Preparing your property to a standard which will attract tenants is one of your most important tasks. You will need to attend to all the items referred to in this section before you take in your first tenants. The minor repairs, decorating and cleaning will also need to be attended to for new groups of tenants who will be moving in every year or so. If you offer a property in good condition, it will not only help you to achieve a good rental figure, but will also be more likely to attract a better calibre of tenant to the property.
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How much renovation do you want to do... or can you afford. Think about this before you buy your rental property. Do you just want to do the work that you need to do to almost any house to get it into a condition suitable for letting. You may find a property which has been maintained in good condition which needs very little work: this is the easiest way for a new landlord to start. Or do you want to take on something that needs major renovation.
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Look for a property in a good location, but then find some means to improve it Then you can increase your returns by raising the amount of rent you can charge and raising the value of the property.
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If you plan to do major renovation then you need to buy cheaply. Buying a house that is in need of renovation can be a good way of earning extra cash - but only if you can buy the house cheaply enough. You need to know
how to find bargain properties. The time and effort you put into getting your property renovated should be reflected in hard cash, i.e. the value of the property after renovation should be £000’s more than the total of the price you paid for the property plus all the costs incurred. It’s easy to underestimate how much will need to be spent.
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Plan ahead. If you are buying a property that needs major renovation to be done immediately you will need to ensure that it is done as quickly as possible. You should have made preparations before completion so your workmen are ready to start straight away. Part of your preparations involve having different tradesmen giving you estimates for the work and selecting who you will employ. If any items need to be ordered e.g. kitchen units, this should be done well in advance. If you are planning to do work yourself, arrange to have the time available and check you have the tools you will need.
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Do You need To Replace the Kitchen & Bathroom? It is important that you to attend to the kitchen and bathroom. A house with an old and badly maintained kitchen and bathroom, perhaps with some items totally lacking, will definitely need to have these replaced if you are going to attract tenants. If the kitchen or bathroom needs modernising (replacing), do it at once. If you do not these areas will look even tattier after you have redecorated and furnished everything else. Get this task dealt with before you take in tenants. If you need to replace the bathroom suite use a new white one. And don’t use the cheapest thinnest material for the bath because this will flex with use and this may cause you problems with leakage of water if a shower over the bath is used.
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Install a good shower. Install an electric shower if there is not one already fitted. Alternatively, if your central heating system is powered by a combination boiler which heats up the water as it is needed, you can have a shower connected directly to the hot and cold water supplies.
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You do not have to do everything at once... As long as your property is in a lettable condition you can simply upgrade your it bit by bit every year.
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Most properties will require minor repairs. Even if they are not very obvious it will pay to examine your house carefully to see what needs to be fixed. It’s better to get these out of the way at the outset or you will be contacted by tenants weeks or months later with complaints and requests for repairs. For example, do the windows open and close properly.
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Look for properties that simply need a tidy up and redecoration... perhaps new carpets. Straightforward, quick and relatively inexpensive improvements can transform the appearance of a house without costing you a fortune and will make a big improvement in appearance and add value to the property.
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Use your Home Buyer's Survey to help inform you what work needs to be done. Check out all the major items listed below...
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The Roof. Getting to work on the roof is one of those jobs that can be attended to right at the start of the renovation work. An original roof say around 100 years of age will be at or close to the end of its useful life. Many roofs of this age suffer from 'nail rot', i.e. the nails holding the slates in place have become badly corroded resulting in slates regularly slipping out of position. The lead work around chimneys and in roof valleys is also likely to be cracked, corroded and porous resulting in leaks. If finances permit put on a new roof; when the time comes to sell the property a new roof will be a good selling point. Repairs can be made with new slates inserted and new lead flashings and soakers but one of the problems of patching is that the disturbance caused by the repairs can start new leaks when adjacent slates get cracked etc.
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The Damp Course. If you are buying the property with the aid of a mortgage or bank loan you will probably find that it is a condition of the loan that you must have any significant rising damp problem attended to immediately. They will probably retain part of the loan until a new d.p.c. has been installed to prevent rising damp. Your surveyor's report will make clear the extent and seriousness of any damp problems. Sometimes the problem will be obviously serious with rising damp stains and even mould showing on the lower section of ground floor walls and also the characteristic smell of damp. Installing a d.p.c. will cause weeks of disruption and delay which you must allow for in your renovation schedule.
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Floors. Solid floors laid with original clay tiles may have become uneven over the years or concrete ones may have become cracked and broken. They may also be damp. The floor will require pulling up and replacing with a concrete one with suitable damp-proofing e.g. p.v.c. sheeting. It may be possible to use a easier and cheaper alternative method: putting down a layer of asphalt on top of the existing floor which will make it both waterproof and level. Wooden floors may be found with a few rotten joists on the ground floor. It is not necessary to rip out whole floors - simply have the affected joists replaced or replace only the rotten ends of affected joists. Any woodwork affected by dry rot will need more thorough attention and a specialist should be called in to deal with this. Woodwork affected by woodworm will also need treating.
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Electricity System. Have a NICEIC registered electrician check over the safety of your electrical supply and provide a report - your mortgage lender or letting agent may require you to do this. If the wiring is very old and unsafe a completely new system will need to be installed. More likely is that you will just need to bring it up to current standards. This could include replacing an old style fuse box with a safer and more sensitive consumer unit containing RCD’s. (Residual Current Devices) These will switch off the current to any dangerous appliance immediately it is detected by the system. They can easily be reset by the tenant without calling you out. You will also probably have to instal improved earthing.
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Gas System. You must have the gas system and appliances checked by a CORGI registered gas engineer or plumber. This is a legal requirement for safety reasons and must be done before your tenants move in and then annually.
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Plumbing. Check that the central heating is in working order: the boiler, pump, valves and timer are working and that all the radiators are heating up, the radiator valves work correctly and are not leaking, and that there is no air in the system. Check all taps, wastepipes, toilets etc. for leaks and malfunctions.
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Give serious attention to home security. A large number of tenants now have computers and laptops as well as other valuable electronic equipment. So your house needs to be as secure as you can make it, especially if your property is located in a high crime area. You should have solid exterior doors with good locks plus window locks. Many landlords also fit burglar alarms as a deterrent.
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Safety issues. The two main concerns are fire safety and carbon monoxide poisoning and it is your responsibility to take steps to address these. The minimum measures you should take are to install smoke detectors to provide warning in case of fire, and to arrange for an initial safety inspection of all the gas appliances by a CORGI registered engineer. Larger properties or shared properties (HMO's) may need fire doors, protected escape routes,fire extinguishers and hard-wired smoke alarms. To give warning of the presence of carbon monoxide detectors can be installed.
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The really big jobs will need planning permission and/or building regulations approval.
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Planning permission is needed for some structural alterations or improvements although this is usually only when significant changes in outside appearance is proposed e.g. building an extension. If you think you may need planning permission you should ask your local council planning department. If planning permission is needed you will need to apply using the appropriate forms and enclosing several copies of site and location plans. Planning permission will take several weeks or months to come through so apply as soon as possible. Do not start work until you have obtained the planning permission.
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Building Regulations which have the force of law, apply to new building, extensions, structural work and certain installations. Contact the building control officer at your local council to discuss whether the work you propose will be affected by the building regulations. Examples of work which would include the removal of load-bearing walls or a loft conversion. There are some kinds of building work which do not require building regulations approval. For example, if you are simply carrying out repairs to the existing building, or installing central heating or new bathroom fittings. Fees are payable to the local council for applications for planning permission and building regulations approval; the amounts depend upon the size of the proposed project.