Deciding to rent out your property, or a room, is a big decision and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. But according to new research, nearly 50 per cent of so-called accidental landlords have admitted they have no idea of the legislation involved in renting out a property.

The change in market conditions over the last year has resulted in more people choosing to rent out their homes rather than sell them, in the hope that the market will stabilise and prices will rise again over time. Whilst this is certainly a good option to explore if you don’t need to sell straight away, it is crucial to understand the letting laws.

A survey conducted by the Deposit Protection Service, involving over 1,000 property owners renting out their homes, found that many of the accidental landlords were guilty of being clueless about the law. Forty-eight per cent of them admitted they hadn’t fully checked out the laws involved before they rented out their property.

One in five said that legislation was the most challenging aspect of becoming a landlord – even more so than finding a suitable tenant to rent their property to.

As there are several laws and statutory obligations involved for a landlord, it’s important to check them out in advance and ensure you know exactly what’s involved before taking the plunge and renting out your home. If you’re considering becoming a landlord, check out our letting guide and guide to being a landlord to make sure you understand exactly what you’re getting into.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.