By letting your property, you obtain a regular income, whilst retaining your capital investment PLUS any increase in capital value - something that has proved to be considerable in the last few years.

We are an experienced professional property letting and management company, established in 1988. Our membership of the RICS means that we adhere to a strict code of practice, and that our clients money is protected, both by the RICS Clients Indemnity Fund, and by adherence to the RICS Client Account Regulations.

We have fully staffed high street premises, easily accessible to applicants, landlords and tenants alike. We have modern IT systems in place to help us deal with the management of our clients’ properties.And most importantly of all, we have an experienced and motivated management team who are highly skilled in the management of residential properties of all kinds.

You can contact us by completing the Landlords Enquiry form on this website, or by contacting our office in person, by telephone or email:

Axworthy House
17 Gold Street,
Tiverton,
Devon EX16 6QB

Tel: 01884 - 242523
Fax: 01884 - 256888
email: letting@axworthy.co.uk

Most modern residential tenancies are assured shorthold tenancies commonly known as “AST’s”.

Certain tenancies cannot be AST’s, and these include a letting to a company, and a holiday letting. The rules for these tenancies are different.

We can arrange lettings to companies, but holiday lettings are mostly managed by specialist companies, and this is something that we do not offer at present.

AST’s are usually for a minimum period of 6 months although landlords will sometimes let for shorter or longer periods.

Older tenancies, mostly created before 1980, are known as regulated tenancies, and special rules still apply to them. We will be pleased to advise you on the implications of tenancies in individual cases.

There are also other types of tenancy, such as housing provided to employees, upon which you should be advised by a solicitor.

We normally do.

Our standard tenancy agreement is suitable for most AST letting situations, and this standard agreement is tailored for each tenancy.

If you require a special agreement to be drawn up, we will be happy to instruct your solicitor to do this at your expense.

Unless either the landlord or the tenant serves notice to terminate the tenancy, it will continue as a periodic shorthold tenancy from the end of the initial shorthold period.

The landlord or agent can terminate the tenancy at the end of the shorthold period term by serving the appropriate notice on the tenant. The notice must be in the correct form, and time is of the esssence, so you have to get it right!

The tenant can also give notice. Depending on the terms of the tenancy, one month's written notice is usually sufficient, to take effect after the initial shorthold term has expired.

If you do have a mortgage on the property, you need to tell the lender that you intend to let the property. Some lenders will charge additional interest on a mortgage for this.

We advise Landlords as to the best rent that can be achieved for their property.

The rent agreed at the start of an AST can be reviewed at the end of the first shorthold term, and normally again in a year, unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise.

The tenant has the right to appeal to the Rent Officer and also the Rent Assessment Committee if he or she considers that the rent is too high.

In practice, we find that this rarely happens if the rent is fair at the outset of the tenancy and the Landlord has kept the property is tenantable repair.

We enter into a detailed written Client Agreement with each of our landlord clients, which is signed by both parties upon taking instructions.

The agreement sets out the scope of what is covered by our letting packages, and (just as importantly) what our service does not cover.

We offer three packages to landlords, to suit individual circumstances. These are:

* Full management

* Financial Management

* Introduction Only

Further details on each service, and our costs, are available upon request.

In summary, we introduce the landlord and tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; check in the tenant; manage the property; account to the Landlord for the rent received; and checkout the tenant at the end of the tenancy.

This suits landlords who are unable (perhaps because they are abroad) or simply do not have the time to manage the property themselves.

In summary, we introduce the landlord and tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; check in the tenant; account to the Landlord for the rent received; and check out the tenant at the end of the tenancy.

This suits landlords who may want to undertake the day to day management themselves, but do not want to be responsible for collecting the rent.

In summary, we introduce the landlord to the tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; and check in the tenant.

The landlord then manages the property and deals with the check out at the end of the tenancy.

We will be pleased to draw up an inventory for you, at a charge of £30 per hour plus VAT.

Travelling time and mileage will be charged in addition, where the property is more than 10 miles from our offices.

