We have been delivering our Lease Management Service through our in-house ELA for around five years. This service involves securing local private rented homes on long-term leases and taking over property and tenancy management functions. This enables us to provide secure, settled accommodation to local individuals and families in real housing need (often facing homelessness), whilst guaranteeing affordable rental rates.
What are the benefits for landlords?
- A long-term lease arrangement (usually of 5 years)
- Guaranteed, uninterrupted monthly income - Even if the property is unoccupied. You will not experience any rent or void loss throughout the lease term
- Tenancy allocation and management - We will allocate a suitable tenant for your property, and act as their sole point of contact during the tenancy
- Responsive repairs service - We will cover routine, everyday repairs at the property, including emergency callouts, at no cost to you
- Safety checks - Including the annual gas safety checks, again at no cost to you
- Relet works - If there’s a change in tenancy during the lease, we will complete any necessary works and absorb any void loss. Any tenant damage identified will be put right.
How is the rent calculated?
Any properties provided through the scheme MUST be truly affordable to meet the needs of local residents. This is why rents are set in line with Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates or Affordable Rent (where rent is set at up to 80% of market rent).
When determining our lease rental offer, we assess a range of factors, including:
- Condition of the property
- Property location
- Current demand for housing of that type/ in that location
- Local market rent rates
- Level of risk taken under the agreement.
We keep a set portion of the tenancy rent received to cover our management and maintenance costs, and the rest (the 'lease rent') is paid to you.
What properties are we looking for?
We are keen to secure a range of family accommodation (including 2, 3 and 4-bedroom houses) across all areas of the Wigan Borough. Will also consider 1-bedroom self-contained accommodation on a case-by-case basis, to include individual units sited within larger blocks, and full apartment blocks containing up to 8 units.
Please note: We do not accept HMO’s (Houses in Multiple Accommodation) of any size onto our Lease Management Service, although the team will be happy to explore alternative uses in respect of larger properties should you wish to get in touch.
What do you need to do?
We’re looking to you to provide high quality properties that meet our agreed set of standards (made available on request) and the current needs of local residents.
Before acceptance onto the scheme, all properties will be inspected by a member of the ELA Team. You will need to provide the relevant legal and compliance documentation, including:
- Proofs of ownership and identity
- Consent from your mortgage lender to enter a lease agreement (if applicable)
- Current safety certificates, including gas and the electrical condition report
- Current Energy Performance Certificates (EPC)
- Building insurance cover (and you will need to renew this throughout the lease term)
Please note: Early consent from your lender will be needed in order for us to proceed with a lease offer. You will be required to share a copy of our template lease with your lender, and obtain clear written consent in return, allowing you to enter the lease at the terms set out.
How to get in touch
If you are interested in the ELA’s lease management service and would like to know more, you can: