What Do You Need to Know When Buying or Renting a Property?

There are a lot of small niggles when it comes to buying or renting a property. It is not as simple as renting out the home you own, collecting the money and living happily ever after. Owning a property is a lot of responsibility and you have to consider all of the legalities and regulations when you rent to tenants.

First of all you need to make sure that the home you are giving people to live in is perfectly safe and there are no hazards that can cause danger to your tenants.

One way of doing this is making sure you have a gas certificate on all of the household gas appliances. These are usually the boiler, fireplace, and cooker. By ensuring you have a regular gas check and safety certificate, you make sure all of the gas appliances are safe for your tenants and there are no gas leakages that may harm your tenants. This is a legal requirement.

Another requirement that isn't a legality, but can really benefit you and your tenant is an inventory. An inventory is basically a book full of pictures taken of various things in your property. It ensures that any damages can be clear and the inventory acts as confirmation to prove the damage was not there previously. This can easily settle any landlord-tenant disputes regarding damages.

If you have never heard of portable appliance testing, you are about to find out what it is. Portable appliance testing is when all of the electric appliances in the property that has a plug is tested to ensure it is safe to use. This is not a legal requirement, however if an electrical appliance that was already in the property when the tenants moved in causes any harm, then the landlord can be liable for this. If the landlord shows he has had the appliances PAT tested, then it is clear that he has taken the necessary measures to ensure the appliance is safe and he would not be liable for the incident.

Also, did you know that all gas appliances within the home, legally have to be installed by a Gas Safe registered engineer? Well if you're a landlord and you didn't, make sure that you know about all of the legalities when owning a property. It is easier than you think to come across a legality you missed out which can land you in trouble. Know your responsibilities to your tenants.

Try not to be risky with your investments, as it could end up costing you a lot more!