Landlord FAQ’s

What are the legal compliance issues?

In recent years the private rental sector has increasingly been the subject of new regulatory requirements from both the UK and Scottish governments.

We have put together a full resource on https://cairnestateagency.com/legislation/

How long will it take to rent out my property?

Well that depends on the condition and the location of the property our specialist team can advise you of the best way to market your property and we can also offer our development team for any mini refurbishment required. We market your property on our website and various property portals Rightmove, Citylets, Zoopla and we also market through our social media channels which have a large following.

How much does the service cost?

Depending on the service you require whether that is full management to tenant find only we can deliver a service that suits your budget requirements. Please contact Fiona in Glasgow to discuss our full range of services. Please note we are currently offering three months FREE management to any new landlords till the end of May 2023.

How do you go about vetting tenant applicants?

Firstly, we pre-qualify tenants before viewings to ensure they meet referencing requirements for the property, this includes ensuring the affordability criteria is met. Once a tenant has applied for a property / paid a deposit we use a well-established referencing agent to conduct all formal reference checks to give the landlords the most cover possible

Are you a member of any accredited bodies?

All agents legally need to register with the Scottish Government. Our LARN number is LARN2002011.

We are also members of the Scottish Association of Landlords (SAL)and the Property Ombudsman (TPOS). Our senior members of staff are also members with Property Mark.

What if my tenant is late with their rent?

If a tenant does not pay their rent by the 7^th day in the month our accounts team will call/text and email the tenants and the guarantors (if applicable) asking them to pay this immediately. At this stage, we also provide the tenants with the below links for help and advice if they are struggling to pay their rent:

* Shelter Scotland – https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/about_us/contact_us

* Citizens Advice Scotland – https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/

* The Scottish Government – https://www.mygov.scot/rent-arrears

If we receive a response to this communication, we will propose a payment plan with the tenants and confirm this with the landlord to make sure you are happy with this. If we do not receive a response, we will contact the tenants again on the 14^th day and request an explanation as to why the rent has not been paid. We will notify you by day 14 if we have not received any rent to let you know as our landlords get paid on the 15^th of every month. Please find important information attached on the eviction ban and what this means for serving notice.

If we do not have rent in by day 21, we will arrange an inspection of the property to ensure the tenant is still residing in the property and we will continue with regular inspections until we receive rent.

Once it gets to month 5 of the tenant being in rent arrears, we are obliged to send the tenants ‘pre-action requirements’ which include important information on how they can get help and advice with their arrears, we will continue to send this information until the tenants hit 6 months of arrears, once this happens, we will be in a position to service notice.

Please note our process is in line with the Scottish Governments legislation on the current eviction ban

Our accounts team process and pay all landlords on the 15^th of each month. If the 15^th falls on the weekend or a Bank Holiday, this will be processed the following day.

I have also attached some information relating to our Rent Guarantee service which is an additional cover but might be something you wish to consider.

Can I use my own contractors to carry out work?

You can however we have an in-house team that can cover any maintenance work at favourable rates.

How often do you carry out inspections on my property?

Our SME software system diarises quarterly inspections where an external member of the team will inspect your property. The Property manager will send you photos of any works and transparent communication will begin to resolve any works working to your budget.

Why choose Cairn?

We are 100% dedicated to managing your property our team will treat it as if it were their own and are highly qualified in doing so.

We have been established since 1999 and have built a reputation for quality service in property rentals particularly HMO properties.

Our staff are highly trained we invest heavily in staff development our team attend monthly legislative courses and are put through ARLA and Letwell accreditation to ensure you meet your obligations as a landlord.

We have an inhouse Compliance & Legislative training manager who not only keep our staff and landlords uptodate but can advise external landlords with our legislative and compliance service. Our OCT Manager has in-depth knowledge on the First Tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) a service we offer to our existing landlords and those who don’t necessary use our management programme. This is a unique service as many agents outsource this externally to a lawyer which can be very costly.

Our staff team are dynamic and we retain staff long term so you have continuity of service.

We have comprehensive professional indemnity and public liability insurance.

We hold comprehensive client money protection in Safe Deposit Scotland

Don’t take our word for it read our testimonials.