We're often asked how much should be spent on furnishing a rental property and what standard of furnishings tenants expect to see. It really boils down to the quality and location of your property. For example, a 1 bedroom flat in Gorgie or Dalry does not merit expensive furnishings (Ikea will normally do), whereas a period 1 bed flat in Stockbridge may require some more substantial high quality furnishing to fit in with the period of the property, it's room dimensions and the legitimate expectations of viewers. Many long-term landlords who have provided perfectly good properties over the years have had to compete recently with a large rise in "reluctant landlord" properties which have often been done up to a very high standard, often with furnishings which are really too good for the rental market. We believe that the most important thing is to think of the long term nature of your rental business and provide contemporary furnishings (or in keeping to the period of property) which are in excellent, clean and functional condition. You do not have to spend a fortune! Tenants are more often put off by the tatty nature of furnishings, quality or not, rather than how much they cost. Going mad and spending thousands on top quality furnishings on a 1 bed flat in Dalry we do not believe to be a sustainable business plan. In all the years we've been renting property, there's one thing we all agree on, that furniture in a rental property is rarely looked after by the tenant as well as if it were his or her own.

Although most properties in Edinburgh are let fully or partially furnished, it's important to consider whether there may be a demand for your property unfurnished. Fully furnishing a property and it's upkeep over the years can really eat in to your returns, not to mention the hassle of obtaining and changing over items. Even a 1 bedroom flat can cost into the thousands to fully furnish.

To sum up, don't be like some of the dafties on Property Ladder that spend thousands of pounds on the best of everything that clearly will never be recouped. They are buying to satisfy their own needs and wants and not those of the tenant or even ultimately your business. If you want an expensive interior design challenge - stick to your own house - not your business. That's not to say that your rental property shouldn't be attractive and homely - it should and tenants deserve it - but just be sensible and realise that if you put a £1000 wardrobe in a flat in Dalry it will get scratched and damaged as tenants come and go and replacing a £1000 wardrobe every year isn't going to be fun!  A lot of people stick there nose up and scorn Ikea furniture - but we believe that for a sensible, well run and sustainable property business companies like Ikea are a god send.
(ps we have no links to Ikea - we've just been there rather a lot as you can imagine!)

Despite protestations from The Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL), the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) and the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland (CIH), the Minister for Housing and Communities has just announced that a national mandatory tenancy deposit scheme is to be introduced here in Scotland.

I'm not sure how I feel about this new scheme, especially as there are so few details available at the moment. I certainly do hear from time to time of tenant's having trouble getting their deposits back, but whether this new scheme will make a difference I really don't know. I can't help but think of the completely useless Landlord Registration Scheme and wonder whether this new scheme will be any more enforced by the executive or even effective. I'm not against Tenant's receiving the legal protection they deserve, but I am against the fruitless spending of taxpayers money on schemes that keep civil servants busy (I used to be one for 9 years) and the rest of us entirely bemused! I think, however, it's important we give it a chance and hope that this time the executive produces a scheme that not only safeguards tenants' deposits, but is also fair to landlords. If an effective and quick ombudsman service can keep expensive disputes from clogging up the courts then perhaps there's something to be said for it. Letting property is essentially a relationship of trust between tenant and landlord and no amount of rules or regulations, however, will ever change that. It is also worth remembering that for every deposit unfairly held - there is probably a landlord who is owed large sums of money from a bad tenant, so both sides may equally benefit from the scheme. Both tenants and landlords can be just as guilty when it comes to their obligations. When I am asked nowadays whether it's a good idea to become a landlord my honest answer is probably "not sure". I am a good landlord (he thinks!) who cares for his tenants and will always do right by them. In fact, in the last 8 years I've been a landlord I have never deducted anything from a deposit and have even given it back on the day they checked out (you trusting fool I hear you cry!). Invariably when cleaning and doing odd-jobs afterwards, however, I have often found a great deal of "hidden" damage and missing items, sometimes adding up to hundreds of pounds which I've just had to write it off. So Landlords can lose out too.

