Being a landlord:

Once your tenants have moved in it is your responsibility to ensure that the property is maintained appropriately; it’s in your interest to make sure that problems are dealt with quickly, especially if something has broken.

You should give new tenants any instructions for your property including guides to operating any of the household appliances, and ensure they have the relevant emergency phone numbers and your contact details. Remember, you can’t enter the property without their permission, or when they are not there.

If you think you may struggle to respond to any issues immediately and effectively, for example if you work away a lot or are out of the country for long periods of time, then you should consider passing this responsibility over to a management service. Letting agents often offer a full management service which includes paying bills on your behalf as well as inspecting the property, recommending, overseeing and accounting for necessary maintenance, repairs and redecoration.

Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.