Letting your property

Rules & regulations

We do the research to make sure you are aware of your current legal obligations as a landlord.

Fire

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended in 1989 and 1993) came into effect on 31 December 1996 . As a landlord, you must ensure that certain furniture in your flat complies with these regulations – if you don’t, you could be breaking the law.

It’s relatively easy to check as all furniture bought since 1990 should comply with the regulations. If it does, it will have had a safety label attached to it at the point of sale.

The exceptions to the legislation are:

Any furniture made or re-upholstered before 1950
Any furniture in a property which the landlord regards as his home and which is let 'on a one-off short-term basis’ (while you may be temporarily working away from home).

Items covered by the regulations are:

Furniture for private use in a dwelling, including children's furniture
Beds, headboards, mattresses (of any size), pillows
Sofa beds, futons and any other convertible bedding
Nursery furniture
Garden furniture which is suitable for use indoors
Loose and stretch covers for furniture
Sofas, chairs or scatter cushions

Items not covered by the regulations are:

Sleeping bags, bedclothes (including duvets)
Loose covers for mattresses
Pillowcases
Curtains
Carpets

Find out more
You can download a copy of the regulations here:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/guide/furnitureguide.pdf

Or, for your copy of A Guide to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations, just write to: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, HMSO Publications Centre, PO Box 276 , London , SW8 5DT

Safety

The latest regulations covering appliances and fittings in any property you are letting are as follows:

Gas appliances
Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1994 and later amendment, it’s your responsibility as a residential landlord to make sure all gas appliances (boilers, cookers and gas fires) are maintained in good order and checked for safety every 12 months by an engineer with a current CORGI licence.

Landlords are now obliged to give tenants a copy of this safety check report within 28 days of it being carried out. The regulations also state that you must retain the safety check report for two years. All appliances in properties let by Douglas & Gordon must be checked for safety before a tenancy begins and must be rechecked annually on the anniversary of the previous inspection.

Electrical appliances
Under the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, l andlords are responsible for making sure all electrical appliances are safe for use. To comply with these regulations, all electrical installations in the property need to be regularly checked and serviced.

Smoke alarms
All properties built since June 1992 must have smoke alarms fitted on every floor. Although it's not a requirement for older properties, we recommend that smoke alarms are fitted in all properties.

Tax

Tax is a specialist, complex issue and we always recommend that you take professional advice when letting your property. However, there is one key area of the tax regulations for landlords.

Paying basic rate tax
If you live abroad, under the latest regulations, the agent who collects rent for you has to deduct an amount that’s equivalent to Basic Rate Tax and pay it to the Inland Revenue each quarter. We would normally collect rent for you and ensure this amount is paid to the Inland Revenue.

If the rent isn’t collected by us or another of your agents, such as an accountant or solicitor, we will let your tenants know that they must deduct tax from their rental payments and pay the Inland Revenue.

Exemptions for overseas landlords
You can apply to the Inland Revenue for exemption. As long as your tax history is good, you’ll be sent a certificate that will authorise us to pass on the rent to you without deducting tax.

We can provide you with the necessary application form, so please let us know if you need one. If your property is in joint names, you will both need to apply for exemption. You will need to quote our reference number, which is 922/NA002688.

You have to apply for this exemption yourself and it’s a good idea to do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the exemption certificate may be issued too late and we would have to deduct the required amount of tax deduction before passing on the rent.

Full details of the scheme can be found here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm