Frequently asked questions

If your property is presented at its best, and priced to suit the prevailing market, it should take no more than a month to find a tenant. However, this can vary according to the time of year.

The majority of our tenancies are for an initial fixed period of six months, although sometimes it suits both landlords and tenants for this to be twelve months or even longer. Most of our tenancies ‘run on’ at the end of this initial fixed period, until terminated by either party with relevant notice, which for the landlord is three months and for the tenant is one month.

When a suitable tenant has been found, they will be fully referenced and you will be advised of their name, occupation and personal circumstances. If you are a local landlord, and wish to meet your tenant, this can be arranged, although many landlords of managed properties prefer to keep contact at arm’s length. If you are managing your own tenancy, you will, of course, meet your tenant and he / she will be given your contact details on moving in.

For Fully Managed and Rent Collection arrangements, all rents are payable on the first of the month, with the first and last months of a tenancy calculated on a pro-rata basis. Our commission and any other deductions for repairs, insurance etc will be deducted and the balance paid to you. A monthly statement will detail all transactions on your account.

Allowing time for the rent to reach our account, and to be processed, you should find that the monthly rent reaches your account by about the 10th of the month. However, this can be affected by the timing of weekends, bank holidays etc.

As the landlord, you will be responsible for ensuring that the property, including its fixtures and fittings, is in a good state of repair. Repairs that are the landlord’s responsibility will be billed by the contractor and the invoice put onto your account. This is paid when the next rent is received. If the repair has been occasioned by any neglect on the part of the tenant, the invoice will be directed to him / her. We will be happy to discuss your individual maintenance requirements prior to the commencement of the tenancy.

For Managed and Rent Collection properties, when notice is given we notify you and immediately start to re-market your property in order to minimise the void period between lets. We also advise the tenant on cleaning requirements. When the keys are received from the tenant, our independent Inventory clerk checks the property against the original inventory, taking account of the nature and length of the tenancy, and provides a written report to us. Any deductions from the deposit are negotiated by us on your behalf, in line with the requirements of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. For Introduction Plus landlords, a copy of the final report will be sent to you so that you can negotiate the deposit return direct with your tenancy.

If you are considering letting your property you must advise your insurers, as not all companies will cover rental property and not all insurers will provide the detailed cover required by landlords. However, through our contacts with specialists in the business of providing insurance for rented properties we are able to offer our landlords insurance policies designed specifically for the risks faced when renting a property:

For example:

Buildings & Contents insurance which includes:

• Accidental damage
• Malicious damage by the tenant
• Loss of rent when the property is uninhabitable through an insured event such as flooding
• Property owners’ liability cover of £5,000,000.
• Buildings policies include £20,000 of contents cover free of charge.

Contents Only:

• Even if your property is provided unfurnished, or is a furnished/unfurnished flat where the buildings insurance is included in your maintenance charges, your buildings policy will not cover you for replacement of curtains, carpets, white goods and light fixtures if damaged through an insured event.

Peace of mind for less than £10 per month!

However thoroughly tenants are vetted, no-one can guarantee that a tenant won’t default on their rent, especially in times of economic uncertainty. Although rare, should a tenant continually fail to make their rent payments when due it would result in notice being served to end the tenancy.

If the tenant refuses to vacate at the end of the notice period it may be necessary to go to court to obtain a Possession Order, and the average legal costs of an eviction can be several hundred pounds.

For less than £10* a month the Rent & Legal insurance policy that we offer can give you complete peace of mind, knowing that the following protection is in place:

• Rent paid until vacant possession is obtained (less one month’s rent as the excess which can usually be recovered from the tenant’s deposit).
• Legal costs in obtaining vacant possession including court costs, solicitor’s fees and bailiff costs if it comes to that point.

Also included:

• Legal costs arising from tenancy disputes, disputes with contractors or property disputes

* This cost is for fully managed properties receiving a rent of less than £2,500 per month. For properties in excess of £2,500 per month and for non-managed properties, please refer to the enclosed fees sheet for current prices.

Because Morgan Associates are directly regulated by the FSA, rather than being just an 'Introducer' of insurance business, we are able to handle insurance claims on behalf of our landlords, which many letting agents are now prohibited from doing.

All income generated in this country is assessable for tax, regardless of the residential status of the owner.

A Landlord is classed as non-resident in the UK if they are out of the country for more than six months in any tax year. In accordance with the Finance Act 1995, agents are required to deduct tax at the basic rate from rental income net of expenses prior to paying monies to overseas Landlords. The agent must send the tax deducted to HMRC on a quarterly basis (June, September, December and March).

However, under this Act HMRC introduced a system of Self Assessment and all overseas Landlords may apply to the HMRC for approval to be paid the rent without tax being deducted. If this is granted the agent is issued with an Approval Number for the Landlord, whereby they are allowed to pass the rental monies to the Landlord without deduction of tax. The Overseas Landlord would then settle any tax due directly to HMRC in an annual return.

Should you move abroad whilst in the middle of a Tenancy you must advise us of this so that we can ascertain whether tax should be deducted from your rental income.

We strongly recommend that you apply for Self Assessment and we can provide you with the appropriate application form. We cannot file this application on your behalf - it must be done by you. If a property is owned by more than one overseas landlord each landlord must submit an application for approval.

Your tenant will be required to contact HMRC to determine whether they need to deduct tax from the rent they pay.

They may be required to do this if:

• the rent they pay is over £100 a week and
• they pay the rent direct to a non-resident landlord
• they pay the rent to a person outside the UK
• they pay the rent to a person who is not a letting agent in the UK