Today I wanted to talk to you about prescribed information.

Landlords, do you know what prescribed information is?

Do you know when it needs to be served?

Well here is a soft few reminders, just as a gentle reminder of the documents that you need and what it is and what it entails.

Prescribed information is all the documents that you need to serve your tenant at the start of the tenancy, this way you make sure that you are compliant should you ever get audited, checked or possibly if the tenant takes you to court, you’ve obviously done all your due diligence at the start of the lease.

With regards to the prescribed information here are the documents that you must make sure you supply your tenant at the start of the tenancy to avoid any fines or anything that can come back and bite you on the bum, because we’re all here to make money, not lose money.

How To Rent Guide

First of all, you need to make sure you give your tenants the how to rent guide, the latest addition can be found on the government website.

EPC

EPC, you need to make sure that your tenants are supplied with a valid energy performance certificate, with the minimum rating of an E – not below an E, above an E.

Gas Safety Certificate

Gas safety certificate, this is checked for all the gas appliances and is checked every 12 months on the property. This includes;

• Gas hob
• Oven
• Fire
• Boiler

All of those necessary things need to be checked.

The gas certificate is valid for 12 months.

EICR

EICR, Electrical Inspection Certificate Report, very similar to the gas safety certificate, but it checks all the electrics in the property, this is valid for five years and it must be a satisfactory report.

If not and your tenant doesn’t get a satisfactory report supplied to them within 28 days of moving in or requesting the document, you can face up to a £30,000 fine – that’s something you don’t want to have in your back pocket.

Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms, do you know that you must have a smoke alarm on each floor of the property? So in a house, if it’s got a ground floor and a first floor there must be one on each level. Make sure they are checked and tested before the tenant moves in.

Inventory

And last but not least an inventory. Why an inventory? The reason you do an inventory is because how you give the property to the tenants is how you expect it back, subject to fair wear and tear. If you don’t have documentation of how the property was handed to the tenants at the start, this could come back and bite you in the ass should you wish to make any deductions from the tenant’s deposit.

At the end of the day I said we’re here to make money, not here to lose money, you want to make sure your inventory is as detailed as possible at the start of the tenancy because evidence is key.

Again prescribed information, that you need to serve your tenants are:

• How to rent guide,
• EPC,
• Gas safety certificate,
• EICR report,
• Check the smoke alarms are working and,
• your inventory.

If you’ve got any questions please feel free to contact me, Danielle Withers-Brown, lettings director at Inspired Sales and Lettings, where we’re with you every step of the way on your lettings journey.