Landlords

A general buy-to-let checklist to be used as initial guidance before entry into this investment market. This document allows you to print out a list of aspects to consider in a hard copy and then as you attend to each aspect it can be checked off the list. The document also provides a basic budget and profitability calculator for your proposed buy-to-let property. Please note that this document can only be used in respect of a property in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The owner of a house or flat can use this agreement to take on a lodger to occupy part of the property with them. Because this document creates a licence and not a lease, it means that you can bring the agreement to an end much more easily than under a tenancy agreement, providing you with more protection. This agreement is suitable for up to 2 lodgers who will occupy a single room. If you are taking on more than one lodger in separate rooms, you will need to create a separate agreement for each room.

This agreement should be used by a landlord who wishes to take on a lodger with the option of providing cleaning services and/or breakfast. The agreement creates a licence and not a lease, which allows more flexibility should you wish to bring the agreement to an end. The document also contains an option to provide a third party guarantee for the payment of rent.

Use this agreement if you share, or plan to share, a house or flat with another person or a group of people (up to a maximum of 4 other people). The agreement will set out the financial (e.g. responsibility for bills) and other obligations that each of you will have to each other while living together in the property.

Note that this agreement is not suitable in any of the following situations:

• You want an agreement to protect your financial interests while living together as a couple (use a cohabitation agreement instead).
• One of the occupants is the landlord of the property.
• Each tenant has a separate tenancy agreement with the landlord.
• The property is not rented.
  
  

On 1 December 2017, new residential tenancies in Scotland (including Short assured tenancies) were replaced with a new 'private residential tenancy' (PRT).

Use this PRT for a property in Scotland with up to 2 landlords and up to 5 tenants. It's broadly based on the Scottish Government's model tenancy agreement but with a number of differences. We've added extra clauses to give you more in-depth detail about your and the tenant's rights and obligations, such as:

• More details on how the tenant should use, maintain and secure the property
• Where and when notices from a local or statutory authority must be sent to you
• Giving you access to the property to examine it during and before the end of the tenancy
• What the tenant must do when the tenancy ends, including what happens to any property left behind
• Specifying the interest to be charged on dishonoured rent payments
• Protecting property insurance cover or premium payments from being voidable by a tenant
• What happens if the property is destroyed or becomes uninhabitable
• The rights and obligations relating to any adjoining property you own

To use this document the tenancy must be for the tenant's only or main home. It can be used for Houses in Multiple Occupation.

It should only be used by landlords who are individuals (rather than structured/acting as businesses).

It is not suitable for residential tenancies with at least 2 acres of land, agricultural tenancies, holiday lettings, lettings of social housing, student lettings by Universities or colleges, and lettings of purpose-built student accommodation containing 30 or more bedrooms.

This document should be used by landlords of a residential property to create a fixed-term assured shorthold tenancy agreement. Specific clauses are included to cover gas, electrical and fire safety and building maintenance. It is suitable for both regular lettings and Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMO). The document deals with a landlord's requirement to use a Government-authorised Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme. Please note that this document can only be used in England & Wales and the total rent payable should be less than £100,000 per year.

Landlords of a residential property in Northern Ireland can use this document to create a tenancy agreement for a fixed term, suitable for either one or two tenants. Specific clauses are included to cover gas, electrical and fire safety and building maintenance. It is not suitable for houses in multiple occupancy (HMO), which is a house tenanted by three or more unrelated people sharing kitchen and toilet facilities.

This document is suitable for use by a landlord of business or residential property to request the payment of rent due from the tenant under the terms of the tenancy. It should not be used as a demand for service charges, the contents of which must generally satisfy further conditions which can vary greatly from lease to lease.

Many tenants, particularly those from overseas, require a letter from their landlord confirming that they have a tenancy. This can be important in opening a bank account, gaining employment, and even joining a local library. This document creates a letter from a landlord confirming the status of a tenant. To use this document, you will need to have details of the lease to hand.

Use this letter to request a reference from a referee whose details have been supplied by a prospective tenant. The references should be obtained from a previous landlord, a previous secured lender, an employer, a bank or a building society.

Use this document to meet your legal requirements after taking a deposit from a tenant. It tells tenants which deposit protection scheme is used and, together with the scheme documents that must be provided with this notice, gives them the 'prescribed information' required by law.

Protect the deposit and give this notice and the scheme documents to the tenant within 30 days of the tenant paying the deposit. At the same time, you should also send it (together with the scheme documents) to anyone who paid the deposit for the tenant and, in order to avoid any dispute, the tenant's guarantors (if any). This document is suitable for tenancies in England & Wales.

