It’s come to the end of your current tenancy agreement, and your tenants are ready to move on, but are you? Here are a few things to consider when it comes to getting ready to place your property back on the rental market.
Agreed upon end date
If you have tenants that have decided to leave or whose contract has ended for your rental property, then you need to ensure you have both confirmed an end date. This is extremely important to ensure that all parties involved are aware of this agreed-upon end date and should be confirmed in writing. Having this date in the diary will allow you to plan so you have a smaller gap between tenants.
Inspect the property
Arranging a property inspection is an important step when it’s the end of a tenancy. This will help to identify that they have cared and maintained respect for you and your property. Once they have removed all their belongings from the property, you need to ensure you complete a thorough inspection. This inspection will allow you to assess whether you return their deposit in full or partially. As a landlord, you will need to provide a good reason with evidence to not return their deposit. During this inspection, it is also important that you make sure the past tenants have removed all their items from the property.
Re-list your property
Are you happy with your property? If so, the next step is to get it back on the market. After taking updated pictures of the property, it can then be listed to encourage new tenants for the future. Existing tenants should hopefully be accommodating to viewings during their notice period so typically shouldn’t cause any delays.
If you are an independent landlord or a new landlord entering the market for letting, it’s worth working with a lettings agent, such as Durden and Hunt to help navigate and manage the process for you.
Check previous payments
Before exchanging the keys and returning the deposit for the property, we would recommend going through all previous payments. This will allow you to guarantee that the outgoing tenants have completed all their payments. We would also recommend checking if there are any outstanding council tax and utility bills under the address of the property before parting ways with the tenants.
Deep clean
Once you have completed the process with the previous tenants and you are happy, we advise deep cleaning your property in preparation for new tenants. This is not necessarily a required step, but if the past tenants have not returned the property to its original state, you could claim from the deposit. This could then be used to pay for a deep cleaning service and anything else you may have to fix within the property.
