Collecting the rent

A tenancy agreement will normally cover what rent is due, when it should be paid and by what method. You may also be responsible for providing your tenant with a rent book at the start of the tenancy to record each rental payment. See Rent book.

Should your tenant fall into rent arrears, there are some important initial steps you must take. See Rent arrears. If initial action doesn't remedy the rent arrears, you may have to apply for a court order to regain possession of the property. The procedure to follow will depend on where the property is located.

Deposits

When you take a deposit from a tenant, you must make sure that you are using a government-authorised tenancy deposit scheme. For information about how to register the tenancy deposit, see Registering the deposit.

Once the tenancy comes to an end, you must also be sure to follow the correct procedures in returning the deposit to your tenant. See Returning the tenancy deposit.

Rent reviews

It may become necessary to change the rent at some point during the tenancy. The way you can do this depends on whether the tenancy agreement or a separate agreement with the tenant covers rent reviews. If there's no such agreement, the procedure to follow will depend on the type of tenancy and where the property is located.

• See England for procedures you can use for assured and assured shorthold tenancies
• See Scotland for procedures you can use for private residential tenancies, assured tenancies and short assured tenancies
• See Northern Ireland for the procedure for all residential tenancies