Why choose Lovett International to let your property?

As a landlord you require trouble free letting and that is exactly what we deliver.

We have a wide range of professional tenants seeking homes in the locality. Whether you’re letting a small flat or a family sized home, we guarantee you a first class management service. We will look after your property as if it were our own, it’s no wonder we have developed long term relationships with landlords and tenants based on our thousands of successful lets.

With our prominent high street location we receive a high volume of enquiries from prospective tenants on a daily basis.

We have over 40 successful years of experience within lettings and management.
In marketing your home we advertise extensively in local press and magazines and via our own dedicated web site and FindAProperty.com web site.

Our unique colour eye-catching ‘To Let’ boards are an effective way of generating high quality enquiries, they work alongside our general marketing and attract interest from a wide range of people, these can be erected within 24 hours of instruction.

Within 24 hours of your instruction, our web site our prominent window displays will be updated to include full details of your property providing maximum advertisement.

We have a team of highly experienced Property Managers who will look after the property on your behalf, sorting out any problems that the tenants may have and ensuring the financials stay on track, you are therefore rest assured in the safe knowledge that you do not have to do anything, as we will do it for you.

Lovett International are responsible for Managing a portfolio valued at over £85 million pounds and are responsible for the collection of rent in excess of £4 million pounds per year. We work with landlords who want to keep their properties full and well maintained and to maximise returns over time.

Our experienced staff have worked within the area for many years and are able to establish the maximum anticipated rental we can achieve for you.

What service should I choose?

The service a landlord chooses very much depends on the involvement they wish to have with the property. Managing a property takes away the day to day tenancy issues such as property maintenance, rent collection, property inspection, check in and checkout reports etc, which can become time consuming and inconvenient. In some instances landlords prefer to deal with maintenance issues themselves but want us to deal with the collecting of the rent. On other occasions a landlord may be set up to be able to deal with the rent collection and management of the property and require us to find a tenant. However, we would not advise this unless you have the experience of letting a property.

We offer 2 types of services

Introduction Service - Finders Fee

Marketing the property to find a suitable tenant and progressing the let until the start of the tenancy, which includes:

referencing tenants
organising inventories & gas safety certificates (when necessary)
arranging standing orders between landlord and tenant accounts
Inventory
Check In

All viewings are conducted by our staff. When a suitable tenant is found, full references are taken including bank, employers, previous landlords and character references.

Between 4 to 6 weeks’ rent is taken as a security deposit and held by the agent in a government approved scheme, unless you are a member of your own scheme and can provide us with documentation to that effect.

An Inventory of the current condition of the property is drawn up, a copy of which is forwarded to the landlord. In addition, one month’s rent is taken in advance.

Gas and electricity meters are read and information regarding the new tenancy is conveyed to the gas, electricity, water, telephone companies and the local council for council tax purposes.

An Assured Short-hold Tenancy Agreement is drawn up.

Full Management

We will deal with the tenant on behalf of the landlord for the duration of the tenancy, offering the services outlined in the Introduction Service above and collecting the rent from the tenant which is then passed on to the landlord. In addition we will undertake inspections of the property and the handling of any maintenance issues on behalf of the landlord. This service is designed to offer complete peace of mind to the landlord.

The tenant is at no stage ever given the Landlord’s address or contact details and thus, all management enquiries are organised by our company. All repairs to the property are only carried out with the prior permission of the owners, except in emergencies, when we have been unable to contact the Landlord.

By opting for full management you can take advantage of our in-house property maintenance division which consists of:

Qualified, skilled tradesmen
Fully equipped commercial vehicles
Full time plumbers (CORGI) and electricians (NIC EIC)
Out of hours emergency service (to safeguard your investment).

By use of a two month notice clause in our Tenancy Agreements we are able to advertise and reference a new tenant in good time, thus avoiding costly vacant periods. Regular updates will be provided throughout the letting process. Accompanied viewings at all times. Late viewings are available on request.

Advertising

Lovett Estate agents are dedicated to marketing your property to receive a quick and impressive turn around. We advertise on the internet using our own newly built website www.lovettinternational.com and also using a well established property web site www.findaproperty.com.

We also advertise in the Daily echo 6 days a week and also in a weekly magazine (homes) which is free and is distributed along with the Daily Echo.

Housing Benefits

If you wish to accept housing benefits/DSS we make sure adequate landlord references are produced and we also ask for a Guarantor who will cover any outstanding rent that may occur. We also ask for a character reference who has known the tenant for at least a year.

As an agent we are also in contact with the Housing Benefits office to ensure that the tenant is still liable to receive benefits and is able to pay his/her rent.

Pets

If you choose to accept pets we ask for the previous landlord to supply adequate references and any problems that may have occurred. We also ask the tenant for a pet deposit between £200 - £500 depending on the animal to secure the property from any damage that may happen.

Tenancy Agreements

It is a legally binding document between you and the landlord, applicable only to you and the property that is being rented. The tenancy states the amount of rent, the length of the tenancy and your rights and responsibility. Your agreement will most probably be an Assured Short Hold Tenancy under the Housing Act 1988.

Deposit Schemes

From 6th April 2007 legislation was introduced to ensure that every tenant's deposit must be covered by a Tenancy Deposit Scheme where the property is let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

We as a company have chosen to become members of the DPS.

The 'Deposit Protection Scheme’ is where the deposit is held throughout the tenancy. At the end of the tenancy if the landlord and tenant agree how the deposit should be repaid, they both have to advise the scheme administrator who will then make the agreed payments. As with all Tenancy Deposit Schemes, in the event of a dispute, an independent arbitrator will be appointed to make a decision.

Tenant must be notified of where their deposit is being held within 14 days. Obviously, we will deal with any notification to the tenants as part of our service when we are holding the deposit, details of where the deposit is held is contained within our contract.

This legislation applies to all new tenancies from 6th April 2007 including the renewal of any existing tenancy after that date.

Failure to comply with the legislation will result in a penalty fine of up to three times the deposit. In addition, any Section 21 Notices Requiring Possession served will not be valid.