Renting Out a Property for the First Time: What You Need to Know

Renting out a property for the first time? Read on for top tips, tricks, mistakes to avoid and our recommended checklist.  

Whether you are starting out as a rent-to-rent property investor and looking to let out your first property or you’re homeowner looking for your first ever tenants, the prospect of being a first time landlord can be quite daunting. The key is to be well informed and well prepared in order to avoid common mistakes and hefty penalties. Here are the main areas to consider:  

Rules and regulations  

When it comes to renting out a property for the first time, there are a few landlord responsibilities to consider.  This includes ensuring that your property is structurally fit to let and you have conducted all the relevant checks. If renting out property in the UK, you must make sure you do the following:   

• Check whether your local council requires you to obtain a license to let out a property  
• Ensure your home is safe and free from health hazards 
• Make sure all gas and electrical equipment is installed and maintained in a safe manner  
• Have an Energy Performance Certificate in place for the property 

• Protect your tenant’s deposit in a government-approved scheme 
• Ensure that your tenant has the right to rent your property  
• Provide your tenant with a copy of the How to rent checklist when they start renting from you (alternatively, this can be emailed to the tenant) 

Tenants  

When renting out a property for the first time, tenants will play a vital role. Whether you are renting your property to students, families or professionals, there’s a few areas to consider. For example, you may want to use a property agent to handle advertising your property and handling tenants. You’ll also wasn’t to consider things like rent price and how that measures up with costs, rules you want to have in place e.g. not allowing pets, putting a contract in place and the tenancy deposit scheme you will use.  

Getting started  

If you’re renting out a property for the first time and require more guidance, be sure to check out our blog for top property tips and tricks.