New Tenant Compliance & Regulation Checklist (For Landlords)

New tenancies & being compliant

In light of all the old, new and incoming legislation, it’s getting incredibly easy for prospective, new and even experienced landlords (and dare I say agents) to get lost in uncertainty, specifically ensuring all the right boxes are ticked at the start of a tenancy.

Sure, there are skid-marks and dollops of information scattered all over my blog (and the rest of the internet), including all the outstanding (and sinfully lousy) contributions from commentators (I genuinely appreciate every single one of them), to help landlords be more aware of their legal obligations. However, piecing it all together can be a tedious task at best, despite my best efforts of trying to keep everything organised.

I recently acquired new tenants, and it was the first time I had to follow some of the newer legislations/regulations that recently came into play. That’s when I realised I needed a neater process to keep on top of all the mumbo-jumbo bureaucracy, but more importantly, to document proof of actually following the procedures. Soon enough, I quickly threw together a list of “procedures” to follow, and supplementing tenant confirmation forms that confirm the procedures have been complied with.

So, to make this Christmas extra special for everyone, I thought I’d give you ALL want you’ve been pining for this year. Yes, a mouth-watering pack of digital landlord downloadable documents, the very same ones I recently created and used myself (which may or may not be useful or legally accurate).

Since landlord law isn’t just for Christmas, so I’ll keep it updated going forward.

I’m excited, so I sure as hell know you must be.

Landlord compliance pack for new tenancies

Essentially, I’ve thrown together a bunch of forms, which I believe will help landlords in England be compliant (and safe) when starting new tenancies.

Tenancy Compliance Form Teaser

What’s with all the confirmation forms?

I know, I know, I’m really cramming them down your gullet like an onslaught of jizz-rockets, aren’t I?

The thing is, a lot of the new legislations/regulations require landlords to hand over documents to tenants. Failing to do so could lead to prosecution and/or impede on our rights to repossess our property efficiently through the Section 21 route. On that basis, it’s more important than ever to not only follow the proper procedures, but also have the means to prove it. God forbid, if we end up in a legal battle and need to provide proof of compliance.

One devastating aspect I’ve learnt about being landlord is how Judges tend to be much more sympathetic towards tenants; they’ll literally pounce on any crack given the chance, no matter how minuscule, and then use it in the tenant’s favour.

That’s a whole lot of signing…

Yup.

I tried to think of a way where I could just throw everything into one form, which required one date/signature from the tenant. But, because almost every regulation works with different timelines it didn’t seem possible, or at least, my feeble mind couldn’t think of a way to accommodate the information in a simpler way without making the process restricted and unworkable.

Let’s not forget, on top of all of the above, we need to sign the tenancy agreements, inventory forms and Guarantor forms (none of which are legally required but highly recommended). Can anyone say wankers-cramp?

In reality, it won’t actually take long to sign the documents and it’s not like you need to do it every month. Most of it can be done during one sitting over a class of chilled Chardonnay.

Oh… and make sure you sign two copies of each! Yes, more signing. It’s always good practice to have both tenant and landlord have signed copies of all documents.

Use at your own risk!

Guys, you know the drill. I gotta’ cover my little butt!

I’m not a Solicitor or a legal bod. I genuinely don’t know how well these forms would hold up in court, but I believe they’re better than having nothing. Based on the guidance and examples I’ve seen, they should do the trick. But I obviously have to recommend that you seek professional legal advise if you wish to use them! :)

Either way, with or without the forms, this post should at least make life easier for those landlords scrambling around looking for what the hell they need to do in order to comply with the requirements when starting a new tenancy.

So, what do you think? Useful? Pile of junk? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Let me know if you have any suggestions or notice any problems. Also, to put is all in the festive spirit (in case you’re not already), let me know what the shittiest present you have ever received and what you ended up doing with it.

If I don’t get a chance to blog again before the end of the year, hope you all have an awesome and safe Christmas/New year!

Enjoy xo

(note: if you’ve already signed up to my mailing list, just enter your name/email address and you’ll automatically get directed to the download page without needing to re-subscribe).

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