Owning and operating a residential property portfolio is no longer as easy or as profitable as it once was – onerous regulations, burdensome taxes and more demanding tenants are the modern landlord’s lot. If you’re a retiring (or simply tiring) landlord we can probably help. We can take on board your existing apartment or house and provide you with a guaranteed monthly rental or even purchase an individual or an entire portfolio of rental properties.

FAQs

How does your service work?

We are your independent Property Managers and we charge no fees or commission. We provide both high standard serviced accommodation on short term lets to holiday makers and workers as well as excellent longer fixed-term accommodation for single, professional people working full time in the Chippenham\Swindon\ Wiltshire area.

We sign a contract with you for a minimum of 3 years (5 is the average) - this allows us to manage your property fully. We make sure the property is suitable for letting, including painting and light refurbishing and furnishing it.

We provide quality accommodation for working professionals. We find tenants and deal with the tenancy agreements. We take care of any maintenance work required and we pay your rent to you every month regardless if tenants fail to pay.

Basically we guarantee your rent every month regardless of voids and we take away the headache of troublesome tenants. Your business becomes hands-off.

Are you an Estate Agent / Letting Agent?

No, we are not an Estate Agent or a Letting Agent. We rent properties from local landlords who want to continue to rent their property without the stress of having to deal with tenants themselves. We do work successfully alongside several local Letting Agents. If you are a Letting Agent, please have a look at the benefits of working with us.

How do you find and evaluate potential tenants?

We let out our properties under two models. Typically apartments are managed as serviced accommodation and advertised on sites such as Booking.com, whilst houses in which we let multiple rooms on a long term basis, are advertised through online accommodation portals such as 'Spare Room' and 'Easy Room Mate', in local newspapers and with letting agents. We have relationships with local companies looking to house their employees.

All prospective tenants for our co-living spaces must provide ID, proof of current address, National Insurance number, two references, 3 months' worth of bank statements and in some cases a guarantor if we think this is needed. All such tenants have to sign a 6-month tenancy agreement. We then extend it as necessary

What are the typical properties we look for?

Normally we consider any property in good rental areas that have a minimum of 4 bedrooms (3 must be double) We may accept some 3 bed properties if they have a separate reception room that can be used as a double bedroom.

We also take on houses that have been inherited, need refurbishing, have proved difficult to let or selling any condition. Should work be required to re-configure a property or room to bring it up to our letting standards.

The property must be in an area which we deem to be 'in demand' for professionals/workers looking to rent good quality accommodation. Generally, this is near to Chippenham or Swindon Town centre and the outskirts or close to the M4 motorway or the train station.

How do you pay the rent to the landlord?

Rent is paid monthly, directly from our account to the landlords' account.

What do you charge for your service?

There is no charge or fees for our service to the landlord. We simply make our money back on the difference we pay to the landlord and the rent we charge the tenants for good quality rooms.

We employ cleaners and a property manager. All communal areas including kitchens, bathrooms, landings, hallways, stairs etc. are cleaned thoroughly once every two weeks. All maintenance and tenant issues are taken care of. Our tenants appreciate this and don't mind paying a little extra for the benefits.

Will there be contract between us and how does it affect my rights?

We provide a 'Management Contract' which has been overseen by a solicitor and legally covers all aspects of our agreement. It gives us the authority to manage your property fully on your behalf for an agreed term and protects both our rights and yours. We recommend you read the contract in full and if there's anything you're unhappy with, we can discuss the terms to ensure a win-win situation.

What if the tenant doesn't pay their rent?

If a tenant misses a payment or doesn't pay the landlord is still paid the full amount. We account for voids in our budget and deal with them if they arise. This would be our problem, not the landlords. We are very diligent with our tenant sourcing process and property management and manage to keep voids to an absolute minimum.

How much rent will you offer me for my property?

We pay market rent.

Our aim is that you will receive the at least the same net income you are already getting for the property when you take off what you would normally be paying in voids / agent commission fees / Council Tax / tenant sourcing fees / maintenance issues etc.

Most landlords don't take these payments into account and therefore are not actually getting as much rent as they think they are! So in effect you get the same amount of rent without the hassle of having to manage the property or the tenants yourself.

The price we agree on is the price we will pay throughout the term of our agreement. We will not renegotiate the price.

If I sign a contract with Willow Bay how soon will I get paid?

We are your 'tenant' so you will be paid immediately as in any tenancy, regardless of whether the property is occupied or not.

Occasionally, we may need to negotiate a "rent free" period to enable us to refurbish the property at the beginning of the tenancy, if applicable.

How is the property maintenance handled and what will I be responsible for?

As the property owner/landlord you will be responsible financially for structural repairs or repairs to the heating and electrical systems and ensure that gas and electricity safety certificates are compliant and up to date.

If any problems structural/heating/electrical problems arise, we will inform you immediately. As the property manager we will send our maintenance team, but only after agreeing a quote with you for the work required. If you prefer, you can use your own tradesman.

We will be responsible for other maintenance issues such as:

- Refurbishment/decoration

- Basic wear and tear

- Lost keys

- Replacing broken or stolen items

- Any light maintenance up to and including £150

What if tenants cause damage to the property?

Any damage caused by the residents (e.g. a broken window) will be our responsibility. We will put right the damage at our own cost.

What happens if Willow Bay Apartments goes out of business?

We are confident that wont happen, but we appreciate the question is important!. Were such a situation to occur, according to our contract, the management of the property and rent payments would revert back to the Landlord (you). Any deposits held with DPI would be still available for any unpaid rent or damages.

Do we pay a deposit to the Landlord?

No, we take and manage all deposits from tenants and secured them under the Deposit Protection Service (DPS).

Will there be issues with my mortgage provider when signing a Management Contract with you?

We have no security of tenure so there should not be an issue. However, we recommend that you seek authorisation from your lender before entering into any contract. It is your responsibility to ensure you have the correct mortgage product, where applicable. We are happy to discuss this further with you.

What happens at the end of the contract?

The property will be handed back to the Landlord in the same (or in most cases, better) condition that it was at the start of the tenancy. The tenancy can be further extended if both parties are happy with this.

So, would a 'hands off' property business make your life easier?

Simply call Simon or Amy now for a no obligation chat to see how this could benefit you on: 01249 533 023

Alternatively you can email us at: landlords@willow-bay.uk