How to let out your 'buy-to-let' property

Most property investors in the UK let out their property – this is commonly called “buy-to-let”. The majority of purchasers get a professional letting company to let their property out. Off Plan Investments have our own internal lettings company Able Lettings. Between ourselves and Able Lettings we offer an extremely competitive rate for full property management. Generally companies will charge you about 8% of the rental for finding a tenant, and 8% of rental for full property management services. These fees vary depending on the area, agent and local competition.

On top of the say 18% letting agents fees, you will have to take account of service charges, maintenance fees, upgrades and ground rent. Generally lettings companies will likely also withhold 22% of your rental against tax, unless you can get your accountant to advise them differently, for example, if your tax liability is zero.

The letting agent will advertise your property, show the tenants around, interview them. If they consider them good tenants, you will be advised to accept the tenants and they will put a deposit down to secure the property. The letting agents will then do a credit check and take references from them – which might take a week or so. The letting agent will draft up the letting agreement which you sign as Landlord and the Tenants sign. The tenants then move in after paying the first months rent.

Off Plan Investments and Able Lettings vet every single tenant before a decision is made and in most cases guarantee your property is fully tenanted on or before completion.

Most “buy-to-let” property is let using a “Short-hold Assured Tenancy Agreement”. These are commonly for six or twelve months. It is very important to make sure your property is let using such an agreement, since this gives you the flexibility to ask the tenants to leave after a certain period. If you do not have an agreement or it is not a Short-hold Tenancy Agreement, you might have a tenant that moves in and become legally entitled to be a “sitting tenant” – a tenant that you cannot evict. This could drastically reduce the property price and lead your bank to ask for their money back. You need to get good advice from a reputable letting agent on such matters.

The economics of buy-to-let property

Off Plan Investments makes its deals more attractive by having our own internal lettings company, in the shape of Able Lettings, working closely it can be worth while. Unlike most other lettings companies, Able Lettings and Off Plan Investments take care of everything from tenant interviews through to full property management (This includes maintenance, rent collection, tenancy agreements and changeovers) charging only 10 – 15%.

Off Plan and Able Lettings also offer tailoring services to provide the best possible rental figures for your investment property, this can be anything from furniture packs to entertainment systems. We do our best to keep everyone happy.

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