With demand on renting property soaring – a year-on-year growth of 18% according to the Telegraph – buy-to-let is becoming an increasingly appealing investment option. If you’re looking at buying to let, you should be aware of what a good conveyancing service can add to the process, both in helping you to buy a property and setting up a lease.
As a buyer, your conveyancer does a range of checks on your home to ensure it won’t fall down overnight or, less drastically, to simply guarantee its general integrity. It also entails searching for information on local mining, Land Registry, drainage and any other legal matters relevant to the property. A conveyancer who has knowledge of buy-to-let can advise that the house is suitable for let, and they can even draw up a tenancy agreement for you.
Becoming a landlord isn’t always plain sailing; over time items in the property may need repair which you are responsible for fixing, such as a boiler, or you may find yourself in a dispute with tenants. A conveyancer can help you to draw up a schedule of conditions which you can impose on your tenant, designed to help you avoid a dispute over a problem which occurs down the line.
Some buyers and sellers will often choose to use their regular family lawyer for conveyancing. In any case you should always check around to find a reputable conveyancer that will give you a complete service tailored to your needs, particularly if this is your first buy-to-let experience. Saga Legal offer fixed prices and also offer assurances if the deal falls through, while comparison websites like moneysupermarket.com are a great place to find the best local providers available.
Hiring someone who doesn’t specialise in this field can be a real headache, and one size certainly doesn’t fit all when it comes to conveyancing; you need a service which has knowledge of the buy-to-let market so that they can offer the kinds of add-ons that make being a landlord so much easier. A good buy-to-let conveyancer will be worth their weight in gold in this lucrative but daunting world of property investment.