As a landlord (or licensor), you'll inevitably collect, use and store personal information about your tenants or licensees. Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you need to tell them what information you hold, how you'll use it and for what purpose. You also need to tell them about their privacy rights and how the law protects them. You can use this privacy notice to do this. It's suitable for landlords of residential or commercial property.

Use this document to request a reference letter from a prospective tenant's current or previous landlord. It creates 3 documents: a reference letter, a reference letter mandate and a reference form. The reference letter is to be sent to a prospective tenant's current or previous landlord and is accompanied by the reference form, which controls the information being given by the current or previous landlord. The mandate, to be signed by the prospective tenant, authorises contact with the current or previous landlord. Please note that this document can only be used in Scotland.

When letting property to tenants in Northern Ireland, use this document to create a rent book in accordance with the Private Tenancies Order 2006. You must provide your tenants with this rent book within 28 days of the start of the tenancy. Failure to provide a tenant with a rent book in accordance with these regulations can lead to a district council taking legal action. Please note that this document is only for use in Northern Ireland.

When letting property to tenants in Northern Ireland, it is necessary to provide each tenant with a statement of the tenancy terms compliant with The Tenancy Terms Regulations (NI) 2007. This document will produce a statement of tenancy terms for you to provide to your tenants and an inventory of furnishings as required by the Private Tenancies (NI) Order 2006. You must provide both of these documents to the tenant within 28 days of their tenancy starting. Note that this document is only for use in Northern Ireland.

This document is the required notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. It is served on a property owner's tenant(s), where an assured shorthold tenancy has been granted and possession is required. It should be noted that it is a criminal offence to evict a tenant of residential property without a court order. This document can only be used in England & Wales.

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), the minimum notice period that you need to give to tenants has been temporarily extended to 6 months.

The documents contained in this pack include everything you will need before you can start court proceedings to claim back possession of your property if it is rented using an assured shorthold tenancy agreement .

Begin the process by using the document 'Notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988' along with its associated covering letter. (Please note that you cannot use this section 21 notice if you have not protected your tenants' deposit in a government-authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme and sent them notice of the scheme that you are using. If you have not yet done this, you should use the document 'Notice to tenant(s) of deposit protection scheme' first.)

Once you have correctly served the section 21 notice, use Form N215 - Certificate of service to record how and when the section 21 notice was served.

If the tenants do not move out of the property in the time stipulated in the section 21 notice, you can move to stage two in the process by using our pack 'Stage two: Start court proceedings for possession (accelerated possession)'. 

  Pack documents:

•    Notice to tenant(s) of deposit protection scheme
•    Notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988
•    Covering letter for section 21 notice
•    Form N215 - Certificate of service

Where you have obtained a court order for possession against your tenant(s) using the accelerated possession procedure and they have failed to vacate the property by the time stipulated in the order, you can use this pack to apply to the court bailiff to remove the tenant(s) from your property and to regain possession. The pack contains the court forms and letters required to follow the court procedure.

Begin the process by completing the document ‘Form N325 - Request for warrant of possession of land’ and sending it to the court using its associated covering letter ‘Covering letter for form N325 (application for warrant of possession)’. During the course of the court procedure you will need to send the ‘Letter to bailiffs enclosing completed forms’.
Pack documents:

•    Form N325 - Request for warrant of possession of land
•    Covering letter for form N325 (application for warrant of possession)
•    Letter to bailiffs enclosing completed forms

When making a possession claim in England or Wales, new rules require you to tell the court what you know about how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the tenants and their dependants (even if you don't know). You can do that with this document.

There are 3 situations where you'll need it:

1. When starting a new accelerated possession procedure (i.e. section 21) claim on or after 3 August 2020, sending it with claim form N5B.

2. To prepare for a review hearing (unless you're appealing a possession order). A notice of review will be sent by the court if you have a claim to recover possession and rent arrears. It will require you to send a bundle of documents, including this one.

2. At any possession hearing (i.e. under the section 8 or section 21 procedure) for claims that were made on or after 3 August 2020. You must bring 2 copies to the hearing and give a copy to the tenants at least 14 days before it.

Note: There's also a 4th situation where you might need it. Government COVID-19 renting guidance says that, "to avoid delays", you should this document when starting a new claim with claim forms N5 and N119 (i.e. having previously sent the tenant a section 8 notice). However, this advice contradicts the official court procedure rules, so it's unclear if you need to send this document in this situation or how the court will react if you don't. It may be safer to send it anyway, as there's no harm in doing so.

On 21 September 2020, courts in England and Wales began processing possession claims again. If you've made a claim before 3 August 2020 that was then stayed (paused) by a court due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will not re-start until you send the court (and tenants) a reactivation notice. You can do that with this document.

