M & M Properties, Leighton Buzzard

M & M Properties have developed a reputation over the last 30 years of letting and managing homes in Leighton Buzzard and the surrounding area as honest, reliable and professional.

We work to the highest industry standards, and are a company proven to achieve results. We have dedicated maintenance, contracts and accounts departments, ensuring that all aspects of your let are dealt with promptly and efficiently.

In a time before the internet, social media and large corporate property portals, M & M Properties built its foundations on word of mouth and recommendation. Both Michael Smith and Steven Root are fully licensed ARLA agents (Association of Residential Lettings Agents) operating from our town centre Leighton Buzzard office. If you combine this with the exposure that all rental homes are given to the market and the way in which each tenancy is carefully and expertly executed within our showroom you have a truly unequalled service in the Leighton Buzzard market.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA/Propertymark) is committed to providing the highest standards of letting and management services through its licensed agents. Being licensed ensures your agent is following best practice. They provide you with consumer protection and ensure the service provided is of the highest standard within the industry.

How you are better protected with a licensed agent?

A licensed ARLA agent is qualified and is required to keep up to date with the latest developments in the market, and with the ever changing legislation affecting letting and property management.

Without this knowledge and expertise, whether you are a tenant or a landlord, you may be badly advised or misled - or you may even suffer financial loss as a result.

By choosing a licensed ARLA agent you are protecting your money because it is covered by a Client Money Protection Scheme. A licensed ARLA firm will also have professional indemnity insurance in place for your protection.

A licensed firm abides by a code of practice as well as rule of conduct. This means you can be assured that the service you receive is to the highest standard, and your enquiry will be dealt with professionally and fairly.

In the unlikely event that things go wrong, a licensed ARLA firm has a written complaints procedure and is a member of the Ombudsman for Lettings.

At M & M Properties we utilise much of the technology that exists in today's society to ensure that a property lets promptly. M & M have extensive marketing on major property portals including bespoke premium products on
www.rightmove.co.uk, advertising here at www.mandmproperties.co.uk. M & M have also been regular advertisers in the Leighton Buzzard press for the last 30 years ensuring that your property is always seen. We believe that with all the above in action we have the virtual and media world covered for our clients, however, we must not forget the importance and prominence of our office, and the value of face to face contact with Landlord's and tenants.

M & M have the largest showroom in Leighton Buzzard, displaying properties on LED pocket displays. On the streets our prominent To Let boards are easily recognisable and ensure your property stands out from the crowd.

At M & M our service is bespoke to each and every client and our work begins from the very first time we communicate with you, in fact that might be now! We have utmost pride in ensuring that we tell you the whole story all of the time, and that the success of every property and tenancy is totally in parallel with our own success and progression. If our client's experience is positive and successful then we have built another trusting and long lasting relationship.

M & M have established themselves as the market leader in Leighton Buzzard by identifying our client's individual needs, treating them with respect and working together, and on their behalf, to achieve a specific property goal. In return for our dedication our clients have come back to us again and again, and have helped us to continue with our progression.

M & M offer three levels of service, which are as follows:

Property Management

Assessment of Rent

The level of rent, which can be achieved on a property, will be determined by the current level of demand for rental accommodation in your area. A prospective tenant will also consider the location of the property, the quality of furnishings/fixtures that are being left and its general condition. One of our Property Managers will visit your property and evaluate its rental value based on these things. It is normal that furnished/unfurnished properties are let at a rental inclusive of buildings insurance, and in case of leasehold properties, ground rents/service charges. The tenant is responsible for council tax, water rates, gas, electricity and telephone.

References

As our Property Manager will point out to you every possible precaution is taken to ensure the tenant placed in your property will provide a trouble free tenancy. A prospective tenant will be interviewed by one of our property managers, and if deemed suitable for a tenancy, M & M Properties employ the services of a professional company specializing in the vetting of tenants for residential property. If a tenant wishes to proceed with a property they will be charged an administration fee, and complete the appropriate application form, providing information including employment details, salary and where they have resided for the last three years. Once all checks have been carried out we will make our recommendations for the tenancy to be formally granted, or the property placed back on the market, depending on the findings of the outside reference company.

Inventory And Schedule Of Condition

A detailed inventory and schedule condition will be drawn up prior to the first tenant moving in. It is important to maintain a certain standard expected by landlord and tenant, and therefore it may be necessary for us to instruct gardeners and cleaners prior to the commencement of the tenancy. This would be carried out after obtaining the appropriate instructions from the landlord, and charged at the cost agreed. The detailed inventory will be updated and methodically checked before each tenancy commences. This document will form part of any claim for dilapidation against future deposits.

