Advice For Landlords In Northern Ireland: Screening Tenants

Many expats earn a good income from renting out a property back home in Northern Ireland. But landlords never really know what tenants are going to be like and for those who live overseas, it can be even harder to keep tabs on the people living in the property.

"Handing your property over to a stranger can be made easier by protecting yourself and your investment by ensuring that you have a rigid application and screening process for applicants," says the Landlords Association for Northern Ireland (LANI).

"This can take many forms and will often depend on the past experience you have had renting property and the area you are renting in."

LANI recently offered some tips to landlords to help them out in this regard.

Firstly, make sure you obtain some sort of proof of identity from applicants and find out exactly who will be living in the property.

Everyone should complete an application form, which can include details of their income, employment details, credit history and references from previous landlords or a character reference.

"You may also want to run a credit check on any applicants," advises LANI. You can even charge the applicants for this.

It's also important to understand your rights as a landlord. For example, you are entitled to choose the person you believe is "most appropriate" as long as you do not discriminate on grounds of the applicant's race or ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

Finally, landlords should think about the property type and what kind of tenant would enjoy living there.

For instance, a family with young children is likely to result in increased wear and tear on the internal decoration than there would be in letting to an elderly tenant. Additionally, consider the type of neighbourhood the property is in: it may not be ideal to let your property to an elderly couple if the properties surrounding them are occupied by young people or students.

Landlords who live abroad can use a currency exchange specialist to receive regular payments from their tenants.

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