#323 Expat Property Story · The twice-weekly UK property podcast for remote investors If you’re a UK landlord managing properties from overseas, you’ll already know the Renters’ Rights Act has changed the landscape. Section 21 is gone. The grounds for ending a tenancy are narrower, the notice periods are longer, and getting referencing wrong from the start is a far more expensive mistake than it used to be. My guest today is Samantha Powell. Samantha has been in the industry for over thirteen years and is founder of MoveWorks — an independent property management agency covering England and Wales. ExpatPropertyStory.com Check out our shorts on YouTube Our WhatsApp group Property Engine discounts (Code: EXPAT) Starter: 30 day trial Pro: 30 day trial/3 mths 1/2 price, Ultimate: 1/2 price 3 months Goalsetting Leave a review 37 Question Due Diligence Checklist / Auction Guide Our Sponsors: Finnigan McNeill Property Group We Discuss: The Renters’ Rights Act: What’s Actually Changed For agencies that were already doing things properly, the Renters’ Rights Act hasn’t required a wholesale overhaul. The bigger difference is the stakes. With Section 21 abolished, there is no longer a straightforward route to ending a tenancy without grounds. That means the decision about who moves into a property in the first place matters far more than it used to. Samantha’s view: if your agent wasn’t being thorough about referencing before the Act, the Act hasn’t suddenly made them thorough. It has, however, made the cost of their carelessness much higher for you as a landlord. What to Demand from Your Agent on Referencing Samantha’s agency uses a system called GoodLord for all referencing, tenancy agreements, and terms of business. GoodLord has significantly tightened its referencing criteria in line with the Act. Credit checks are more detailed, salary verification is more rigorous, and — critically — one of the primary routes for financial verification now links directly to the applicant’s bank account. That bank-link verification makes fraudulent applications considerably harder to get through. AI-generated fake references were passing checks at many agencies a year before the Act came in. Ask your agent specifically how they are catching fraudulent applications — not just whether they reference tenants, but how. The Guarantor Product: A Solution to the Affordability Gap The standard referencing threshold is 30 times the monthly rent in annual income. For many tenants in the current cost-of-living environment, that bar is too high. GoodLord has introduced its own company guarantor product: tenants who fall short of the income threshold can pay a fee for GoodLord to act as their guarantor, provided they pass certain checks. It is an alternative to either rejecting a good tenant outright or accepting one without adequate financial protection. Section 13 Rent Increases: Start Earlier Than You Think Under the Renters’ Rights Act, rent increases now require two months’ notice rather than one. Samantha’s team has adapted by starting the rent review process significantly earlier, gathering comparable evidence and seeking agreement from both parties well ahead of the notice deadline. The process itself hasn’t become more complicated, but the timeline has lengthened. If your agent is still operating on a one-month cycle for rent increases, they are not compliant. The Two-Month Tenant Notice Period: Actually Better for Landlords A concern many landlords raise is that tenants can now give two months’ notice to leave at any point. Samantha’s reframe is worth considering: under the old periodic tenancy arrangement, tenants could leave on one month’s notice. Two months is an improvement in planning time, not a reduction. In practice, the cost and effort of moving — deposit, referencing, removal costs — means tenants give notice only when they genuinely need to go. Samantha has seen one case: a doctor on a short-term hospital contract. That is a genuine reason to leave, and as a landlord you can factor that risk in at the selection stage. Rent and Legal Protection Insurance: Now a Near-Essential With Section 21 gone, pursuing a tenant who won’t leave or won’t pay requires going through the courts under Section 8. That process is slower and more expensive than it used to be. Samantha recommends rent and legal protection insurance as a standard measure for any landlord post-Act. The cost is between £24 and £46 per tenancy per month, depending on the rent level and the policy provider. Some policies can be taken out mid-tenancy. For context, a contested Section 8 eviction can run to thousands of pounds in legal fees before it concludes. Managing Properties Nationwide Without Being Local MoveWorks covers England and Wales — from Sunderland to Hull, across Manchester, Liverpool, Salford and Warrington, into Wales, and now expanding into London. Samantha’s view on remote management is direct: the team and systems matter more than proximity. Key safes, local clerks, trusted contractors on a vetted panel, and local viewing agents mean a property can be accessed and attended to quickly regardless of where the head office is. The rule she applies before taking on a new area: if she doesn’t already have people she trusts there, she won’t take the business on. That discipline is worth asking about when appointing any agent who claims national coverage. The Fire in the Block of Flats One of Samantha’s managed blocks in Newcastle-under-Lyme had a fire. A tenant’s extractor fan caught fire while cooking. When the fire brigade arrived, they found a block where every check had been completed on schedule: AOV ventilation system checks, emergency lighting, fire door checks on communal doors quarterly and flat doors annually, a fire logbook in a fire box on site, annual fire risk assessments, and tenants briefed on fire safety at move-in and annually thereafter. The fire was contained to one kitchen. Nobody was hurt. The fire brigade left satisfied. Samantha’s point: without those checks, the outcome could have been very different. Who Is Liable When Something Goes Wrong? The short answer: the landlord. The longer answer: the agent, if they have claimed to have done checks that were not actually done. Samantha is clear that a landlord cannot be forced to carry out compliance works — an agent can advise, remind, and recommend, but cannot compel. If a landlord receives a fire door inspection report showing failures and does nothing with it, that responsibility sits with the landlord. If an agent claims to have carried out an inspection and did not, liability shifts toward the agent. The practical implication: ask your agent for evidence of every check, regularly and in writing. How to Check Your Agent Is Doing the Job from Thousands of Miles Away Ask for proof. A fire door check report, an up-to-date EICR, a gas safety certificate, an inspection report with photographs — any of these should be produced without hesitation. If an agent stalls, hedges, or cannot produce documentation for checks they claim to have completed, that is your answer.