All this increased legislation does, however, make you a little more scared of getting sued or of falling foul of all the rules and regulations that seem to just keep on coming (even though I work hard to keep up to date). This may not be very rational - but it is the way I feel. If the Government continues to nanny us all (do they not have anything better to do?) and keeps on producing more and more legislation, then they are almost certainly eventually going to frustrate a lot of  landlords and possibly depress the supply of private rented accommodation in Scotland and ultimately it will be the tenant's that will suffer through reduced supply and higher rents. It's possible that once again, the Scottish government are simply using a sledgehammer to crack a nut - and any more of these disproportionate sledgehammers coming the way of landlords, will leave no-one wanting to let property. I sometimes wonder whether there is actually a deliberate policy to reduce the number of private landlords by over-regulating the industry, so that only the big "professional" plc's and not "amateur" landlords can afford to run Britains private rented housing stock - but then again - to suggest such a thing would be ridiculous - wouldn't it? 

I've just done a little research into the English Tenancy Deposit Scheme and have to say that I am hugely shocked by the costs of joining and subscriptions. It seems that the costs are going up again this year because the number of disputes in England is rising. As a private landlord in Scotland, I am really worried now about the possible costs of this new scheme - and if the costs of joining and subs will be passed on to tenant's - is it fair that tenants may effectively be footing the bill by paying to insure their very own deposits? I look forward to hearing the details of the scheme so that I can more fairly evaluate it. I wonder what other landlords think about this new sheme?

David, Rent in Scotland Team

We got a phone call today from someone from abroad who has just rented a flat in Edinburgh from one of the large Edinburgh letting agencies. He said their service was beyond woeful. They hadn't bothered to come out and check him in and he had no idea how to switch off all the supplies, or what to do if an emergency arose. It's not only downright unprofessional - but also puts client's properties and tenants at unnecessary risk. He said that on the day they moved in the electrics in the kitchen failed and he had no idea what to do. When he phoned the agency no one was there to take his call and no one phoned him back to help. I have come to the sad conclusion that there are a few letting agencies that really don't care about the safety or welfare of their tenants one little jot. I also suspect that the client is effectively being ripped off too - as he will have rightly expected the agency to attend to check the new tenant in properly, answer any questions and ensure the safety of his property and that of the tenant. As I talked to this guy more, it turned out that the gas and electricity readings hadn't been taken either and I advised him to take them right away and open new accounts straight away. He also told me that his next door neighbours were also renting from this agency and had simply had the keys thrown at them and asked to let themselves in which was bad enough, except that when they got to the flat it was the wrong keys and no one could find the right keys - it's really all a bit pathetic.

What do I feel about this ? - well, to be honest, as a proud Scotsman and committed Landlord, I feel a bit embarrassed and ashamed that my fellow countrymen in this Agency were busy painting such a bad first impression of Scotland to our visitors from abroad - surely letting agencies have a duty to act as good ambassadors for our country? For a small minority it's all about the money and taking short cuts temporarily boosts the bottom line - but surely only until the day something does go very wrong! In the interests of balance, before I sign off, it is only right to point out that the vast majority of letting agents are honest, hardworking individuals and it just seems to be a few bad eggs out there that seem to be letting the side down for the rest of us.


David, Rent in Scotland Team

Gas and Water Leaks All in the Same Week!

Last week I ordered a new electric oven from a well know high street electrical retailer and also asked them to fit it. Big mistake ! When my tenant got home that evening from work he was almost knocked out by a veritable wall of gas which had filled the property after the cooker installation. Luckily he calmly followed the emergency procedure which I had gone over with him at the start of the tenancy and all was well. However, when Transco came out they found that the cooker had been too deep for the unit and had been pushed back against the gas pipe feeding the gas hob. This resulted in the gas pipe being pushed back an extra 4cm's and leaking gas. Transco issued a certificate saying that it has been of "immediate risk to life" and shut off the whole gas supply.

I rang the retailer in the morning to complain and was effectively told that it was my tenant's fault - what a cheek - I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I therefore arranged for a Gas Safe Register engineer to visit the propety the next day to check it out and we all witnessed that the oven had been screwed in and ruptured the gas pipe behind. I actually felt a bit sick that tradesmen could have done such a thing. It was made even worse when my tenant said that they had mumbled something about the gas pipe - leading me to believe that they left the property knowing there was a good chance that they had damaged the gas pipe!

