Private Sector Leasing Scheme London

When you rent your property through our council private sector leasing scheme, City Borough Housing becomes your tenant. We pay your rent on the same day each month for a period we agree between us, usually between three and seven years. Even if there are no tenants in the property or the tenants are not paying their rent, we will continue to make your rental payments.

Once you’ve placed your property in our care, we will then rent it out through one of the London local authorities or housing associations with which we hold a longstanding rental relationship. This is what’s known as private sector leasing. London landlords are then able to take a back seat with their investment, as we take care of everything.

From day-to-day tenant queries, maintenance and repairs, and overall property management, you’ll find it all professionally covered.

Local councils that lease from private sector landlords will often include minor maintenance works in their agreements, but will not usually cover the majority of maintenance and repairs as we do. What’s more, they won’t always promise to return your property to you at the end of the agreement in the condition it was in at the start. Mostly they will say the property will be returned, ‘allowing for the length of the let plus fair wear and tear’. So you may find yourself facing costs to bring the property back up to rentable or saleable standard.

We also include quarterly property inspections in our private sector leasing scheme, allowing us to keep track of how your property is being treated during the tenancy.

All our London landlords are paid a fair rental value based on the property type and size, and where it is situated within London.

Whilst this may not be full market rent, the fact that our private sector leasing scheme includes free professional management, as well as covering the costs of everyday maintenance and repairs, quarterly property inspections and returning the property in pre-let condition at the end of the agreement, makes it exceptional value.

We accept properties from private residential landlords and developers across most London boroughs such as Lewisham, Bexley, Tower Hamlets, Westminster, Waltham Forest and Newham.

The most common types of properties we take on tend to be 1-4 bedroomed, self-contained homes, but we are asked by London local authority housing departments and housing associations for other types of properties from time to time.

Once your rental valuation has been issued, we’ll inspect your property to ascertain whether there’s anything that needs bringing in line with safety and regulatory standards. We’ll also ask for a number of compliance documents, for example an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR), and an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR). Other documents may also be needed. If they are, we’ll let you know.

As soon as the inspection process is finalised and we have all we need safety and compliance wise, we can then proceed to agreeing terms and get the council private sector leasing agreement signed. This can take as little as 48 hours.

For the duration of our private sector leasing agreement, we will manage all the everyday repairs reported by the tenants or identified during our quarterly property inspections.

Things such as tripped electrics, leaks, broken locks and general maintenance will all be both managed and paid for. We don’t manage the likes of outdoor repairs, however, so anything to do with roofing, fencing or exterior walls, for example, will remain your responsibility.

Remember, if you go direct to your local authority and sign up for their council private sector leasing scheme, you may be expected to cover the costs of general maintenance, as many will only cover certain minor works.