In my humble opinion, it is far more cost-effective to avoid an eviction if you possibly can.

Whether you are a self-managing landlord or us an agent it will have cost you money to sign-up that tenant in the first place.  What you don’t want to do is go through all that expense and hastle again if you can possibly avoid it.

At the bottom of this article, I’ve inserted a table that gives you some idea of the additional costs involved.  By reference to your own particular expenses, you can get an idea of just how much an avoidable eviction will save you.  Of course, there may be times when an eviction is your only reasonable course of action and you may just have to cut your losses and think a bit more long-term to get back on track.

 

By the phrase “avoiding an eviction” I don’t mean the following: –

• Let the tenant live in your property for free.
• Let your tenant sublet the property.
• Ignore malicious damage – devalue your investment.
• Let your property be used for illegal and immoral purposes.

or many other things that are either restricted via your tenancy agreement or would not be tolerated by a reasonable member of society in the UK.  No, I mean something different.  I mean doing everything you reasonably can in preparing for and actively running a tenancy as you would any other business venture that you would want to succeed. Believe it or believe it not I have met landlords who invested many tens of thousands of their hard earned money in a buy-to-let property, got a tenant, collected the first month’s rent and hoped that the money would just come rolling in without any further work or intervention on their part. Guess what happened!

Steps to help avoid an eviction

I suggest that most, if not all evictions can be avoided by following these simple steps from the very beginning: –

Prepare Your Property

Ask yourself the following question:

Would I find the standard of this property acceptable for my family to live in?

Ensure the following: –

• Good decorative order throughout:
• Acceptable level of cleanliness
• No rising damp

 

Systems working as they were intended:

• Heating and hot water
• Clean water supply
• Taps
• Shower
• Waste disposal including toilet
• Double glazing and loft insulation
• Oven and Hob
• Lighting
• Door locks
• Ventilation
• External fencing, gates, garage and shed doors

Safety Issues:

• Electrical supply and distribution
• Gas supply and distribution
• Floor coverings
• External ingress and egress (going in and out of the property in reasonable safety)
• Internal fittings such as sliding, mirrored wardrobe doors
• Damp issues
• Adequate, working and correctly sited smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

Take stock of your inventory:

• Prepare a comprehensive inventory of your property and the contents you are including with lots of date stamped images. If this includes any minor damage such as marks on surfaces you need to make the scale obvious by including a coin or small ruler in the image.  If an agent manages your properties they should be able to do this for you within the management cost. If you manage yourself and have a small number of properties (1-3) you can do inventories by hand. It will only be a hassle the first time and then it’s just an update. If you have a large portfolio it might be better to invest in an inventory system. Many of them can be installed on a smartphone or tablet.

Prepare a “Welcome Pack” for your future tenants. This should include:

• Location of fuse board (fuses adequately labelled) or electrical trip switches
• Location of all meters (electricity, gas, water)
• Location of mains water stopcock and check that it is easy to use. If not, provide a tool
• Map of the area
• Times of waste collection and local rules
• Telephone numbers of:
  • Water Utility supplier
  • TRANSCO for gas leaks
  • Local gardener if you are insisting your tenants are responsible
  • Local authority council tax department
  • Current gas and electricity suppliers (remember your tenants are entitled to change this if they wish)
  • Your contact details as landlord for both night and day – this should also be in the tenancy agreement if you manage your own properties.
  • A welcome to your new home card, and maybe some milk, bread and a few cleaning products – this, of course, is optional

 

Marketing your property

Make sure your marketing is legal and honest.

Don’t exaggerate. It will only waste your time and the time of your potential tenants.  And in this age of social media, you might get a bad, unjustifiable, reputation very quickly.
Don’t discriminate. Not only might this be breaking the law but you might also be restricting the pool of potential tenants and reducing your income.

Decide what type of tenants you want.

My advice is to firstly concentrate on the type, size, location and environment of your property.  This will make it easier for any discussions with potential tenants. For instance, a terraced property with steep, narrow stairs might not be ideal for a tenant suffering from some types of physical disability. On the other hand, a bungalow might be just what they were looking for. Likewise, an apartment on the top floor of a block with no lift is hardly going to be ideal. They may say at the outset that they will cope but may later come back for major adaptations that you don’t want, even if the local authority or NHS is funding the installation.  I’ve tried to ask why these organisations don’t pay for de-installation at the end of the tenancy but with no joy.

Try to ascertain as much as you can about the circumstances of your potential tenants. A family of mum, dad and 4 young children is not ideal if you only have a small 2-bed property. If nothing else your tenants are not going to be long term.

Other considerations are:

1. Your attitude to tenant’s pets. See my latest news section here.
2. Future ability to pay the rent. See my article on “Working or Benefits Tenants” here.
3. Rights of the tenants to rent in the UK.  See my article on this here.

 

“I want this accommodation quickly”

Last but not least a word of warning about any potential tenant who rings you up with the above-mentioned phrase or similar.  There may be a very genuine reason why they need accommodation quickly but you need to stick to your procedures. You are renting a very expensive investment. It’s always a risk, but like all professionally run businesses, you need to manage that risk. Always full reference/credit check potential tenants and this takes time.

 

Suggested avoidable actions:	Cost:
Advertising or Agents tenant-find fee
Extra monthly cost of B2L Mortgage
Void period council tax
Void period water rates
Rent arrears
Extra cost of your time
Court costs of repossession	£325
Bailiff costs	£110
Repossession advise cost
Extra heating cost - relevant in the winter