renting out a house, what do i need to do?

[dawnc27]

hi, am having to rent sons house out while hes living away for a few years, i have electric check, gas one, smoke alrams co2 alarms, deposit in a scheme, landlords insurance.
what else am i missing?
whats typical deposit asked for? a months rent or £500 seem to be what ive seen most
should we use an agent for just finding a renter, for all problems , as point of contact and to collect rent or not at all?
thank you

Right before the tenants move in, take pictures of absolutely everything, that way you'll have proof if any damage occurs to the property outside of normal wear and tear.

I would ask for a minimum of three months rent for the deposit.

EPC certificate, but be aware that rules are changing with regards to minimum ratings in 2025 (2028 for existing tenants)

Id recommended taking the financial hit and renting it out via a good estate agent especially if you're not too sure about everything. They will charge you for finding tenants, doing affordability checks, managing the property... But it will (hopefully) make things as uncomplicated as possible for you.

I would use an agent to find tenants and manage the property as you don’t seem to have the time to learn the laws. @Aquamarine1029 has just recommended something that is illegal in the U.K. so you can’t really use MN as a reliable source of information either. Agents also do reference, credit and right to rent checks on tenants- are you equipped to do this? If you rent a home to illegal tenant it’s a £10k fine.

You would be breaking the law, I'm pretty certain it cant be more than 5 weeks rent.

Please just go through an agent, rather than relying on Internet wisdom

6 weeks is enough. If you don't know what your obligations are ask the agent to manage it. Tenants need vetting and proof of right to live in UK. You can set a maximum spend for repairs without prior approval. There is also tax due on the rental income under the Non Resident Landlord scheme.

thanks for the replies so far,
a few things of note...
deposit would be no more than the months rent.
i have read about the right to rent and know about having to check all tenants, over 18
boiler repairs, and few other bits will be done via BG landlord so tenant can arrange it at own convenience.
other repairs im happy to sort as only 2 mins down road and would liase with tenant
son has all details about income tax etc
we are leaning towards an agent for finding tenant mainly
pics will be taken morning of tenancy starting, all time and date stamped complete with a full inventory

the advice im after is mainly an idea of whats to be expected, tbh its not a high rental price area so we just wanted to know about any things we may have missed/forgot and then find out how much this would cost and then figure out if its worthwhile renting or just selling, main reason to rent is so son still has that foot on the housing ladder

We have many properties and never used an agent all are managed by our selves. By law you are not allowed to take more then 5 weeks rent as a deposit.
To advertise the property use online letting agent it costs £99 for both Rightmove and Zoopla
For referencing use Open Rent £20 for the referencing.
Currently the last property I advertised about two weeks ago I had 20 viewing requests in the first day. By doing it your self not only you are saving a lot of money but also you can see the prospective tenants and see if you can trust them. A personal impression is by far more important than any reference.

Once again, someone with absolutely no idea comes storming onto a tenancy thread with their misinformed opinion.

I’d get an agent to do it all. I used to manage my property myself but there are so many rules and regulations now. I was worried I’d overlook something important so now an agent manages it. Takes a lot of the stress out.

I strongly suggest, @dawnc27 and your son to take a look at - and bookmark - the website
www.Landlordzone.co.uk

It has all the up do date information on the legalities of letting out properties. There is also a very useful forum (the subheading is ‘Residential Letting Questions’) which is not only informative, but some of the experiences endured by the landlords or/and tenants can be a real eye-opener!

Btw; I’m assuming that if your son has a mortgage on the property that he’s had permission from his lender? He may have to go onto a commercial interest rate for letting out his property.

Is it furnished at all? Soft furnishings must have fire retardancy labels for example.

Good lord, the amount of incorrect or out of date advice being given out on here is breathtaking.

Please start a thread somewhere else, such as landlord zone maybe.

The maximum legal deposit is five week's rent.

Make absolutely sure that their deposit is put in a protection scheme within 28 days or it could end up costing you their deposit plus that X3.

You have to give out a 'how to rent' leaflet.

You need to think about inspections. Some insist on three monthly, personally I find that bloody intrusive. Six monthly is more normal.

My landlady is round here so much that she doesn't even bother. She hasn't been upstairs since we moved in 15 months ago. She knows we will leave the property fine because she got to know me really well over the last year.