Managing your rental property without a letting agent

What a letting agent actually does

Split into its parts, full management usually means:

• Marketing the property and arranging viewings
• Referencing tenants and carrying out Right to Rent checks
• Preparing the tenancy agreement and collecting the deposit
• Protecting the deposit and serving the required information
• Keeping safety certificates up to date
• Handling repairs and coordinating contractors
• Collecting rent and chasing arrears

Finding and checking tenants

You can advertise through online property portals, often via a low-cost online agent for a one-off fee. Before a tenancy starts in England you must check that every adult who will live there has the right to rent in the UK, and it is sensible to reference them for income and previous tenancies.

Setting the tenancy up properly

At the start of an assured shorthold tenancy you need to give your tenants several documents, including the current How to Rent guide, the gas safety record, the EPC and the electrical safety report. The deposit has to be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, with the prescribed information served in the same window.

This is where self-managing landlords most often slip, because it is a burst of paperwork at a busy moment. A checklist and a record of what was served, and when, is your protection later.

Staying compliant through the tenancy

The ongoing work is mostly dates: the gas safety check every year, the electrical report every five years, the EPC every ten, and alarms checked at the start of each tenancy. None is difficult. The risk is simply forgetting one, which is why they belong in a system that reminds you.

Repairs

You are responsible for keeping the structure, exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation in repair. Having a small set of contractors you trust, and a record of every job, makes this manageable — and gives you evidence if a dispute ever arises.