Being a landlord can be a very rewarding experience, but it also carries the risk of falling foul of an ever-increasing amount of legislation not to mention a significant degree of hassle.
Here, we take a sometimes lighthearted look at the A-Z of being a landlord in London….
A is for Assured Shorthold Tenancy Any new tenancy since 28 February 1997 is automatically an assured shorthold tenancy, unless the landlord serves a notice to say it is not to be an AST.
B is for Buy-to-let A property purchased with the specific intention of letting it out to paying tenants.
C is for Checks What landlords must carry out regarding a potential tenant’s immigration status.
D is for Deposit The money paid by tenants as security against damage.
E is for Excuse Used by tenants to explain the late payment of rent.
F is for Fire extinguisher Required equipment for HMOs.
G is for Gas Safety Landlords are legally responsible for the safety of their tenants and must get gas appliances checked on an annual basis by a registered engineer.
H is for Housing Act 2004 Legislation that all landlords must comply with or risk significant penalties.
I is for Improvement Notice Issued by a local authority if landlords fail to carry out repair work at a rental property
J is for Joint tenancy A form of agreement used to purchase a rental property with another party.
K is for Keys The items tenants lose after a night out.
L is for Letting agent Commonly used by landlords to find tenants and look after a rental property.
M is for Mortgage Property loan often used to fund a buy-to-let investment.
N is for Noise One of the most common reasons for the residents of neighbouring properties to complain about your tenants.
O is for Overstay One reason to serve a Section 21 Notice on a tenant.
P is for Prescribed information If a landlord issues a Section 8 Notice that fails to comply with prescribed information rules, a court will rule it is invalid.
Q is for Quit (Notice to) To end a shorthold tenancy, a landlord must give at least two months’ notice under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act.
R is for Rent Source of a landlord’s greatest amount of hassle.
S is for Sub-letting Another potentially costly problem for landlords.
T is for Tenancy deposit protection scheme The law forces landlords to put deposits received from tenants in a TDPS if the property is let under an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007.
U is for Under-occupation A landlord’s worst fear.
V is for Void period Technical term for the time a rental property is not let out.
W is for Water Commonly followed by the word leak.
X is for X-rated Non-technical term to describe nightmare tenants.
Y is for Yield The annual net income a property generates, divided by its purchase price.
Z is for Zone Rental properties in Transport for London’s travelcard Zones 1 and 2 command the highest rents.
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