​Top 10 Landlord Responsibilities

Posted on: March 2nd, 2015 Category: Landlord News, Legal Responsibilities, Obligations, Top 10

Top 10 Landlord Responsibilities

Being a landlord comes with its fair share of legal obligations. Here’s our quick reference guide to ensure you’re meeting all your responsibilities.

1. Deposit Protection

A landlord must protect the tenancy deposit with a UK government-approved deposit protection scheme if they offer an assured shorthold tenancy.

All landlords must return the deposit to the tenant at the end of the tenancy, unless there's a dispute about damage caused to the property or rent that hasn’t been paid.

2. Quiet Enjoyment

Landlords may need access to the property to inspect it and carry out repairs, but they must allow the tenant to live in their home without unnecessary interference. As a landlord, you can't access the property whenever you may feel like it. Landlords should always give reasonable notice and arrange a suitable time if they need to visit the property.

3. Safety First

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is used by your council to make sure that properties in its area are safe for the people who live in. This involves inspecting your property for possible hazards - for example, uneven stairs leading to increased risk of falls.

If you own a property and rent it out, the council may decide to do an HHSRS inspection because:

• your tenants have asked for an inspection
• the council has done a survey of local properties and thinks your property might be hazardous

4. Property Repairs

Landlords are responsible for most repairs to the exterior or structure of a property. This means that problems with the roof, chimneys, walls, guttering and drains are the responsibility of the landlord.

Landlords are also responsible for keeping the equipment that supplies water, gas and electricity to the property in safe working order.

Tenants often have responsibility for some minor repairs and maintenance. This usually relates to:

• internal decorations
• gardens
• small jobs such as changing plugs and lightbulbs

5. Safety Standards

Landlords have legal obligations to ensure the safety of tenants.

They must:

• get a Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate for every gas appliance they provide
• ensure that any necessary work identified by gas engineers is carried out
• ensure furniture meet fire safety standards
• ensure electrical equipment provided is safe

Landlords of certain buildings that are occupied by more than one household (known as HMO’s) have extra legal obligations to provide adequate fire precautions and means of escape from fire.

6. Rent Rules

Landlords have to tell their tenants when the rent is to be paid and how it should paid, for example by cash, cheque or directly into a bank account.

The rent can be increased but only at certain times during the tenancy, and only in certain circumstances. These depend on the type of tenancy and what, if anything, the tenancy agreement says about when the rent can be increased.

7. Information Provision

All landlords have to give their tenants their name and a contact address in England or Wales. If the property is managed by a letting or property agent, they must also provide the landlord's full name and address if the tenant(s) request it.

8. Regaining Possession

There is specific legal procedure that has to be followed to evict a tenant, which depends on the type of tenancy and the reasons for the eviction. Most landlords will have to give at least some written notice and get a court order if it is necessary to evict their tenants.

9. Energy Performance

A landlord should provide a prospective tenant with an Energy Performance Certificate before they move in, to show how energy efficient a property is.

10. Financial Responsibilities

Landlords must pay Income Tax on their rental income, minus the day-to-day running expenses.

If there is a mortgage on the property that you want to rent out, you must get permission from your mortgage lender.