Becoming Accredited landlord new to letting

[Cazzyd]

Hi. I have just rented my property and I have to obtain a selective licence. I can save just under £200 to become an accredited landlord. This will involve a house inspection and I am not sure what else. I have wired in smoke alarms one upstairs on downstairs. All double glazed windows newly fitted. I have an epc unsure where this is. Can anone tell me what changes I may need to make so I can work out if it will be worthwhile? I would rather become accredited but if the inspection comes a long list of minor changes is it worth it? I have a battery operated carbon monoxide detector. Combination boiler 6 year old. Rewire 16 year ago and burglar alarm. I won't have to provide booklets etc to my tenant will I. Please could someone spare 5 minutes or so just explaining the purpose of inspection and what they may have me do to obtain accreditation. Thanks

[jpkeates]

Where in the world are you?

[Cazzyd]

In Lancashire

[tatemono]

what would be the benefit to the OP of being accredited? Just curious...

[Berlingogirl]

Your council will send you an application form and discuss what is needed with you. The council person will look out for hazards that you might not be aware of.

One advantage of being accredited is your property can go on their list of available properties. I don't think it's much of an advantage but there you go! I would say don't go on the council list of landlords as you get all the no-hopers phoning you .

You can get a copy of your EPC off the web if you google it.

You will need to provide your tenant with a gas safety certificate as well as a ton of paperwork as ordered by the gov. How to rent booklet, deposit scheme paperwork etc.

[DPT57]

Two of the 3 boroughs where I have my rental properties are also consulting on selective licensing and offering big fee discounts to accredited landlords. I assume the same is true in your case.

I'm afraid becoming accredited is not just a question of getting the building in order. I had to 'pass an exam', in my case with the RLA and that plus my ongoing RLA membership gave me enough points to apply for accreditation. The exam came at the end of a distance learning course. You get about 90 days to cover all the material from memory and can take the test any time up to the end of this period. If you already know a fair bit you can do it in less time. I did the test quite quickly. I think you also have to commit to managing your properties/tenancies according to the principles of best practice too. Anyway, your starting point would probably be to join one of the national landlord bodies and look at their training modules if you haven't already. I don't know whether this will fit with your licensing timetable though.