Is there such a thing as an idiots guide to being a landlord?

[BlameItOnTheBogey]

We have to move this summer and rather than selling our home we have decided to rent it out. We've got permission from the mortgage company but I had sort of assumed that there were lots of legal requirements for rental properties. Off the top of my head, I would have guessed that we'd need smoke detectors, gas certificates etc. But what else? And can I find all this set out anywhere? Thanks...

If you let through an agency, they should guide you through it.

You'll need an EPC; a gas cert; an electrical check; landlord's building insurance (Aviva seems to be the cheapest, Letsure the most expensive); tenancy agreement; deposit to go in deposit scheme; smoke alarms; I rent my house out without white goods.

If you have a look at the ARLA website, I think they have guidance.

Brilliant. Thanks so much for replying scary.

and be aware that the law favours the tenant. We had a whole year of no rent payments and there was nothing we could do.
If you use agents, do check them out carefully, ours are worse than hopeless but living overseas makes it difficult to change.

I have never used an agent, just done it myself locally but then we live very close by.
Simplelandlordsinsurance.com seem quite good - I have got 3 properties on their policies. You can get insurance to cover periods of no rent if it worries you.
Landlordzone is quite helpful and you can download tenancy agreements/inventories etc. for free from the internet too.
Good luck!