Landlords often need legal services, but where should they turn for help and advice? Heidi Shackell from The Letting Hub offers some pointers
What are the main legal requirements in setting up a new tenancy?
There are several legal requirements that a landlord must adhere to when setting up a new tenancy. These include health and safety requirements, EPC certification, setting up a tenant deposit that is protected within a government-approved scheme, issuing a How to Rent checklist, and completion of the recently changed Right to Rent checks.
It is vital that all landlords complete these requirements and keep themselves up to date with the legislative changes, as failure to meet these could result in fines and in some scenarios, even a prison sentence.
What are the other administrative requirements?
Tenant referencing is a key element of the lettings process, it is vital that agents and landlords ensure their tenant referencing is robust as it is the first line of defence in ensuring you get the right tenant for your rental property.
With the cost of living impacting some tenant’s rental affordability, plus the rise of tenancy fraud within the industry, it has never been more important that agents and landlords invest in rigorous tenant vetting to ensure that they are not left with what can be a very costly mistake later down the line.
Why is it better to outsource tenant referencing?
By outsourcing referencing, agents and landlords have access to the latest technology and years of experience and expertise.
Technology has had a major impact on the tenant referencing process. Open Banking, Enhanced ID Verification, and digital Right to Rent checks can give agents and landlords accurate data-based evidence that a tenant could be suitable for their property.
But at The Lettings Hub, we combine these technologies with the human knowledge and expertise we have gained from over 10 years in the industry. We reference nearly 200,000 tenants a year and have created a “Coca-Cola formula” that ensures our agents and landlords can feel complete confidence in our reference products.
How do the Right to Rent regulations affect landlords?
Right to Rent checks are fundamental in setting up any tenancy; they are a legal requirement to renting out any property in England. Failure to complete Right to Rent checks can lead to fines from the Home Office or a prison sentence.
From 1st October, new legislation came into place meaning the temporary Covid process of verifying a tenant’s identity online via video call has now ended. This means all UK and Irish tenants will either have their identity confirmed in person or by using one of the government-certified Identity Verification Service Providers (IDSPs). This is why we have teamed up with HooYu to provide our agents and landlords comprehensive, government certified digital Right to Rent checks.
What is Enhanced ID verification?
Enhanced ID Verification is new technology for the lettings industry; however, the technology itself is not completely new and has been seen in other industries such as banking for a few years.
This is a great addition to our industry, the technology uses facial biometrics, liveness checks, and ID document verification to help eliminate fraud and ensures landlords and agents identify fraudulent tenants before they enter a property. With the number of fake UK and Irish ID documents in circulation tripling in the last 2 years, this could not have come at a better time!
How do AML and PEP regulations affect landlords?
AML checks are legally required for any property with a monthly rental income of over 10,000 Euros, and with the HMRC reporting that half of those falling foul of AML regulations are property organisations, it’s important that landlords complete the necessary checks.
AML and PEPs checks also help landlords identify tenants that may be planning to use their property for criminal or money laundering purposes.
How are KYC tools useful to landlords?
KYC or Know Your Customer products add that extra level of protection to landlords, by including Enhanced ID Verification, Right to Rent, AML and PEP’s checks to your tenant referencing. With this addition, you can be confident that you have fulfilled your legislative requirements and put in place robust and comprehensive referencing to ensure you have a legitimate and trustworthy tenant in your property.
What other services does The Lettings Hub supply to landlords?
We’re not just a referencing company in fact we have a wide variety of products for landlords and their tenants. We currently protect tens of thousands of agents, landlords, and tenants with our products including Rent and Legal Protection, Landlord Property Insurance, and Tenant Home Insurance.
What’s the story behind The Lettings Hub?
The Lettings Hub was formed six years ago following a merger between Let Risks and The Landlord Hub, which brought ten years of lettings expertise under one roof.
Five years into our journey we acquired tenant referencing businesses UK Tenant Data and took on the client and existing insurance portfolio of Lets XL. Today we reference around 200,000 tenants a year, protect tens of thousands of customers with our insurance products and have 1,000 agents using our free pre-tenancy platform, BOX.
Where can I find out more about The Lettings Hub?
You can find out more on our or call us on 01733 396016.
