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Property Management Service
R
esidential letting and property management service
"TO LET" - Let Berneslai Homes manage your property
We are now offering our expertise in property management to the private sector. The Property Management Service is being offered to property owners with a choice of three packages, Bronze, Silver & Gold all of which are highly competitive in the current market.
What we can offer
We have a massive amount of experience in managing rented homes. The officers who will be managing your homes specialise in:
- managing rent;
- dealing with people who break their tenancy agreement; and
- providing a personal service to all tenants and communities.
This means that we can:
- find you a suitable tenant;
- fill in the tenancy agreements;
- manage the condition of your property; and
- manage rent.
We will also provide a tenancy-management service that will:
- help your tenant with problems they have; and
- deal with things like repairs if your tenant
breaks their tenancy agreement.
We offer three levels of service.
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
Each package offers a different level of service, but all are highly competitive and offer fantastic value for money.
The Bronze package includes:
- checking the references of anyone who wants to be your tenant;
- finding a suitable tenant for your property;
- inspecting your property;
- filling in Council Tax forms;
- filling in Housing Benefit forms;
- giving your tenant a welcome pack;
- visiting possible tenants’ homes if possible; and
- taking possible tenants to view your property and sign up to become a tenant.
- Total cost – £130 for each home (not including VAT). This is a one-off payment which you make once you have signed the property management agreement form.
Extras (if you need them):
- Gas safety check
- Electrical safety check
- Asbestos check
The Silver package includes:
- everything in the bronze package (if you want the safety checks, you must pay extra for these);
- a 24-hour emergency repairs service;
- managing rent;
- keeping records of meter readings;
- inspecting your property just before the tenancy ends;
- picking up keys from the property and carrying out a final inspection;
- managing the property while it is empty; and
- finding a new tenant for you when your home is empty.
- Total cost – £6.90 a week plus a £130 one-off payment (not including VAT) if the monthly rent is less than £400. You must make the one-off payment once you have signed the property management agreement form. These payments are based on one property only.
The Gold package includes:
- everything in the silver package (if you want the safety checks, you must pay extra for these);
- a yearly gas safety check by a CORGI-registered engineer; (additional charge applies) and
- managing the tenancy;
- Total cost – £8.95 a week plus a £130 one-off payment (not including VAT) if the monthly rent is less than £400. You must make the one-off payment once you have signed the property-management agreement form. These payments are based on one property only.
The following table show the costs of an average property management company and our costs.
Average company charges
10% of yearly rent (£) Monthly fee (£) 6.92
Monthly rent (£) Weekly fee (£) 300 360 30 350 420 35 8.08 400 480 40 9.23 450 540 45 10.38 500 600 50 11.54 550 660 55 12.69 600 720 60 13.85 650 780 65 15.00 700 840 70 16.15 750 900 75 17.31 800 960 80 18.46 850 or more 1020 85 19.62
Our charges
| Silver Package | Gold Package | |||||
| Monthly rent (£) | Yearly fee (£) | Monthly fee (£) | Weekly fee (£) | Yearly fee (£) | Monthly fee (£) | Weekly fee (£) |
| 300 | 358.80 | 29.90 | 6.90 | 465.40 | 38.78 | 8.95 |
| 350 | 358.80 | 29.90 | 6.90 | 465.40 | 38.78 | 8.95 |
| 400 | 358.80 | 29.90 | 6.90 | 465.40 | 38.78 | 8.95 |
| 450 | 391.04 | 32.59 | 7.52 | 507.52 | 42.29 | 9.76 |
| 500 | 426.40 | 35.53 | 8.20 | 552.76 | 46.06 | 10.63 |
| 550 | 464.88 | 38.74 | 8.94 | 602.68 | 50.22 | 11.59 |
| 600 | 506.48 | 42.21 | 9.74 | 565.76 | 54.73 | 12.63 |
| 650 | 552.24 | 46.02 | 10.62 | 716.04 | 59.67 | 13.77 |
| 700 | 601.64 | 50.14 | 11.57 | 780.52 | 65.04 | 15.01 |
| 750 | 655.72 | 54.64 | 12.61 | 850.72 | 70.89 | 16.36 |
| 800 | 715.00 | 59.58 | 13.75 | 927.16 | 77.26 | 17.83 |
| 850 or more | 779.48 | 64.96 | 14.99 | 1010.88 | 84.24 | 19.44 |
All charges and fees are estimates and exclude VAT. We will work out the charges for your property based on the exact rent you charge. Our fees increase by 9% for each rent after £400.
Finding you a tenant
The housing register is a list of people who want us to find them a home. The list is made up of our current tenants and anyone else who applies to us. A set of rules known as our lettings policy, applies to the register. The policy keeps to the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Act 2002. We will find a tenant for you from our housing register. The housing register is split into five bands. We give people in bands 1 to 3 priority in order of the date we put them in. We give priority to people in bands 4 and 5 in order of the date
they applied.
Managing rent
Depending on the package you choose, we will include your property in our computerised housing-management system to allow us to
manage your rent account effectively and efficiently. This will include:
- paying rent direct to you; and
- managing the rent account (this includescollecting money and dealing with any missed rent payments).
We will give you receipts so that you can claim back any VAT on your expenses (such as the cost of our services). Specially-trained officers will help the tenant fill in Housing Benefit application forms if appropriate and pass each application to the Borough Treasury Department to process.
Repairs service
We have a construction services department and a partner firm, Inspace, which provides our repairs service. Depending on which package you choose, we also offer a 24 hour, emergency repairs service, 365 days a year. The tenant can also use the service by coming into any Barnsley Connects Office, by phoning a repairs hotline or over the internet. These are only a few of the ways the repairs service can be used. You must pay for any repairs that need to be done by law, unless the tenant caused the damage. If the tenant has caused the damage, we will charge them the cost of the repair. We will give you receipts so you can claim back any VAT on your expenses, such as the cost of our services.
