Fisher Hall logo

Information
for Landlords

We are a family company which prides itself in years of experience and a wealth of knowledge in successful Residential Lettings and full Property Management.

We are dedicated to taking care of your property as if it were our own - offering a personal service that is second to none. We ensure that the best rentals are obtained for your property, with tenants carefully selected to suit your requirements.

As a small, independent business we are able to focus at a personal level and you can be guaranteed of our full attention at all times.

Letting Your Property

Assessment & Valuation

Our property manager will visit your property at your request and outline all our services in more detail. Subsequent to taking all the necessary details, a professional market valuation will be given.

Advertising

Your property will be advertised in the local press (which will be recharged back to you at cost only) and on our own web-site. We also receive a significant volume of potential tenants calling us each week looking for homes to rent.

Tenants

Financial references as well as employment details are sought in order to ensure that the right tenant is found for your property. We use Tenant Check, who carry out a comprehensive credit and reference report. All prospective tenants are accompanied by our property manager on all viewings.

Agreements

An appropriate tenancy agreement will be drawn up to suit the requirements of both Landlord and Tenant. In the case of an owner/occupier letting his principal place of residence, the necessary safeguards to re-possess on expiry will be incorporated. If breaches of covenant or arrears require Fisher Hall Property Management to take legal action we will normally do so after discussing the matter with you and you would instruct us to liaise with your solicitor. Any legal fees will be your responsibility, but your solicitor would generally claim costs.

Deposits

A deposit will be taken from the Tenant at the commencement of the tenancy being the equivalent of one month's rent. This will be held by Fisher Hall in a client account and used in the event of damage caused to the property, rent arrears, non-payment of services, gardening, cleaning costs, etc.

From April 6th 2007, new Legislation will come into force governing the way Landlords and Letting Agents hold deposits. Fisher Hall will be participating fully with the new Legislation.

Services

We arrange for gas, electricity, council tax and water rates accounts to be transferred into the Tenant's name from their date of occupation. It is essential that you deal directly with the telephone company to disconnect the service or transfer into tenant's name as British Telecom will not accept third party instructions.

Insurance

You should make sure that your property and contents are adequately insured and that your policy covers lettings - many policies do not.

Managing your Property

Rental Payments

Owners are paid monthly either directly into a private Bank/Building Society account, or cheques can be sent to your private address. Rent is collected on a monthly basis from tenants and then transferred to clients, less our fees, approx. 5 days after we bank rent cheques. Landlords disbursements can be paid by Fisher Hall Property Management and then deducted from the rent paid to Landlords. These include service charges, ground rents, insurances, maintenance and repair bills.

Unless otherwise agreed, the rent quoted to a Tenant by us on your behalf is inclusive of all outgoings for which you wish to be responsible (i.e. service charges, insurances, gardening etc.), with the exception of gas, electricity, water rates, council tax, telephone, plus fuel if any.

Maintenance & Repairs

Fisher Hall Property Management will investigate the necessity for repairs during the tenancy and will arrange for such works to be carried out by our maintenance team. We normally obtain the Landlord's permission prior to large expenditure when no urgency exists and communication with the client is feasible. When an emergency does occur (e.g. burst pipes, storm damage etc.), we normally proceed without prior approval

Inspections

The property will be inspected on a regular basis with a thorough inspection carried out at the end of each tenancy. Our management function does not include the supervision of the property during a void period, i.e. when it is not let, although in the normal course of letting, periodic visits may be made to the property by our staff when showing prospective tenants. Alternatively, the Landlord may wish to make use of our Vacant Property Management Service.

Fees

For management our fees are normally 12.5% of the monthly rents collected. One important feature of Fisher Hall is that we are not VAT registered, unlike other Property Management companies. This means we are almost one fifth cheaper than our competitors. We also do not charge a 'Setting Up Fee' at the commencement of the tenancy.

Holiday Letting Management

We can also offer a Holiday Letting Management service, which is flexible according to your needs. We can arrange the advertising of the property, taking bookings from holidaymakers (including receiving deposits and final payments) and looking after the general maintenance of the property.

Our fee for this service is 15% for each booking received. Plus additional costs for advertising and repairs/cleaning which may need to be carried out.

Vacant Property Management

Should you decide to let your property on a holiday basis there will be long off-season periods when the property is vacant and at its most vulnerable to burglary and squatting. Fisher Hall Property Management offer a unique house visit and inspection service in which we visit your property on a regular basis (usually fortnightly) and inspect for signs of any weather damage or illegal entry.

Anything untoward will be reported to you for action.