I called the retailer again and eventually got to speak to a manager who reluctantly put me through to a more senior member of staff who eventually seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. He organised a visit from the installers who, according to the tenant, didn't say very much - perhaps to avoid admitting any liability? I eventually wrote to the retailers demanding they investigate in order to ensure that these men were stopped from putting anyone else's lives in danger. It took about 9 days for them to contact me and I can only imagine the number of other bodged installations that had been happening in that time.

From this sorry escapade I have learn't that you should never use an electrical retailer to install kitchen appliances. I will in the future ensure that I use a SELECT registered electrician who is more likely to know what they are doing and avoid gassing my tenants!

I also had a water leak from the flat above ours this week (yes - it was a good week!) which luckily I managed to contain with a few buckets and some fancy juggling at the top of a ladder. I did a better job than any Octopus could have done ! It turned out that the lady who owned the flat above ours had been storing boxes on top of the water tank lid and one of them had fallen in to the tank - thereby increasing the water level and flooding our flat. It was an unfortunate thing to do, but these things happen and we were very polite and understanding about it all. The most difficult part was that we couldn't get access to her flat, as she was working, and had to call the council environmental health dept to have a statutory notice put on her door to remedy the situation within 16 hours. When she got home and saw the scary looking official notice I think she thought the council had found a cannabis factory and were about to storm it with armed police officers ! - the poor soul got quite a fright! However, I don't feel too sorry for her now, as it cost us £250 to repair the damage and she is refusing to re-imburse us! When a washing machine in one of our flats flooded last year, we immediately arranged all the tradesman required to deal with the problem and paid for it all immediately without hesitation. I'm afraid common courtesy and decency is not always easy to find nowadays, but that's life.

So - the moral of these events ? - hmmm not sure. Certainly, use qualified, trusted tradesmen to install important appliances - don't leave it to electrcial shops - they might kill your tenant ! And as for water leaks - well, these will happen from time to time, so it's very important that your tenant knows how to switch off the water and the gas to minimise any damage or danger. So - check your tenants in properly and don't leave anything to chance. Sods law definitely applies to letting property!

David, Rent in Scotland Team

Landlord Blog - Rent in Scotland

Hi, I'm David, one of the team at Rent in Scotland and I thought it would be fun to start a blog on my experiences as a landlord in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I've been renting out properties for about nine years now and things have changed a great deal over the years - particularly in regard to the legal requirements you must comply with. I've written an article to help landlords in Scotland keep up with their legal duties and you can find this in the Useful Info part of our website. My aim for this blog is to try and help private landlords by sharing my knowledge and experience. If you are a tenant, you should know that I have been a tenant myself and always try to see things from the tenant's point of view too. I really try to look after my tenants and a big reward for me as a landlord is to have a happy tenant who recommends me to others. I am often very disappointed to hear from tenants some really awful stories about their renting experiences. If you are a good landlord, who provides good quality accommodation, then your properties should always be full - providing you keep your eye on the prevailing market. I am fortunate that my properties are full just now and I am grateful for some fantastic tenants who have made some lovely homes. This is a great source of satisfaction for me as I can honestly say that I would not be a landlord just for the money - it has to be emotionally rewarding too. In the Useful Info part of this website I will be writing as much as I can to help both landlords and tenants. I hope to produce both articles and check lists which will be of real interest to you and genuinely helpful. I have produced a tenant's viewing checklist and two checklists for landlords which should be of help when preparing property between lets and recording the essential details of the property and let.

I feel really bad that there aren't many properties on the website yet, but I hope that over the next few weeks and with your support we can start to fill up the website with some really good properties. It's very early days for the site and I know that it is a little basic, but we are a small team who don't have the big budgets that the really fancy sites do. Our vision for this site over the coming weeks and months is to create a website where landlords can get some really fantastic info and help. We have a telephone number on the website and would love to speak to landlords or tenants at any time - whether you have a letting query or even if you just want a chat about becoming a landlord or tenant in Scotland. I qualified as a solicitor many years ago and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in conveyancing, property law, landlord and tenant law, property  renovation, maintenance and the letting industry in general and I hope to share as much of this experience with you as possible. Being a landlord can be a lonely job at times. I hope my blog can help in some way to make it a little easier.

David LLB Hons Dip LP, Rent in Scotland Team