Property inspections
As part of the agreement between you and us, your property must meet the housing standards, set out in our ‘Standard for empty homes’ document. Experienced officers will inspect your property to make sure it meets the standard. As part of the Silver and Gold packages, we will inspect the inside and outside of the property twice a year on your behalf. We will then give you a written report on its condition.
Safety checks
If you want us to, we will arrange and carry out safety checks on gas, heating and electricity in your property to make sure the supply and appliances meet health-and-safety standards. You will have to pay an extra cost for this service but we will provide full certificates as part of this service. For an extra cost, we will also carry out yearly safety checks on gas and electricity in your property to make sure it is safe under the Gas Safety (Installation and use) Regulations 1998 and the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. The yearly gas safety check is needed by law.
Asbestos checks
All properties we manage must have a valid asbestos certificate under the Asbestos Control Regulations 2006 before we let them. Because the test only needs to be carried out once, we offer it as an extra service which you will need to pay a charge for. We can arrange for the test to be carried out if you do not already have a certificate.
Managing the tenancy
Our officers will provide a range of management services for you and the tenant. These include:
- dealing with you and the tenant if either of you break the conditions of the agreement;
- sorting out problems with neighbours and antisocial behaviour; and
- putting the tenant in touch with other agencies to help them with any problems they might have.
Council tax, and gas and electricity
We will tell the Council Tax department on your behalf who is liable for paying Council Tax charges at any time. We will also keep a record of gas and electricity readings at the start and end of every tenancy to make sure that you do not end up having to pay any unpaid charges. (This service applies to Silver and Gold packages only).
Welcome pack
We will provide a welcome pack for your tenant (we have enclosed one for you to look at) to introduce them to their new home. The welcome pack includes:
- the names and numbers for the gas and electricity suppliers;
- information about the property;
- emergency contact numbers;
- instructions on how to use the heating; and
- contact details of the services we provide under the package you have chosen.
Visiting possible tenants at home
When we offer someone a tenancy for your property, we will either send it by post or tell them in person by visiting the address the tenant is living at (if it is possible to do so). This way, before we make an official offer we can check that the details the tenant has given us are correct and that their circumstances have not changed. If we have any concerns, we will not offer them the tenancy until we have dealt with these concerns. We will provide a copy of the tenancy agreement with the offer letter so that the tenant has enough time to
read and understand the contract before they sign.
Signing the tenancy agreement
One of our officers will arrange to meet the tenant at your property so they can have a look at it. The tenant then has someone there to answer any questions they have about the property or the tenancy. The tenant will sign the tenancy agreement at your property (unless they need time to make a decision) and fill in all the relevant forms (benefit forms and council tax forms). We will then leave the keys with your new tenant and get a receipt signed for the number of keys given. We will deliver all the forms to the relevant offices.
Inspecting your property before the tenant moves out
We will arrange with the tenant to inspect the property within the last month of their tenancy. At this visit, we will point out any repairs that are the tenant’s responsibility, and make a signed agreement with your tenant naming these repairs and whether the tenant will do the work or pay for our workmen (or workmen that you arrange) to carry out the work. We will also agree how the property should be left.
On the day the tenant moves out
On the day that your tenant leaves your property, we will collect the keys and check that they have given back the number of keys shown on the receipt we got when they took over the tenancy. We will also inspect your property to ensure that it is left in the same condition it was in at the start of the tenancy. If any work is needed that is the tenant’s responsibility, we will make an agreement with the tenant setting out which work they must pay for and our workmen or cleaners will carry out any work. You can choose the workmen or cleaners if you want to.
When the property is empty
While your property is empty, we will regularly inspect it to make sure it is safe. If we have any concerns about security, we will tell you and we will decide what to do about it. For example we could:
- arrange contractors to board up the doors and windows, or put metal or plastic shutters on them; and
- arrange to install an alarm system that comes with a 24-hour response service if it goes off (you will have to pay extra for the security measures and also if any call-out is needed).
Finding a new tenant for your property
We are confident that we will have a new tenant in your property within two weeks of finishing any work that needs to be done while your property is empty. If we fail to achieve this target, we will not take any payments from you until we find you a tenant.
Making sure the tenant is suitable
If possible, we will visit the new tenant at their existing home to make sure they are suitable before we make a full offer of a tenancy. We will also check the references of all the people who are over 18 years old and whose name will be included on the tenancy agreement. If we have any concerns, we will investigate these and we will not make an offer until we have sorted out the concerns.
Tenancy agreement
We will give the new tenant a six-month assured shorthold tenancy agreement (known as a fixed term). This means that we will have full control over the tenancy and can take action if the tenant breaks the conditions of their tenancy.
General information for landlords
Mortgage
- If your property is mortgaged, you should get permission in writing from your mortgage lender allowing you to let your home.
Leasehold
- If your property is leasehold, you should check the conditions of the lease and get permission in writing if you need it.
Insurance
- Please make sure your buildings and contents insurance covers you if you let your property. Tell your insurers if necessary, because if you don’t your insurance policies may not be valid.
Income tax
- You will normally have to pay income tax on the rent you receive from letting your property.
- If you live in the UK, you must tell HM Revenue & Customs about any rent you receive and pay any tax that is due;
- If you live outside the UK, please tell us and we will send you more information about this.
If you are interested in signing up for the service or would like to discuss you individual requirements then please contact the Property Management Service Team Manager, Lee Dickinson on 01226 775580 or email to bhpms@barnsley.gov.uk.
Useful information: