Investment Property Maintenance 

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Your standard household policy will not usually provide cover if you rent out your property. You will require specific landlords insurance for this.

The landlord is legally responsible for property management & maintenance including repairs to the structure and exterior of the property, heating and hot water installations, basins, sinks, baths and other sanitary installations.

Property maintenance

The landlord is also responsible for the following property maintenance areas:

• the safety of gas and electrical appliances
• the fire safety of furniture and furnishings provided under the tenancy
• ensuring that the property is fit for habitation
• repairing and keeping in working order the room and water heating equipment 
• the common areas in multi-occupancy dwellings 

The tenant is responsible for:

• paying the rent as agreed and taking proper care of the property
• bills for gas electricity, telephone, etc if this was agreed
• in most cases, paying the council tax, water and sewerage charges

If your tenant is disabled, you must take reasonable steps to change the tenancy agreement if a term of the agreement makes it impossible or difficult for your tenant to live in the property because of disability.

Landlords who do not take reasonable steps to change the agreement are discriminating against a disabled person and are breaking the law.

What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances but, for example, you must agree to change a term of the agreement so that the tenant can make disability-related improvements to the property or so that they can have an assistance dog.

Landlord accreditation is a set of standards (or code) relating to the property management or physical condition & property maintenance of privately rented accommodation.

Landlords who join a scheme and abide by the standards are 'accredited'. Accreditation schemes are voluntary. There is no compulsion for landlords to join, but there may be many advantages, including:

• the status of being publicly identified as a good landlord 
• distancing themselves from incompetent or unscrupulous landlords 
• the business advantage of advertising their accredited status to tenants who place emphasis on good quality and well managed property.

Incentives offered vary from scheme to scheme but may include:

• a liaison officer who can help landlords to deal with any department of the local authority
• consultation on proposals that may affect landlords, such as changes to legislation or local housing strategies
• access to grants and loans to renovate properties to relevant standards set by the scheme
• advice on how to tackle anti-social behaviour 
• discounts and group purchase on goods and services such as landlords insurance

Most schemes are run by local authorities - usually the housing or environmental health department. You should contact your local council for advice about accreditation schemes that may be operating in your area.

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