OpenRent Blog | Open Resources & Help for Landlords & Tenants

November 19, 2019November 19, 2019

How to Partially Repay a Tenancy Deposit and Return Amounts in Excess of Five Week Cap

How to reduce your tenancy deposit to five weeks' rent ahead of the tenant fees act capping deposits.

Step-by-Step Guides for All Three Deposit Schemes

The Tenant Fees Acts (2019) brought in a cap for tenancy deposits. The rules apply to new tenancies and renewals from 1st June 2019. They will apply to all tenancies, including ongoing ones, from 1st June 2020.

The new rules cap tenancy deposits to a maximum of five times the weekly rent for the property. Any deposit held above the cap of five weeks’ rent after 1st June 2020 will be considered a prohibited payment. Prohibited payments bring the risk of a £5,000 fine per payment.

November 18, 2019November 18, 2019

How to Get Rid of Damp, Mould and Condensation in Rented Homes

what causes damp, mould and condensation on windows and walls in rented property, and who's responsibility is it to fix?

Many rented homes suffer from black mould and condensation on windows, frames and walls. But what causes damp and how it can be treated? And who is responsible for getting rid of it?

November 14, 2019November 18, 2019

Joint and Severally Liable Tenancies: a Guide for Landlords, Tenants and Guarantors

What does joint and severally liable mean for renting, landlords and tenants?

This guide to the legal concept of joint and severally liable tenancies was written by Clara Zang and Salmaan Hassanally, practising barristers at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square Chambers.

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019

Feature Spotlight: Renewals

Product Spotlights show you all the neat little things OpenRent does that make your life easier.

Hey, it’s Sam here to kick off a series where OpenRent team members share our favourite OpenRent features. I want to talk about my favourite feature, free renewals with OpenRent.

October 17, 2019October 28, 2019

How to Vet Tenants with Pre-Viewing Questions

Landlords want high-quality tenants at their viewings. That means tenants who have read the property description and understand the kind of tenancy that the landlord is looking for.

October 15, 2019November 15, 2019

Switching to OpenRent from Upad

How to switch from Upad to alternative OpenRent

Landlords often ask us how to switch from their current letting agent to OpenRent. It’s really simple.

September 9, 2019November 15, 2019

Should I Use a Full Property Management Service?

What is a fully managed rental property service, and why is it bad value for landlords?

High street agents take up to 15% of your rent to manage your property. That can easily be over £1,000 a year, per property. So even if you don’t want to manage the property yourself, you need to ask yourself whether this is good value — and seriously consider the alternatives.

September 2, 2019October 21, 2019

The Difference Between Holding Deposits and Tenancy Deposits (and Fees)

Confused about rental fees and costs? When you are about to rent a property, there are several different types of payment you will have to make. The main four are:

the holding deposit
the tenancy deposit
rent in advance (usually one month’s worth)
fees

August 6, 2019November 18, 2019

How to Add Custom Clauses to OpenRent’s Contract (AST)

How to add custom clauses and terms to the OpenRent AST (tenancy agreement or contract)

If you choose to use our Rent Now tenancy creation service, then you’ll be using our standard contract. It’s an industry-leading contract that has been designed to reflect best practice while also meeting the needs of real landlords.

August 6, 2019August 7, 2019

How to Increase the Rent by Serving a Section 13 Notice

How to use section 13 of the Housing Act to increase the rent of a tenancy.

What is a Section 13 Notice?

Section 13 is a way for landlords to increase the rent they charge for a property. It refers to Section 13 of the Housing Act (1988).

Landlords can only use Section 13 for assured periodic tenancies. These are tenancies that are not within a fixed term. For example, the fixed term may have expired, meaning the tenancy has automatically become a periodic tenancy.