Letting a property

[interferingma]

Can anyone please give me a potted guide of how to rent a flat out in Scotland? Do you use an agent as in England or is it correct that solicitors effectively act as agents?
Asking for a friend who owns a flat in Edinburgh but is being moved overseas with work

I would use a letting agent, could be a solicitors but should be easy to find one who specialises in letting. In Scotland you need to register as an approved landlord and there are a lot of regulations to follow. As your friend is going overseas it would be very difficult to manage without an agent.

In Edinburgh ESPC would probably be a good option.

Get loads of legal advice because as far as I know it's even harder to get rid of tenants in Scotland than it is in England.

I recommend Chapmans - they are a small (but rapidly growing) firm whose service is amazing!
https://www.chapmanspm.co.uk/
Great Google reviews too

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=chapmans+edinburgh+reviews&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#fpstate=ueplurevv_0x4887c70de58d1ba9:0xbef6da95ac97b968

Usually councils have a section on their website which covers requirements:

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/private-housing/private-landlords/1

If moving abroad, your friend will definitely need a letting agent to manage the property for her.

Agree with above recommendation for Chapman's.

Avoid some of the big names who also do sales; you want a small, letting only agent with a personal touch.

Have a look at AllAgents reviews.

If she is moving overseas then of course she needs to use an agent! What will she do if the tenant phones at 8pm on a Saturday with a burst pipe?? She needs a full service Letting agency who will deal with emergencies, organise repairs , do viewings and find the tenants.

As PP have said, Letting is very complicated with more than 150 laws and regulations that apply to landlords. A good agency will keep her right on everything. It’s very common to have owners who live abroad, a big agency will be used to it.

She should check the tax situation with her accountant as she will need to pay tax here on her rental income even if she lives abroad .

As well as agent, you need to:

• register as landlord with local council/national register
• register self employed
• make sure the property meets the repairing standards, including things like interlinked smoke alarms, fire doors, sizes of room, drying area etc
• understand that Scottish tenancies are different, there's good model tenancies on the Scottish government website. This includes being different to get rid of tenants, in some circumstances much harder.

make sure the property meets the repairing standards, including things like interlinked smoke alarms, fire doors, sizes of room, drying area etc

No need for fire doors, min. room size and drying area unless it’s an HMO. But she needs an EPC, EICR, LRA, annual PAT tests and gas safety certificate.

However the letting agent will sort all this for her, as well as the tenancy agreement, registering as a landlord, sorting out council tax, utilities and factors fees.

I0NA - front door in a shared building may well need to be full fire door, depending on what fire brigade request or if any other flat is HMO or could be HMO. Ask me how I know. ;-)
Drying space is being introduced in a couple of years, and we know energy standard minimums are rising.

@outdooryone

I0NA - front door in a shared building may well need to be full fire door, depending on what fire brigade request or if any other flat is HMO or could be HMO. Ask me how I know. ;-) Drying space is being introduced in a couple of years, and we know energy standard minimums are rising.

I didn’t know that, how interesting. Are you able to say what local authority that was in ?

Is it in a high rise flat ( or otherwise over 6 storeys ) rather than in a traditional construction walk up tenement flat of 3-5 storeys? I can see why this might be a required as part of the overall safety plan for building with flammable cladding.

It is in Perth & Kinross, 100 year old three story, stone walled, purpose built block with concrete steps internally, no cladding, no 'added' fire risk.
One HMO on second floor, there had been another HMO on first floor = fire doors on all five flat front doors and an outward opening front door as well.
Cost a bloody fortune, and a lot of goodwill from others in the block.

That is so weird, I’ve never heard of that. There must be thousands of tenement flats just like that all over the country.

I own one just like it and there are a couple of HMOs up the close ( not mine ) . All 6 doors flat doors and the close door are the original timber ones ( so defo not fire doors ) .

The individual flats have internal fire doors with doors closers of course.

So much added expense and nuisance for everyone for no good reason! If I was an owner occupier I’d have kicked up a big fuss and asked to see the fire risk assessment and what legislation they are relying on by compelling people to do this because a neighbour has an HMO.

If they do this elsewhere in the country then all the neighbours will get together and lodge strong objections to every HMO license .

It’s also really pointless because fires in tenements of that age don’t spread out the front door of one flat and into the close. They go up the walls behind the lath and plaster and into the common roof space.

@outdooryone

It is in Perth & Kinross, 100 year old three story, stone walled, purpose built block with concrete steps internally, no cladding, no 'added' fire risk. One HMO on second floor, there had been another HMO on first floor = fire doors on all five flat front doors and an outward opening front door as well. Cost a bloody fortune, and a lot of goodwill from others in the block.

In Clacks the actual flat doors need to be fire rated but the communal door doesn't.

You don’t need to become self employed when renting a property. You just declare your rent and allowable expenses. You aren’t self employed. A good agent is what is needed. Someone registered and qualified. If moving abroad you definitely need an agent.