Expert Advice for Landlords and Tenants

Robert Burwood, who runs Story of Home’s lettings operation, offers some clear guidance for landlords and tenants that reflect the questions and subjects that most often arise in the course of his work.

Robert Burwood, born and bred Londoner, head of Story of Home lettings.

Setting the scene

At Story of Home, we are known for letting unique, design-led homes throughout London, and not for restricting our operation to certain areas and postcodes. We typically have on our books historic Victorian and Georgian properties and very special twentieth century and contemporary homes.

Rental property in The West End is one of our main focuses, with beautiful homes in Covent Garden, Marylebone, Bloomsbury, Soho, Fitzrovia and Regents Park. We have a growing reputation and list in Hackney and Belsize Park. And we are actively increasing our operations and client base both north and south of the river, with a focus on Islington, Highbury, Hampstead, Primrose Hill, Highgate, Muswell Hill and Crouch End, Bermondsey and Greenwich.

Affordability for tenants

Some of the principal considerations when choosing a property to rent apart from the living space itself, are the headline rent, transport costs, and household bills. It’s good to get a broad idea of the likely expenditure on bills, either from the current owners, existing tenants or the property’s EPC. Landlords will want to establish that the tenant can afford these costs and unless the landlord or agent is undertaking these reference checks themselves, a third-party reference provider will look at the annual rent and expect the tenant’s income (or joint income) to be at least two and a half times the annual rent. That’s an important number for tenants to bear in mind to ensure they won’t be rejected as unsuitable for that rental level.

Let and managed home in Hackney, E8.

An affordability work around

One way around any affordability issue is to pay six or twelve months rent in advance on a contract. Another option is a guarantor. They have to be UK-based, be referenced themselves and their income needs to be at least three times the annual rent. They will also be a named party to the tenancy agreement.

Encouraging landlords to keep an open mind

I advise a landlord to look at a tenant’s case on an individual basis and the possible merits of it. It all comes down to why a tenant cannot prove an income. If it’s because of starting a new business or job, or having no credit history in the UK, these can be reasonable and understandable mitigating circumstances for an otherwise perfect tenant. Ultimately though, I will never recommend someone to a landlord unless I have complete confidence that they are the right tenant for their property.

In it for the long term

A tenant offering a long-term deal to a landlord can put themselves into pole position where there are competing offers for a property. For the tenant to be able to guarantee a fixed or minimally adjusted rent for the duration of the lease allows them and the landlord to plan for that period. The biggest fear landlords have are finding themselves saddled with unsuitable tenants who will not respect their property and possibly be late with rent payments. Changing tenants on a frequent basis involves more administrative costs and the risk of void periods, so longer term tenancies with carefully selected tenants can pay dividends.

The tenant landlord relationship

Tenants are less likely to develop a healthy working relationship with a corporate landlord as they naturally tend to be less flexible than a private landlord when it comes to annual rent reviews and individual negotiated terms. There are exceptions to this, but in general a private landlord, even those buy-to-let investors running a number of properties as a small business, tend to get more involved with their tenants and there can be a more personal touch like, for example, moderating any rent increases as they seek to establish a long-term relationship.

The accidental landlord

An even more touchy-feely set up can arise when placing tenants with an accidental landlord, people who are renting out their own home while abroad or maybe have inherited a property. Your profile as a tenant is even more important to this type of landlord and that’s part of the very comprehensive pre-referencing selection and referencing process that a good agent undertakes.

Let and managed home in Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11.

Rights and responsibilities

There are over 150 pieces of legislation related to the UK rental market. They form a minefield for landlords who are not fully aware of their responsibilities, the failure to meet which incurs huge fines or even a prison sentence.

Landlords move towards using agents like me because the rules, regulations and licenses increasingly required have become too big a burden, and they can defer the responsibilities and risks on to the agent. We are a landlord’s insurance policy against a vast sweep of the accountability, and we are, at the same time, the reassurance a tenant needs that the property they’re moving into is safe and legally compliant.

Be fearless in the rental market

Landlords have felt under siege for some time with more and statutory requirements to fulfil. In recent years there have also been concerns about how the law covering no-fault evictions will pan out. This remains to be seen, however any changes to legislation will certainly need to ensure a balance of rights for both tenant and landlord. There are also a variety of reasonably priced insurance products available for landlords that cover loss of rent or legal costs in any rare worst-case scenario.

Unlike comedy, timing is not crucial

There’s an assumption that the property market is busier in the spring and summer months. The weather’s nicer, the days are longer, properties show better. But if you have a stunning, design-led home for rent to professional people there is no bad time of year to be marketing your property.

The highly lucrative student market is different though. In contrast to the perception of student housing, there is a healthy market for fine homes in the centre of town for students bankrolled by wealthy parents who will pay top rents up front. For this market, you want your property on the market between June and beginning of September for these tenants who, with our rigorous vetting procedures, are as reliable as professional clients and, in most instances, will be paying their rent six or twelve months in advance.

Let and managed home in Hackney, E9.

Reputation as quality control

As an agent, our spotless reputation with landlords for the quality of tenants we send to them is everything. It’s our calling card. Without it, you cannot not survive as a top letting agent in London. As well as the detailed background checks on prospective tenants carried out by our specialist referencing providers, we also undertake our own more subtle ones, like looking at a tenant’s social media profiles to get a feel for who they are. If anything looks slightly out of kilter, then we won’t recommend. I cannot emphasise enough how extraordinarily rare it is that we have problems with tenants.

The benefits of being a flexible landlord

Landlords shouldn’t necessarily expect to get any more rent for providing a furnished property than an unfurnished one. I advise clients to be flexible, especially accidental landlords who might be renting out a fully furnished home. If you’ve got a sizeable property yielding a high rent, a storage unit is a relatively minor expense, and I find that in terms of the relationship with the tenants, being flexible about what specific furniture to leave in and take out creates a really good relationship. And what it might cost you in a bit of storage, you’ll make up in other ways with a fantastic, appreciative tenant.

Your personality is what matters

What I enjoy – in the same way that Stuart and Mathew do with the buying and selling side of things – is really getting to know my clients. I will advise on that basis. If you are the sort of landlord who wants peace of mind and not to be thinking about your property or portfolio then my mission is finding you a superlative tenant who wants a longer-term tenancy.

I invite prospective tenants and landlords to sit down with me and, rather than talk about tenancy lengths or agreements, talk to me about what your life is like, and what you want it to be like, and what your situation is, and we’ll find the right tenancy for your circumstances and personality.

Let and managed home in Greenwich, SE10.

The trusted advisor

My job is about becoming a trusted advisor, to landlords and tenants, and being able to assume the responsibility for them, so that tenants feel completely reassured that they are protected and well looked after, and landlords know that their property is in good hands and that I’m there to deal with anything that comes along.

Renting fine homes in London does not need to be stressful or complicated and with a good letting agent who loves making life simple and productive for his tenants and landlords, there is no need for the process to be anything but a happy story of home.

Rob Burwood is here to answer all your rental questions, whether you are a landlord or prospective tenant. Call him on 020 7867 3999 or robert@storyofhome.co.uk