i am not living in London, how hard if I manage the flat and tenants by myself？are there many landlords who manage their flats？my flat is a new high quality building with 24 hours receptionist and service, is it very comlex to register electricity and water and the payment for any tax？hope to see more suggestion from landlords and thanks for your advice！
I think registering for water & electricity (& other utilities / council tax etc), is probably one of the easiest Landlord jobs.
I assume by tax, you mean your tax self assessment? Personally, I pay an Accountant to do this, although my finances are somewhat more complicated than a single rental, so I’m not the best person to advise on that.
The most important thing is to make sure you are aware of rental / Landlord legislation, and do everything right, as if you miss anything it can come back to bite, if you are refused repossession or fined.
Right to Rent, document serving (gas safe / right to rent guide etc), referencing, choosing tenants, maintenance & contractor management, enforcing payments if not received are just a few things you need to look into, before taking the plunge.
can you elaborate on the ‘enforcing payments if not received’ part please? How does one literally do this, or if you could sign post to any guidance or steps.
suggest you first do some landlord training
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The difficult part is:
Sourcing good tenants. It should be easier than in other parts of England but you do need to travel to London to do it, ideally.
Repairs etc - you need good contacts. Your building, if high end, might have some good contractors you could use.
Apart from that, it’s not that hard (if you have good tenants)
You might want to look at another recent post on here titled “is this censorship” before deciding. In particular the list I posted near the end of the thread. My view has always been this is a complex business with many pitfalls and like any business you have to put in the time to learn your craft before self-managing. If you have the time and energy to do some training and to read and absorb everything you can find on the landlord sites, which will take months not days, then self managing will probably give you the best outcome. If not then I couldnt recommend it as I believe the risks are too great.
based on what Linda has said, I would suggest she first use an agent.
In answer to your question, in my view it is hard to manage a flat / tenancy yourself. Saying that it can be rewarding and cheaper.
Given that you have asked the question, I am going to assume you are a new landlord? I would suggest rather than jump straight in doing it yourself, choose a letting agent and then gradually take on the responsibility once your are confident.
tks every one for your suggestion, your input are very valuable, it seems it very important to find a good tenant first