Whether you are an experienced landlord, buy to let investor, or maybe unable to sell your property at present, we want to ensure you have all the right information at your disposal. At Trading Places, our experienced and qualified staff are specialists in this area. We have assisted thousands of people in letting their homes and have used our own knowledge and experiences to create an impartial landlords guide.

We have broken the process down for you to better understand what to expect.

What rental can your property achieve?

The first step of the process is knowing what your property can realistically achieve. Our fully qualified Lettings Manager or Managing Director can attend your property to discuss our services in detail. You will receive a realistic understanding of what income you can expect to achieve for your property. Click here to book in your free market appraisal.

Taking the time to find the most suitable tenants –

Here at Trading Places, we take pride in taking the extra time to find you the most suitable tenants for your property, we do not operate on a first come first serve basis. We verify the details of all potential tenants through our provider, UK TenantData. The reports provide us with detailed insight into the tenant's credit and address history in order to help us provide you with the best possible information. This report includes four different stages:

• Right to rent check – that the applicant has the right to live in and work in the UK.
• Credit check – this checks the credit history of the applicant, including any CCJ’s or IVA’s.
• Employment reference – on the application form the applicant will fill in their employment status and the details of the relevant contact who can verify this. For example, an HR contact within a business or accountant of a self-employed worker. We will obtain the job details of the applicants including registered company name, address, contact details, salary and length of employment.
• Landlord reference –. If the applicant is currently in another rental, they will provide us with the contact details of their landlord who will verify the rent currently being paid and if they have been good tenants.

Tenancy legislation and laws –

Trading Places regularly updates all our clients with the latest residential lettings laws and legislations, here is a list of current legislation to abide by:

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) – All residential properties have to be rated at grade E or above before any tenancy is started.
• Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR) – This is the latest legislation to come to fruition. From the 1st April 2021, all residential lettings must have a satisfactory electrical report in place, the reports are valid for five years.
• Gas Safety Certificate – This is the final certificate that needs to be in place before a tenancy begins and needs to be renewed annually.

Deposit/Tenancy agreement

Once the background checks are complete and approved, Trading Places will then agree on a move-in date that suits all parties. Once this is agreed, the tenancy agreement will be sent across to the applicants for e-signing through the UK TenantData portal. The tenancy agreement will also include all of the above certificates and a timestamp of when these were opened by the tenants so all parties know they have been opened and looked at. All of our tenancies agreements are classed as Assured Shorthold Tenancies, under the Housing Act 1998.

We will also secure the deposit in full at this stage. By law, deposits are capped at five weeks’ worth of rent maximum. We are registered with the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) and all of our tenancy deposits are stored within our registered account.

Inventory

Once a move-in date has been set, Trading Places will undertake a full inventory of the property through the app provider we are registered with. This report is separated room by room and all of our photographs are timestamped so there can be no discrepancies should there be any deposit issues at the end of the tenancy.

Tenancy Start Day/Utility Bills

Finally, on the day the tenants collect the keys to your property. We will obtain final meter reads and pass these onto the relevant Utility companies so the tenant's details can be registered. Trading Places will liaise with gas, electric, water and council tax providers on your behalf.