Renting House out in UK - advise needed
 

Hi,

We have got Skilled Residence Visa, and plan to fly out in September.:thumbup:

Due to the state of the housing market in the UK, and incase things don't work out long term in NZ, we want to rent out our house in the UK, rather than sell.

We have never done this before, and have no idea about things like Health & safety, insurance, maintenance etc..

Has anyone got any experience of renting out their UK house. We would welcome and advise and tips,
:confused:
thanks in advance.

chris

Re: Renting House out in UK - advise needed
 

Hi,

We rented our house when we moved to Italy.The house was in Oxfordshire and we let it out through a local estate agent.You can sign up for two types of contract with them
1. They only vet the potential tenants and charge you a fee
2.Fully managed-they find the tenant and look after the property.Once every few months they check the property and let you know how it is kept.In case of problems, they contact you and arrange repairs. They also contact you to tell you if you need to get a new certificate for electrical appliances, sort out council tax, etc.
Our agent is very good and we have been with them 8 years now.We pay for fully managed service.
Regarding insurance, there are many companies who sell buildings insurance for rented properties. We do not have contents insurance as the property is only furnished with white goods.Regarding maintenance, the agent should tell you if anything needs to be done if you sign up for a fully managed let.

Never let your house to people on benefit, we did that once and it was a nightmare.If using an agency, make it clear to them that you wish for a professional couple with a credit rating 'A'.

Re: Renting House out in UK - advise needed
 

Hi Chris

We too rented our house through the local estate agent. They found the tenants and vetted them etc. We had a couple of little problems and the agent sorted them out for us. Informing us all the time as to what was happening.

We only had building insurance as the house was unfurnished and got this through ACE insurance, who were very good, helpful and informative.

Unfortunately it is not only those on benifits that can be a nightmare but also those deemed 'professional'. It is a risk you have to take when renting out your property.

Re: Renting House out in UK - advise needed
 

Hi Chris,

If you visit a couple of estate agents they should come around and do a free 'valuation' of your property. All the ones we have visited have an information pack that tells you about all the other stuff, gas and electrical checks etc.

I would recommend fully managed. Trying to arrange repairs and house checks is going to be difficult from the other side of the world. I rented my house out a few years ago and the agents sorted everything out including the repairs following a burst pipe in the loft.

You always take a risk with renting property. My tenants were young marketing executives for a large multinational. I'm sure they had an A credit rating, but they lived like careless students and skipped without paying the last two months rent.:thumbdown:

WP

Re: Renting House out in UK - advise needed
 

thanks for the advise.

like you say we'll probably get a couple of estate agents round and see what they say.