Background 

This blog explains why and how you can check your landlord before you sign your tenancy agreement. The number of households privately renting in the UK is estimated to be 5.3 million, a quarter of them are families with children. This number is set to rise by 25% in the next 5 years.  That’s a lot of property renters i.e. tenants. The number has doubled in the last 20 years, with our future generation more likely to rent than buy well into their 30’s and 40’s. At the same time, there are over 2 million landlords some of whom are rogue landlords, so checking your landlord up is very important. That’s why it’s more important than ever, to check your landlord
information such as contact details, registration details, and landlord
ratings

Who Is Likely To Be Seeking A New Rental Property?

When looking for a property to rent, it can be easy for the searcher to be rushed into a quick choice by a shortage of:

– Time

– Experience

– Availability

– Advice

If this is you, (or was you) and you are seeking useful information, then read on.

The first thing to make sure you know, is who is your landlord? Because often properties are marketed by estate agents or property agents who do the viewings, make the contacts and send the emails to you on behalf of the landlords.

Who Is My Landlord?

How to find out your landlord if your property is being marketed by an agent.

– Ask the agent

– Look at your tenancy agreement

– Check property register in the UK

– Get landlord details on the property viewing or as soon as possible before signing your rental agreement contract

This process should allow you to know who your landlord is. Ensure you get the full name of the landlord with correct spelling.

When a tenant makes a written request to the letting agent or the landlord’s representative, they have a right to the landlord’s name and address. Under Section 1 of the Landlord & Tenant Act, 1985 tenants have a right to request the name and address of their landlord. If this information is not provided after 21 days then the representative is not acting within the law and is liable to pay a fine. You are only entitled to the landlord’s name and address; the legislation does not include access to a telephone number or email address.

Landlord’s details can also be obtained through:

Prescribed information – this information will be issued by your deposit protection scheme, when your landlord registers and protects your deposit. It will list information about the property, the landlord, their contacts and the deposit protection scheme, who registered your deposit.

Gas Safety Certificate – every property must have a valid certificate issued by a Gas Safe registered plumber. The certificate has to list relevant contact information for the landlord and letting agents. The plumber on the certificate should also have the contact details of your landlord.

Utilities:  The landlord will have to pay these bills when the property is empty so you may be able to get the details via the supplier.

Your local authority – the council tax department will have your landlord’s details on their records for when the property is vacant.

The Land Registry – it will show you who owns the land below your property. The person who owns the land may or may not be your landlord. If not, they will likely know who the landlord is.

Is My Landlord Registered?

There are over 2.5 million buy to let landlords in the UK with each buy to let landlords owning 1.8 buy to let properties on an average. So the market is made of a large number of landlords, many of those may not be registered anywhere. Some parts of the UK have made registration mandatory for landlords renting properties out.

In Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and in some parts of England, Landlords are registered. Currently, landlords in most parts of England do not have to register, but there are plans to bring in registration schemes across the UK to keep the system consistent for all regions. Registration of landlords helps to protect tenants from rogue landlords as the council can potentially not renew the registration of rogue landlords.

Here are the links to various registers by region:

Wales: https://www.rentsmart.gov.wales/en/check-register/

Scotland: https://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk/search/start

Northern Ireland: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/landlord-search

However, it’s a shame that no such scheme operates in whole of England. Mayor of London has started a register of rogue landlords and agents where you can check if your Landlord or agent is marked as “Rogue”

https://www.london.gov.uk/rogue-landlord-checker

How Do I Check My Landlord Is Reputable? 

Find Rate My Landlord Property Review Websites

– Websites such as Ask Tenants (see link https://asktenants.co.uk ) allows you to check ratings for landlords and properties completed by previous tenants.

To date, there are thousands of properties reviews by UK tenants online. A typical landlord rating looks like this.

When to Rate My Landlord?

– Start of Tenancy Agreement – No because you don’t yet have any experience with the landlord or the property. However, you will be able to look for a landlord rating for the property from previous tenants, especially useful if they leave some detailed information on any issues.-

– End of Tenancy Agreement – yes that’s a perfect time because you can say how it was for you to help future tenants. Waiting until after you get your deposit back is also recommended so you can comment on this too.-

Why Check My Landlord Ratings?

As you will discover yourself. If you search your landlord, the benefits of landlord ratings being available prior to viewing and certainly before signing a tenancy agreement and moving in, are priceless. Once you move in, you may find it harder to get responses from a landlord to your requests to get repairs done or to amend your tenancy agreement.

You are simply “sharing the love” by rating your landlord to help the next tenant and also to bring rogue landlords to account.

It is also very important to mention that although bad landlords make the news and get all the attention, there are many excellent landlords too who deserve the credit for the quality property rental service they provide, Good landlords are worth their weight in gold and should be rated highly if this has been your property rental experience.

Summary

Checking your landlord is important to reduce stress, saving you time and
money in the long run. “As a new tenant, we understand “check my landlord” is not always high on
your priority list when searching for rental property. You’ve got the pressure to find a new place to live.

However, it’s now essential to do it, to avoid future landlord rental
property issues. These can have consequences for your time, health and
budget, as well as your reputation as a tenant.

The good news! It’s simple and easy to do,  just visit the Asktenants.co.uk website and search the property you wish to rent. When you checkout do not forget to rate your experience by completing a quick survey.