Post by Jonathan Daines

The very good news is that divorce rates in England and Wales are at their lowest for 26 years as reported by the Guardian in August 08. Nevertheless, there are still 11.9 divorces to every 1000 married men and ladies in the UK. The toughest economic question for those 11.9 couples is “Do we sell or rent out the house?”

They say that moving house and divorcing are two of the most stressful points in life. Consequently, when you combine the two, your emotions and mental well being will be tested to the extreme limits. It is critical to try to feel of the property as a business transaction or investment. Try to feel as clearly as you can just before you both make a choice that you might regret. Weigh up the pros and the cons of every decision and take it from there.

Marilyn Stowe, of Stowe Family Law has suggested that the recent economic crisis may possibly have had an impact on divorce rates as “folks just can’t afford to get divorced at the minute”.

For those unfortunate couples that are able afford a divorce, they still have to answer the million dollar question “Should we sell the house or rent it out?” This may sound very cynical nonetheless, if you speak to any estate agent, they will tell you that separations and divorces appear to choose up after the festive season as couples choose to sell their loved ones investment. As pointed out by our beloved high street retailers, the festive season looms. Will you be having this discussion with your partner in the coming months?

As the housing market continues to fall, a lot more and more couples are deciding no matter whether to sell or to rent. Considering your own personal circumstances, selling may possibly appear to be the easiest alternative – you may possibly be searching for a clean break, a release of equity to start your new life, nevertheless, your “pot of gold” that you have both worked for, has most likely been depleted (by as a lot as £30,000 on the average UK property price according to figures recently released) and to sell your property would be a monetary disaster.

So what can you do?

You and your partner may possibly take into account renting out the property. Who knows, with Agents reporting a 45 – 50% enhance in tenant demand, you may even be able to make your full mortgage payments. Nonetheless, the decision to rent out your property really should not be taken lightly. In most cases, this choice will mean that you and your ex will require to function together for the next 6 – 12 months or for nonetheless lengthy the tenants remain in the property.

So you have decided to rent it out – what occurs next?

Make sure that this is a decision that you both want to take. As joint owners of the property, you will both require to agree to the tenancy agreement.

Our top 10 suggestions for new landlords start with your Mortgage Lender (if you have one that is!)

* Consent to Let – you need to (at all times) inform your Lender of your intention to let your property. This is frequently referred to in the Business as ‘Consent to Let’. Some Lenders are fine with this and some ask you to alter the item that you are on to a Purchase-to-Let mortgage.

* Landlord Insurance – you need to have specialist landlords insurance on your property when you are renting it out. If you do not inform your existing buildings insurer you may possibly risk invalidating your policy.

* Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). This is now a legal requirement and landlords face massive monetary penalties if caught out. For all tenancy agreements that began on or following April 6, 2007, landlords are needed to safeguard their tenant’s deposit employing one of the Governments authorized schemes. For more info, please pay a visit to http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/tenancydeposit.

* Gas Safety Regulations – It is a legal requirement for you to offer a copy to every of your tenants of a valid Landlords Gas Safety Certificate which has been carried out by a Corgi Registered Plumber and is normally valid for a period of 12 months.

* Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) – These will be successful come the 1st October 2008 and are a legal requirement. Landlord will be needed to provide a copy of the certificate in the course of the lettings process. Even although Landlords are not legally required to carry out any suggested recommendations in the EPC it is often worth taking into consideration that tenants could use this as a deciding factor when choosing a property to rent. The EPC is needed by law when a building is constructed, sold or put up for rent and can only be produced by an accredited Energy Assessor.

* Tax Liability – It is wise to think about that as a Landlord, you are effectively running a enterprise and will require to declare and income and expenses to the Tax Office – Any good accountant need to be able to advise you on rental income tax.

* Keys – Make certain you have enough sets of keys cut for each and every of your tenants.

* Funds – Do not release the keys to the tenants until you have your deposit and first month’s rent which is cleared in your bank account.

* Mail Redirection – guarantee that you have all of your post re-directed.

* Make sure your agent is a Member of a Recognised Landlords Association as you could want assistance in the future. If you have any problems regarding your tenant, they are constantly on hand to be able to help.

Lastly, if you do not want to be directly involved with your tenants, find an agent that presents a full management service and re-visit the scenario in an additional 6 – 12 months. Hopefully the market will have picked up by then and you can both afford to sell the property and limit any additional monetary loss.

About the Author

Jonathan Daines – jonathan@LettingaProperty.com – is Co – Director of http://www.LettingaProperty.com, a UK property search portal and information guide dedicated to the letting Business and advertises Letting Agents and Private Landlords’ Properties to Let to thousands of Tenants each and every day.

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