Your Questions? Answered
We've tried to cover some of your questions here, but if you do have a question we haven't covered, contact us and we will be happy to answer it.
Knowing that landlords come in different packages, we, therefore, offer total flexibility with our service, which can be tailored to suit your needs.
We offer a variety of different service packages, including fully managed and tenant find options, all of which are priced differently.
Our charges are open to negotiation, so you can let your property your way at a budget that suits you.
The scheme requires all private landlords who own a rental property in Wales to register their details as well as the addresses of all of their rental properties that are situated in Wales.
A landlord's registration will be valid for five years and after that period they will be required to renew the registration.
As your letting agent, we can advise you with registering with Rent Smart Wales as being unregistered or unlicensed can result in a fixed penalty fine.
One of our staff from Hensons Homes office will accompany all viewings arranged through us.
Viewings will occur during weekday office hours and on Saturdays.If you'd like to be present for any of them, that's fine just let us know.
'HMO' stands for 'Houses in Multiple Occupation' and relates to properties let to a group of unrelated adult tenants also houses that have been converted into flats can require a HMO license.
Licensing laws can also vary around the country for example the Cathays area of Cardiff requires landlords to comply with additional regulations to let their properties.
HMO licences are granted for 5 years when the property complies with the local authority's housing standards and is held by the owner of the property. As your managing agent, we can assist with HMO licensing, as without a license you could face a heavy fine.
As well as running credit checks, we ask for proof of employment and previous landlord references for all of our professional tenants.
Our student tenants need to secure a financial guarantor who must be a UK homeowner over the age of 25 and who agrees to pay any shortfall in the student's rent.
If however a guarantor cannot be found and only if the landlord agrees, we will accept a number of months' rent in advance in lieu of the guarantor form as an indication of financial security for the landlord.
For our managed properties you will receive the rent between the 14th and 18th of every month by bank transfer into your nominated account.
For our tenant-find service, we aim to pay and transfer the monies to you within 10 days to your nominated account.
Thereafter the tenants will be responsible to pay the rent to you directly.
Before you can let your property, you need to consult a number of parties:
Your mortgage lender - your lender may ask that you let your property on an Assured Shorthold basis
Your insurance company - if you don't let your insurance company know that you have let your property, you may not be covered in the event of damage, fire or theft in the property
Your freeholder (if you have one) - is important if you wish to let a leasehold flat, for example.
A tenant's deposit is typically five weeks' of rent on the property and is payable by them upon the signing of the Tenancy Agreement.
The deposit will then be registered with a tenancy deposit protection scheme within 30 days.
For our managed properties, we register our deposits with the Deposit Protection Service, resulting in a faster and more efficient deposit release process at the end of the tenancy.
It is a legal requirement for landlords to have a valid EPC in place before marketing their property.
'EPC' stands for 'Energy Performance Certificate', which measures the energy efficiency of a property using a scale of A-G. An EPC is valid for 10 years.
But don't worry! If you haven't got one, we can check whether your property has one, and arrange an EPC assessment for you if you don't.
