UK Landlord Forum / Life

First, I would just like to say I appreciate all replies.

A bit of background: I own a one bedroom flat in central Southampton - a very modern and attractive property. I bought it a few years ago and since then my wife and I had twins and now have another little one on the way, so the flat is no longer fit for purpose. However, due to our attachment to the property and issues in the resale market for leaseholds (ground rents, service charges, etc), it is unlikely we will be able to sell the property and will want to let it out instead when we move out this July.

I do have a mortgage which is quite cheap and my lender is fine with it becoming a let without need to remortgage. I am not too keen on using local agents to manage it for me because for years when I was a tenant myself I have seen some awful management from various agents I used to rent from and their fees are quite high as well. I will be living locally after I move out, so I am considering self-managing although I realise this is jumping in at the deep end.

Does anyone have any advice on where I should start? I know recent government reforms introduced changes and are even more strict on landlords and I do not want to make any mistakes, especially when it comes to the legal side of things. I would appreciate any insights on all topics: legal matters, preparing the property for rent (furnished/unfurnished/renovations?), vetting tenants, setting rent/deposit amounts, etc. I am happy to be directed to a trusted resource forum members would recommend. I just don't personally know anyone who is a landlord so I don't know where to begin.

Thank you in advance.

Matt

Great idea to look for advice. This is my personal view.

Personal experience as a tenant is a great way to judge agents. But re-examine your experiences to consider if any of them were the agent being landlord centric rather than poor service. You're switching roles, you can be customer focussed, but you need to be careful to operate as a business, not try to show people how it "should be done". Not every tenant is you.

Best how to guide right now is The Independent Landlord website and book. And the NRLA.

You've outlined your position as having little choice about letting v selling, so I'm not making any suggestions about your basic choice, but it's a big step. You're contemplating setting up a business, it's not a casual endeavour.

One of the things that many landlords get wrong is that they don't appreciate that, and that they should expect that things will go wrong from time to time.

Well run businesses try and build contingencies for unexpected issues, mitigate problems and, basically, plan to deal with problems as a basic part of the operation of the business.

Don't use all the rent as income, put some aside each month as a contingency. Expect to spend a month's rent on maintenance every year (or an amount your experience tells you is realistic). Budget to decorate every x years, and replace carpets every y years. If the boiler needs replacing can you afford to buy a new one?

Not every tenant is planning to rip you off, but they might lose their job or break a leg. A few years ago, there was a global pandemic.

For most people, letting a property is an extra income stream, so don't rely on spending all of it every month. Every day I hear landlords complaining about how unprofitable letting property is, and then watch them spending the rent as if it's all profit.

That last bit is a repost from elsewhere if the search results look odd!

Quote from: Matek1990 on April 01, 2026, 01:06:36 PMHowever, due to our attachment to the property

If by that you mean you're reluctant to part with the property because you have an emotional attachment to it, then I'd urge caution. If you're planning to rent it out you need to view it as nothing more significant than a big box that makes you money. Your tenants won't care about what it means to you.

If it were my property, I'd at least look at the numbers for selling instead. At least then you can make an informed decision.

Good point, I'd missed that. Don't rent somewhere you care about. Just don't. Mr. Pambin's point is very important.

Thank you for the replies.

I am in a position where the mortgage on the flat is very low, so there is virtually no risk to our finances at any point, even if the property remains vacant long term (or the tenant fails to pay for a long time). I do not see myself spending any of the rent money (we don't need it); it would be kept strictly for expenses to do with the property and, if any surplus is left after a contingency fund is built up, mortgage overpayments. It would be like a little business of its own separate from our family income and expenses.

Just to address the point about "attachment" - we simply like this property and living here was great, but we would not have any problems selling it if the market was different than what it is today. Hopefully if leasehold reforms do eventually happen, the place will be more saleable and we can reconsider then, but for now we are in a position where there isn't much interest in the market and we would need to take a loss selling it. Meanwhile if we can get positive cash flow from it, it seems smarter to hold on to it (of course there is the risk of the market getting worse rather than better also, but hopefully not).

I have ordered The Independent Landlord book - seems like a good place to start. I noticed the OpenRent company website provides a lot of the services I may need and has information/forums as well, so I'll register there and read all the info as well. 

Open Rent gets a lot of positive feedback, but can generate a lot of requests from people who are finding it difficult to get somewhere and are just trying anywhere. It helps to make it clear that all applications that are progressed will be credit checked and will need to share financial records. People have found it very helpful to have a questionnaire to send as a response to weed out time wasters.

I've never used it, though. I found a good agent (nowhere near Southampton though) who was great at finding tenants.

There are a lot of tripwires with advertising a property, and the regulations are just about to change again, so it's very easy to accidentally discriminate. Your ideal tenant might be a working couple with a child (for example), but you can't specify any of those things - or have policies to promote applications from that category. How anyone would know about what's in your head is tricky of course.

I used OpenRent when I was a landlord.

IMO, their Rent Now package, i.e. Tenancy Creation plus Advertising, is a great service.

Creating your advert is simple.

Messaging potential tenants via the OpenRent platform is simple.

Once I'd found the likely tenant, I used their Tenant Referencing service.

You get a legally sound Tenancy Agreement.

They ensure that the correct paperwork is supplied to the tenants.

The Tenancy Creation process (e-signing the agreement, and so on) and the Deposit Handling process is easy.
 
I didn't use any of the other services, so can't comment on those.


I've written about OpenRent and my process for dealing with a flood of enquiries and any timewasters, in previous posts, a couple of which are:

https://www.landlordforumproject.co.uk/index.php?msg=39846

https://www.landlordforumproject.co.uk/index.php?msg=36243

Excellent advice here from some old hands.  ( Whatever happened to the venerable Hippogriff, hope he's ok) 

The only thing I would add is the importance of having some trusted tradespeople. Get asking around, don't wait until a tenant phones you with a burst pipe at 6am. Even if you are quite handy, with 3 little kids you won' t have time to deal with repairs. Good Luck! 

Openrent are a letting agent and unable to offer full management. Theyre good for self managing landlords who have the necessary expertise. Intol you have yhe necessary expertise, I wouldnt recommend it.