Q. I have been lucky enough to inherit a property from my grandfather. I work abroad at the moment. It is in a somewhat rural area, with a large garden and is well fenced in. The house is in dire need of some TLC, but I don’t have any funds at present to do it up. It’s livable, but far from comfortable. I do know some of the appliances are pushing to 20 years old. I am thinking about renting it at a low price, just to have someone in it and be making some kind of income. Can you advise me as to any of the pros or cons.
Dear Reader,
There are minimum standards any property offered for rent must comply with. The property must be structurally secure; it must be damp and mould-free. The property must have electricity or gas. The property must also have proper ventilation and heating in each room and both artificial and natural lighting.
The property must have an adequate washing machine, a hob, oven, and grill, a fridge and freezer, a microwave, along with hot and cold running water, etc. The house must have a separate bathroom (an outhouse would not be sufficient!), fire and CO2 alarms, etc.
If you were to offer a property for rent which did not comply with the regulations, any tenant or the local authority could seek to have you bring the property up to standard.
Any property offered for sale after March 2026 is subject to new rules. The tenant can only be asked to leave the property in very limited circumstances. Any rent would be capped at two per cent per annum increases. You might find yourself in a position whereby you are locked into an artificially lower rent for the foreseeable future.
You should also note that if the property remains vacant, it will be liable for Vacant Home Tax. If a property is used for less than 30 days in a year (October to October), you are liable to pay a multiple of your Local Property Tax rate (for 2025 the rate is seven times the LPT).
I am not sure how much it would take to get the property up to spec, but if you want to rent, this would be the preferred option so you can get market rent. After March of this year, whatever rent you apply now will apply for the next six years.
Unfortunately, in such a housing crisis, a lot of landlords are getting out of the market as some of the rules and regulations have become prohibitive.
I would advise maybe taking out a loan to bring the property up to standard and rent for market rate. Alternatively, you may want to consider the option of selling the property.