Do any house suitability checks take longer than a week to book ahead for?

[Steve Macey]

Am about finished in organzing and starting repairs on a house I want to let out soon. I dont know what checks I have to do and certificates I need to be able to let out a house now. I was planning on choosing an estate agent and having them tell me what I have to do after he's seen my repaired house and can give me a price to ask for.

However I am worried that whatever tests etc I need are something that could have long wait times and queues? I cant do a plumbing and electric test until the new bathroom is fitted. Is there anything else I can/should book ahead for the house? Am getting rendering work and a new roof sorted too next month.

Thanks all!

[theartfullodger]

Get some education quick on how to be a landlord and landlord/tenant law

You are at risk of making painful expensive daft mistakes.


You bought a place without researching what the job entails, what the pitfalls in the minefield are?

[1600e]

The biggest wait times I've found, round here anyway, are electricians to do the eicr testing.
was 6 months, now around 3 months..

[jpucng62]

You will need:

EPC - if you. haven't already got one usually able to be done quickly
EICR - electricians are pretty busy and this is a good day's work for one so may need to book ahead
Gas safety - quick to do but plumbers are busy

Nothing else requires certification but there are other documents you or the estate agent must provide - How to rent Guide; Deposit protection.

[AndrewDod]

Ha, you are (as others say) talking about months, maybe even more than a year. The government wants you to keep the place empty, and to build in the costs (of the void and the various inspections and works) into the rental price.

[Freefaller]

I just booked an EICR today through https://myconstructor.co.uk/services/eicr as I could get instant quotes and book immediately without the to-ing and fro-ing to arrange. It was more expensive than the last one I did (which has gone out of business), but the fact that I could book it immediately was handy for me as I have limited time at the moment so needed to get it done ASAP. Not sure if we're allowed to give websites? If not, you can google 'eicr immediate quote uk' to find the same or a similar site easily enough.

[warwickshire]

Although the information you need has been listed, I find the .gov.uk website is a good place to keep up to date with rules and regulations.

https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property

[Steve Macey]

theartfullodger,

I inherited it, I'm hiring an agent who surely should inform me of all the stuff I need to do. But he's not hired yet and I'm trying to book stuff in advance before I finish repairs.

[jpkeates]

Don't rely on an agent knowing or doing anything right.
Some are great, but there's no requirement or qualification to be a letting agent, so there's not any guarantee they'll know much more than you - and you (with respect) don't know enough to be able to judge whether they're knowledgeable or not.

You're about to let someone into something that's worth many tens of thousands of pounds, where they have many rights and access to do a hell of a lot of damage.
You have obligations as a landlord that can see you sued or fined, regardless of you outsourcing to an agent.

You can't be an "accidental" landlord, unless you inherit a property with a tenant in it.
You have to be a landlord or not a landlord.
There's no grey area that isn't horribly risky.

How did you decide that being a landlord was a good idea before you knew the answer to the questions you don't know to ask yet?
If you'd been left a car would you have started a car rental business?

[Steve Macey]

jpkeates,

It seems to be the only reasonable option, I inherited two houses, the maintenance is way too high for me to just keep them empty, and there seems no other sane option to increase my money. Keeping money in the bank is a net loss.

I think it's a safe bet that choosing an agent from the most highly rates estate agents in my city should land me a decent one..

[Steve Macey]

Good resources for learning the basic laws etc and whatever else I need to in the UK would be more appreciated. Obviously this was the next step.

[Steve Macey]

Look maties if it isn't worth being a landlord, howabout you all stop.

[jpkeates]

Good resources for learning the basic laws etc and whatever else I need to in the UK would be more appreciated. Obviously this was the next step.

Have a look at the NRLA.
https://www.nrla.org.uk

It worries me that this is the "next" step.

I appreciate that you probably think I'm being a dick.
But this isn't simple dickishness.

[jpkeates]

Look maties if it isn't worth being a landlord, howabout you all stop.

I spent about two years researching and considering being a landlord before I bought my first property.

And two of the properties I bought were disasters and my tenancy agreement was crap, despite that.
And, if I was making the decision today, there's no way I'd invest in English residential property.

[Steve Macey]

Well it's different for me, I already have 2 properties, it would be foolish to not at least try.

What else can beat the rate of inflation, that doesn't require luck or a very advanced specirfic skill-set?