Hi there, first post, please go easy! It’s a long time since I rented a property (20 years!) and although not a complete noob I would be grateful for any advice.
Firstly though, I am renting my Mother’s property and I would like to retain the use of the garage (separate doors) for storage for the first 6 months. After that it becomes part of the rental with no extra charge.
I have agreed with the tenant that the first month rent will be a nil value (1,200) in exchange for this, he will re-decorate half of the house and tidy up the garden at his cost. I have agreed that they can decorate however they want as long as it’s neutral colours and nothing like permanent marker (stung with this before!) and I have agreed to pay towards the cost of carpets throughout - if they want more expensive carpets they will pay the difference.
My question is, does anyone have any legal template type wording that I can put in the tenancy agreement please?
the garage is either part of the rental agreement or it’s not. Personally, if I trusted the tenant, I’d include it as part of the TA and leave my stuff there as verbally agreed and remove it after 6 months. There’s little they can do if they want to challenge this. You haven’t mentioned the fixed term but if it’s six months anyway, you could create a new TA with the garage included on that after a first TA with it excluded… but that seems more hassle than it’s worth.
As for the first month’s rent in lieu of them doing work, I wouldn’t do that personally. For one thing, you can’t legally define a level of decoration or tidying up that meets your expectations. He could take the free month’s rent, stick a coat of emulsion on one room and mow the lawn and then sit back and enjoy his tenancy. Meanwhile, you’re frustrated that you’ve effectively spent £1,200 on a couple of hours work. You should also stipulate exactly what you’d pay for towards carpets by getting a quote that specifies the quality of underlay and carpet. Otherwise, that’s a moving target too.
You’re putting an awful lot of expectation on the LL-T relationship in the very first month of a tenancy… and if it all goes wrong, you’ve got your mum to answer to as well! I wouldn’t do it myself, and if you do go ahead with it, I don’t see how you can put in place much protection legally. Other opinions may be available though
This is a mistake in my opinion. You should sort out the house first and then let it at the full rent. You cant control the quality of the tenants work or necessarily recover costs for any damage he does. You probably wouldnt be insured and If the house has issues now, the Council could get involved and start serving you improvement notices.
I’d suggest you join a landlord association and do some training first. This industry is overburdened with regulation and you could make a simple mistake and lose £000’s
I agree with Tatemono and David, you’re blurring the lines of your relationship from day 1.
In my experience it’s worth getting the property to a decent standard and advertising it. If it’s really decent you’ll attract better quality tenants who will serve you well by looking after the property in the long term.
Your current tenant might take your kindness for weakness and start trying to barter with you further down the line over other things that he/she notices along the way.
I’m sure you’re aware of all this but get your tenant credit checked, referenced and ensure they meet the affordability.
Also open rent offer a very competitive rent guarantee if this is your first time in a while. (I don’t work for open rent FYI )
)