Use it if, before 3 August 2020, you sent the court and tenants:

• Forms N5 and N119 (a section 8 possession claim); or
• Form N5B (a section 21 possession claim).
  
  

It's not required if:

• You've received a final possession order from the court;
• Your claim was started on or after 3 August 2020 and then stayed by the court;
• The court has told you it's not needed.

You may need to send other documents with the reactivation notice. We've therefore designed the document questionnaire to work out if this applies to your circumstances, and provided information and instructions on what other documents you'll need and how to create them.

This document creates covering letters to the court and the defendants for a landlord serving a witness statement and a schedule of rent arrears. To use this document, you will need to have issued a claim at court for possession of the property using Form N5 (claim form for possession) and Form N119 (particulars of claim) on the grounds of rent arrears. Please note that this document can only be used in England and Wales.

If your tenant(s) has failed to pay rent and is in arrears, you can use this pack to help get them to pay back the rent, or as the first step in the process of starting court proceedings if they do not pay. This pack is suitable for use where you have an assured shorthold or an assured tenancy agreement  with the tenant(s).

You should begin the process by sending your tenant(s) our 'Initial letter to tenants regarding rent arrears'. If you have not already done so, you must also send our ‘Notice to tenant(s) of deposit protection scheme’ (for use with lettings using an ‘assured shorthold tenancy’ only). If the initial letter does not have the desired effect then you should use our ‘Notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988’ along with its associated covering letter ‘Covering letter for section 8 notice’ to prepare and serve a formal notice seeking possession upon the tenant(s). You can use our ‘Form N215 - Certificate of service’ to record how and when the section 8 notice was served.

If it is unlikely that the tenant(s) will pay the rent arrears (due to their financial circumstances) then you may want to consider obtaining a possession order using the accelerated possession procedure as this is quicker, but does not order the tenant(s) to pay the rent back. Start with our pack 'Stage one: Before you start court proceedings (accelerated possession)'.
Pack documents:

•    Notice to tenant(s) of deposit protection scheme
•    Initial letter to tenants regarding rent arrears
•    Notice under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988
•    Covering letter for section 8 notice
•    Form N215 - Certificate of service

Use this pack after correctly serving a notice seeking possession under section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 where the tenant(s) has failed to pay the rent arrears in the time stipulated in your notice. 

The documents contained in this pack give you everything you must use in order to start court proceedings, obtain an order for possession and to obtain an order for the tenant(s) to pay the rent arrears (if they do not issue a defence at court disputing your claim). The pack contains all the court forms, letters and ancillary documents, such as schedules and witness statements, required to follow the court procedure and to claim back your costs, where your tenancy agreement states that the tenant will be liable to pay for them.

You should start the process by using the documents ‘Form N5 - Claim for possession of property (rent arrears only)’, ‘Form N119 – Particulars of claim (rent arrears only)’and ‘Schedule of rent arrears for form N119’. You should then send these completed documents to the court along with the associated covering letter ‘Covering letter for claim form N5 & N119’.

The document notes that come with these documents will explain which of the documents included in this pack you will need to use next or view our flowchart .

If it is unlikely that the tenant(s) will pay the rent arrears (due to their financial circumstances) then you may want to consider obtaining a possession order using the ‘accelerated possession procedure as this process is quicker, but does not order the tenant(s) to pay the rent back. Start with our pack 'Stage one: Before you start court proceedings (accelerated possession)'.

Pack documents:

•    Form N5 - Claim for possession of property (rent arrears only)
•    Form N119 – Particulars of claim (rent arrears only)
•    Schedule of rent arrears for form N119
•    Covering letter for claim form N5 & N119
•    Updated rent arrears schedule and witness statement for possession hearing
•    Schedule of costs for applications to court to recover costs
•    Form N215 - Certificate of service
•    Possession claim notice: effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the tenant

If you have obtained a court order for possession against your tenant(s) for rent arrears and they have failed to vacate the property by the time stipulated in the order, you can use this pack to apply to the court bailiff to remove the tenants from your property and for you to regain possession. The pack contains the court forms and letters required to follow the court procedure.

Begin the process by completing the document ‘Form N325 - Request for warrant of possession of land’ and sending it to the court with its associated covering letter, ‘Covering letter for form N325 (application for warrant of possession)’. During the course of the court procedure, you will need to send the ‘Letter to bailiffs enclosing completed forms.
Pack documents:

•    Form N325 - Request for warrant of possession of land
•    Covering letter for form N325 (application for warrant of possession)
•    Letter to bailiffs enclosing completed forms