Rents are paid into Axworthy's clients bank account by tenants. Receipts are tracked by our management systems, and arrears are chased.

Deductions are made for our fees and any contractors invoices which we have paid out of the clients money received.

We pay the balance of the rent to landlords directly into their bank accounts. It normally takes three working days for the payment to reach the landlord’s bank after it leaves our clients account.

We send landlords a monthly statement by post, which clearly sets out what has been received and spent on their behalf.

Unlike some agents, we do not wait a month before paying out our Landlords.

The landlord is responsible for providing and maintaining the property in good tenantable and safe condition, and for insuring the buildings.

The Landlord's responsibilities include:

Carrying out all structural maintenance and repairs, and also maintaining the landlords installations, such as plumbing, electrical, central heating etc.

Keeping the property safe: it is now a criminal offence to let a property in an unsafe condition.

The basic principle is that Landlords must show due diligence in keeping the property safe, which includes the electrical and gas installations, the flues and appliances (such as boilers and gas fires).

A gas safety certificate is required every 12 months and any portable gas or electrical appliances need to be certified too. Axworthy will arrange for contractors to do this work at the Landlord's cost, if we are fully managing a property.

These are clearly set out in the tenancy agreement. Tenant’s responsibilities include the following:

Keeping the interior of the dwelling and gardens in satisfactory condition, fair wear and tear excepted.

Maintaining the fixtures and fittings, but not replacing any that wear out. For instance, a tenant would have to replace a tap washer, but not a tap; or unblock a drain, but not repair the drain itself.

A returnable deposit or “bond” is payable by the tenant at the start of a tenancy, as a deposit against costs incurred by the landlord as a direct result of the tenant failing to keep to the terms of the tenancy.

The bond is normally the equivalent of one month’s rent, unless the landlord requires a larger deposit, and in the case of managed properties it is held by the agents in our clients account.

The bond will be returned at the end of the tenancy, after the property has been vacated, at the discretion of the agents.

The bond will be repaid in full, providing the property has been properly looked after and is left in a clean and tidy condition, (including the garden) and providing all outstanding rent has been paid in full.

The agents reserve the right to deduct any unpaid fees or charges from the bond.

Specified pets will be accepted at the discretion of the Landlord and agents.

A separate Pet Agreement is signed by both Landlord and tenant, for the specified pet or pets.

The landlord reserves the absolute right to require the tenant to remove any pet from the property during the tenancy under the terms of the Pet Agreement.

Most of the properties we let are unfurnished. There is less demand for furnished accommodation, and the rent achievable is usually no more if the property is furnished.

If you let your property furnished, you should expect to pay a fee to the agent for preparing and checking the inventory at the start and end of each tenancy (see FAQ on Inventories above)

Landords are advised to ensure that the
property is in good decorative order throughout. Wipe clean plain emulsion and gloss finishes are best, for ease of maintenance.

Good presentation of the property will make the property easier to let; it will encourage a good tenant to look after it; and it will also make it a lot easier to assess any damages at the end of the tenancy.

The Landlord is always responsible for external decorations.

Landords should bear in mind that any items included in the inventory are effectively included in the rent. They will have to be maintained; and also they must be repaired or replaced if they break down or get stolen.

We strongly advise Landlords NOT to include such items as: washing machines, TV, stereo, computer or other such equipment.

We normally encourage landlords to leave at least the following in a let property:

Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers as necessary for health and safety legislation.

A cooker, and fridge

Fitted carpets and curtains in clean and unmarked condition.

Light bulbs to all light fittings.

Certain parts of the property can be excluded from the tenancy, such as a barn or a room that can be securely locked. As a rule, we advise landlords against doing this, because it reduces the rent payable, and there are issues with insurance.

We suggest you do not leave in the property:

Small items (such as horse brasses or ornaments) that are not vital to the tenancy.

Very valuable items (antiques for instance), or items of sentimental value.

Items which can be dangerous, such as knives, swords, firearms or ammunition. By leaving them in the property, you could be committing a criminal offence, even if they are licensed to you and locked away.