viewing is showing symptoms of coronavirus or is self-isolating, then a physical viewing should be delayed. All viewings should take place by appointment and only involve members of a single household.

  • We encourage people to do their property searching online wherever possible. Initial viewings should be done virtually wherever this is possible and physical viewings should only be conducted where buyers are seriously considering making an offer on a property.
  • To support this, agents may ask home occupiers to conduct virtual viewings. This will help reduce the number of properties people need to visit before finding their future home.
  • Viewings should be conducted by appointment only and no open house viewings should take place.
  • If your property is being viewed, you should open all the internal doors prior to the viewing, and allow access to handwashing facilities and ideally separate towels/paper towels.
  • As most people choose to do, we encourage that you vacate your property whilst viewings are taking place in order to minimise your contact with those not in your household.
  • When viewing a property, all parties should wash their hands and avoid touching surfaces where possible. Agents will ask you to restrict the number of people who accompany you on a viewing so that social distancing can be practised, and only those in your immediate household should be there.
  • We expect agents to accompany clients on a viewing but follow social distancing rules wherever possible. Where viewings are unaccompanied, agents should make sure viewers and homeowners understand how they should conduct themselves.
  • Once the viewing has taken place, the homeowner should ensure surfaces, such as door handles, are cleaned with standard household cleaning products and towels disposed of safely or washed as appropriate.

  3. Making offers or reservations

  You are free to make or accept an offer or reserve a property as normal.

  • There is a greater risk that parties may need to delay their move because someone is showing symptoms of coronavirus or self-isolating. Where needed your legal adviser should advise you and help make sure that any contracts or agreements are as flexible as possible to accommodate this risk.
  • Prospective purchasers may wish to visit a property again once they have agreed a sale, for example to measure up. Where this has been agreed to, the above advice on prioritising virtual visits, hygiene measures, maintaining social distancing at all times and mitigating contact where possible should be followed.
  • Purchasers may also want to send in tradespeople to carry out inspections. Where possible these should be scheduled with one person visiting the property at any time. No tradespeople should enter a property where a member of the household is showing symptoms of coronavirus or self-isolating. Where a tradesperson is visiting the property, the occupier should maintain social distancing, wash their hands regularly and minimise contact as far as possible, for example by staying in another room. These visits should be carried out in line with government safer working guidance.

  4. Property searches and surveys

  Your legal representative should be able to carry out searches on your property online in order to progress your transaction and you can contact them to discuss likely timescales.

  Your surveyor can undertake surveys of the property you wish to purchase.

  • Surveyors should not enter a property where a member of the household is showing symptoms of coronavirus or self-isolating.
  • Where possible we encourage inspections to take place by appointment only, with one person visiting the property at any time. Surveyors should follow government guidance for professionals working in other people’s homes and guidance on social distancing.
  • If your home is being surveyed, you should ensure the surveyor has access to all the parts of the property they need to inspect, and make efforts to minimise contact with the surveyor, for example by staying in another room whilst they are inspecting your home.

  5. Agreeing to move

  Once you have agreed to move home by exchanging contracts or signing a tenancy agreement, you have entered into a legal agreement to move. We encourage all parties to be as flexible as possible over this period and be prepared to delay moves if needed, for example if someone becomes ill with coronavirus during the moving process or has to self-isolate. You should not expect to move into any home where people are ill or self-isolating.

  • Your legal adviser should be able to help you to ensure that any contract you enter into has sufficient flexibility to allow the purchase to be delayed in the event that an individual in one of the parties contracts coronavirus or has to self-isolate.
  • We encourage you to be as flexible as possible if you are asked to delay your move, and in turn, you can speak to your legal advisor about this.

  6. Moving your belongings

  Removal firms are able to operate, although they may need to adjust usual procedures in order to ensure moves happen as safely as possible.

  • We encourage you to contact removal firms as early as possible in advance of your move.
  • You and your household should also try and do as much of the packing yourself as possible. However, where this is not possible, you should speak to your removal firms in advance.
  • We ask that, where possible, you clean your belongings, with standard domestic cleaning products before they are handled by others, including removal firms.
  • Whilst the removers are in your home, you should ensure any internal doors are open and seek to minimise your contact with the crew, maintaining a distance of at least 2 metres where possible.
  • All parties should wash their hands and avoid touching surfaces where possible to reduce the risk of transmitting the coronavirus.
  • You should not provide refreshments but you should ensure they have access to hand washing facilities, using separate towels or paper towels if possible, which should be washed or disposed of safely afterwards.