Furnished or Unfurnished

There is now more demand for unfurnished than furnished property. When leaving the property unfurnished you are required to leave carpets and curtains throughout, and we advise leaving three main kitchen appliances i.e. cooker, fridge and washing machine although this is not essential. Any kitchen appliances left at a property will remain the responsibility of the landlord, unless otherwise specified.

Property maintenance and maintenance reporting platform

The implementation of an online repair reporting service in 2018 is helping to provide a much improved service to the tenant and help protect our Landlord's property around the clock and save them money. Handling maintenance issues is an integral part of our service to our Landlord, The new 'fixflo' system ensures we provide the highest levels of service to our landlord and tenant. During the tenancy, your tenant will report online any maintenance issues occurring at your property. The online maintenance platform is multilingual, easy to use from either a smart phone or desk top computer providing critical information including photos.If it is of an urgent nature e.g. burst pipes, it would be repaired by our chosen maintenance engineer at our discretion to avoid further damage, and or cost to yourself. For less urgent defects we would contact you and gain permission before proceeding. This is of course for defects caused as a result of normal wear and tear, and is your responsibility as the landlord. Any fault caused by the tenant will be repaired at their own cost. We would request that details of all service contracts and current guarantees are given to us at the time of instruction. If the property is fitted with a central heating system we would recommend arranging an annual service contract to avoid expensive breakdown costs.

Routine Property Visits

Our management team will visit your property and view both the inside and outside. This is to gain an understanding of how the tenants are living in the property, and to also look for possible defects that should be addressed (it should be appreciated that any overview can only extend to apparent or obvious defects and would not amount in any way to a survey). We cannot accept responsibility for hidden or latent defects. M & M Properties are not qualified surveyors or structural engineers. A written report can be provided on request after a property visit has been carried out.

Transfer Of Services

We will read the gas and electric meters and arrange for the transfer of the services at the commencement of each tenancy. However as the telephone providers will not deal with managing agents you will need to arrange disconnection and your final account before leaving the property. Incoming tenants will make their own arrangements for the reconnection of the service. Water meters are generally transferred by us into the tenant's name; however, in some situations it will be necessary for the landlord to remain responsible. Where there is a water meter M & M Properties will notify the water company, and an estimated bill will be raised. M & M Properties do not read water meters without prior agreement with the landlord.

Collection of Rent and Accounting

At the commencement of the tenancy we will collect the first month's installment of rent in advance in cleared funds. The tenant will thereafter pay the rent on the first of each month by standing order. The landlord will be paid into a designated bank account by the twentieth of the same month. Our accounts department will provide a detailed monthly statement showing the rent received, and any deductions including our service charge and other expenses. The forwarding of statements to accountants or another third party is carried out by us at your request. We will, if instructed, settle the landlord's closing accounts for gas, electricity, water and council tax.

Tenancy Agreements and Notices

Your property will be let under an assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement as defined in the Housing Act 1988, as amended in 1996, 2004 and 2015. The Agreement will be for a term no less than six months and would not end sooner, unless both the Landlord and Tenant were both in agreement. The rent would remain the same during this set period with any increase, if requested, being obtained at renewal of contracts for a further term.

Assuming that no breach of the Tenancy Agreement has occurred the provisions for recovery of possession in section 21 of the Housing Act would apply. The landlord would be required to serve a minimum of two months notice prior to the end of the agreement when looking to recover possession.

Security Deposit

We will take a deposit of not less than one month's rent. We will hold the deposit as

stakeholder. This means we will hold the deposit on both the landlord's and tenant's behalf. We are members of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and we hold the deposit under the terms of that scheme. Full details of the scheme are available on request. At the end of the tenancy, we will provide a fair service to ensure the deposit is distributed to whom it should be paid, or to assist in determining the amount due to both the landlord or the tenant.

Nil deposit scheme

This is an alternative method of providing a deposit. It works by way of the tenant paying a non-refundable Nil Deposit service charge, significantly less than a traditional deposit, this can be as low as two weeks rent plus vat. Offered by let Alliance, the Nil Deposit service manages payment of any entitlement for any breach of a tenancy agreement up to six weeks rent. Throughout the tenancy the tenant will have tenants' liability insurance in place - this will protect against accidental damage to fixtures, fittings and furniture. This scheme provides wider choice for the tenant and may help reduce void periods between tenancies.