If you are council leaseholder and letting your property or are planning to do so, there are a few things you need to know:
A property is considered let when there is a rental agreement between you and a tenant (or managing agent). Even if you let your property back to Ealing Council, it will still be seen as letting as you will be granting a short-term tenancy to the council.
If you are letting or are planning to do so, please follow the rules below to make sure you keep to the terms of the lease and the conditions of the buildings insurance contract.
Letting rules
- complete the letting your property form within 21 days of letting
- continue to comply with the terms of the lease
- do not allow your tenants to cause nuisance to other residents
- pay all service charge and/or major works costs
- maintain and repair all internal parts of your property
- meet all legal requirements
- tell us if your correspondence address or contact details change. For security reasons this must be in writing
Once we know you are letting your property, we will tell the building insurers. This is a condition of the policy. If you do not let us know, this may result in claims being refused. The insurance policy will cover for loss of rent if your property becomes uninhabitable. This is only effective if a formal tenancy exists between yourself and your tenants. We would strongly recommend that when letting your property, you have a formal tenancy agreement.
Second home or occupied by relatives
If you are not letting and do not live at the property (for example, your relatives live in the property, or you use the property as a second home) we would still ask you to complete the letting your property form with your main correspondence address - so we can keep in touch with you directly.
As the homeowner, we will need to send you letters such as service charge invoices and notices relating to your property. We also need your emergency contact details if there are water leaks, burst pipes etc.
Legal requirements
In addition to our requirements, if you let your property, you must also make sure that you comply with regulations set out in law. These include gas safety checks, energy performance certificates (EPCs), and if yours is a ‘house in multiple occupation’ (HMO), a property licence. Please check the information on gas safety, fire safety, and HMO pages for more information.
Energy performance certificates (EPCs) for lettings were introduced in October 2008. You are required to get an EPC for your property and provide your tenants with a copy free of charge. The EPC shows your property’s energy efficiency and suggests ways to improve it. If you let your property on a houses in multiple occupation (HMO) basis i.e. you are letting to several people room by room, only one EPC is needed for the whole property but you must give a copy to each tenant. You can find local accredited domestic energy assessors who supply EPCs at www.epcregister.com or you can call the accreditation schemes directly for a list of their members. Costs vary so we advise you to shop around
IMPORTANT - The lease is a signed agreement between Ealing Council and you the leaseholder. This means that you are responsible for the conduct of the occupants, the repair and upkeep of the property and for paying for service charges and major works. This is despite any agreement you may have made with your tenants. If the terms of the lease are breached, you risk action being taken against you.