Landlord FAQs

There are a number of legal requirements to fulfil before you are able to let your property. Firstly, you must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) in place before your property is advertised. This is a guide to the energy efficiency of your property and is a useful way for potential tenants to compare the level of gas/electricity bills they are likely to incur with different properties. If you have a gas supply to your property, you will also need a Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate, which must be performed by a gas engineer on the Gas Safe Register. If you are letting your property furnished, then you must ensure that your soft furnishings comply with fire safety legislation – i.e. they must have a fire label on them (applies to soft furnishing containing foam eg mattresses, sofas etc).

As a landlord, you are also responsible for ensuring that the electrical supply and appliances in your property are safe and you should also carry out a fire safety risk assessment before letting, as well as ensuring that your property does not have any Category 1 or 2 items under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

Sounds a bit onerous doesn’t it? Don’t worry, CBR Property Management can help you with all of these things – arranging safety certificates where necessary and carrying out a fire risk assessment for you.

CBR Property Management holds all client moneys in a separate client account that has client money protection insurance with CMP. Deposit money (which is essentially tenant money unless a valid claim is made by the landlord) is lodged with the Deposit Protection Service. CBR Property Management has public liability insurance as well as professional indemnity insurance so, in the very unlikely event  of a claim against us, there is insurance in place.

CBR Property Management is registered with the Data Protection Register and undertakes to keep all information confidential, unless otherwise specified. Your details will not be passed onto third parties without your permission and you can opt out of any marketing activity carried out by us at any time.

All properties are advertised with Zoopla and Prime Location. 

Full details are obtained on any interested tenants and references are taken up from a previous landlord. Credit checks are also carried out via a national agency. For student tenants (and other young people who may not be in well-paid employment), a UK-based guarantor is also sought. Credit checks are then carried out on the guarantor. Any potential problems are highlighted with the landlord at an early stage and, in some cases, it may be advisable to take rent 3-6 months in advance.

We use an up to date assured shorthold tenancy (unless doing a company let). Tenancies are usually drawn up for a minimum of 6 months.

These will usually be the tenants’ responsibility. However, we will arrange for meter readings at the beginning and end of the tenancy and arrange for utilities to be put into the tenants' names.

For both our Full Management and Rent Collection services, we collect the rent from the tenant by standing order, deduct our fees, pay any maintenance/repair bills and forward the balance to you within 5 working days. For the On Call and Let Only services, you are responsible for collecting the rent from the tenant.

For the Full Management service we carry out an inspection roughly every 6 months (3 months for licensed HMOs) and report back to you. We can carry out inspections on any other service as well, but these would be charged for separately.

We will arrange for any routine repair/maintenance according to the service level you select. We use competent local tradesmen who are experienced in their field. Alternatively, if you have your own contractors you would prefer us to use, that can be arranged so long as they have appropriate levels of public liability insurance in place.

We keep a very close eye on rents and will raise any delays with the tenant at an early stage. In most cases, this is enough for payment to resume. Unfortunately, in a minority of cases, the issue can become more protracted. Sometimes, there is a genuine reason for delay, sometimes not. Either way we will keep you informed at an early stage and will continue to pursue the tenant for payment up to issuing Notice. If things ever get serious enough to go to court, we can advise you and accompany you to the hearing if necessary. This is a very rare event but we have experience of the process.

CBR Property Management have an in-house complaints procedure that aims to investigate and respond to your complaint within 15 days. Should you be unhappy with the outcome of your complaint we will give you details of how you can contact the Property Ombudsman, of which we are a member. The Property Ombudsman Scheme has been providing consumers and property agents with an alternative dispute resolution service for 25 years and provides consumers with a free, impartial and independent alternative dispute resolution service.