Many people nowadays are faced with the prospect of moving home for a limited amount of time due to a wide variety of reasons. This move may be within the UK or abroad, on business or maybe even retirement, the situations where letting may be an option are many. It is also true that many people these days are buying property specifically to rent to tenants and the prospects of capital growth have been exceptional regardless of temporary market trends.

For owners who have bought their property for investment the decision to let has already been made, but for those owners temporarily away from their home the decision to sell or to let needs thought and research. Of course, there may be advantages and disadvantages to either option but, in most cases letting your home whilst you are away can prove to be the most advantageous in the long run. The main reason for this, we believe, is that rents being achieved will in most cases be sufficient to cover the bulk of your monthly costs i.e. your mortgage and/or insurance premium. Indeed it is our experience that there are many Landlords who receive an extra income from letting their property especially where no mortgage is involved. The U.K. property sales market has been on a ‘high’ for some time and we are sure that any investment in bricks & mortar will show a healthy capital appreciation in the long run and renting complements this by bringing in an income during that period of growth. Even if we do experience the cyclical ‘highs’ & ‘lows’ which are inevitable in the property market, it makes sense to keep hold of the asset which will continue to be a sought after commodity.

Letting nowadays is very much a mainstream sector of the property market. There is a large amount of help, information and protection available to Landlords these days, especially by the Housing Acts of 1988 and 1996 and by companies committed to enabling Landlords to insure themselves against any possible problem they may face when letting a property. Confirmation that Letting property is now ‘mainstream’ is epitomized by the fact that most lenders now have dedicated departments to handle the administration involved with letting mortgaged property. Most high street banks and building societies will even lend second mortgages to those people who choose to keep their existing property and purchase a second, third or a even a complete portfolio. Most Landlords can now turn their main or secondary properties into true assets, when previously and for far too long they have been very heavy millstones. Letting your home will, we are sure prove to be one of the better decisions you have made and turn your property into a true investment once more. This can be the reality and would urge you as a potential new Landlord to take as much care in choosing your letting agent as they should take in choosing your tenant.

In the Following pages we highlight some of the things which should be given consideration when letting your home. These are of course for guidance purposes only. Above all we wish to emphasise that by instructing us to let your home none of the points raised should cause you concern our service will take the worry out of letting your home.