Edinburgh Festival Rentals – Landlord FAQ’s

Why use EFR to rent out my property?

We have a strong marketing presence due to our highly optimised website. We also concentrate our efforts on providing accommodation to those working at the festival. The benefit of this is a good repeat customer base so we know they are excellent tenants. We also find that those working at the festival are far less likely to have parties and the potential for any damage is smaller. We structure our pricing to attract this type of month long tenant and usually find that the high returns of renting out on a weekly or daily basis are usually depleted by the cleaning and management costs.

We also do not charge for viewing a property or advertising a property. We only take commission once we get your property rented.

We have specific festival short term letting contracts set up by our solicitors to protect the landlord and hold large deposits in case of any damage. Having a third party is useful in case of any disputes.

We also have a property maintenance company you can use just for the summer.  £120 plus VAT will provide you with 24 hour emergency maintenance care for June, July and August.

We also have specific insurance providers to make sure you are completely covered for this type of letting.

As a landlord, what do I need to do?

Firstly, it should be noted that an HMO license is not legally necessary to rent out a property for 31 days or less. However, there are certain safety regulations that should be adhered to.

The following are the responsibilities of the landlord:

1. Repairs to the structure and exterior of the property, heating and hot water installations, basins, sinks, baths, toilet installations, pipes and service supplies to the property.
2. The safety of gas and electricity installations and appliances.  (We can arrange gas safety inspections and Portable Appliance Tests - PAT.  We also have a company to provide 24 hour maintenance for the summer if needed.)
3. General safety and fire safety of furnishings and furniture that you provide.
4. Arranging and paying building insurance and your contents - not the tenants' contents. (We can provide details of specific insurance providers for short term letting.)
5. Taking an inventory that must be signed for by the tenants on entry.
6. Cleanliness of the property including kitchen utensils, linen, towels and spares.

How do I get paid?

We take an initial deposit to secure the property from the tenant. The rental payment is then taken one month prior to entry or on booking if within a month of entry. The initial deposit is held over against possible damages.

We pay the rent to the landlord as soon as the deposit status has been approved by the landlord. This is to ensure the tenant gets a timely return of their deposit. We expect this to be agreed within a week of departure and no later than three weeks from the date of departure.

How will my property be valued?

Generally, a property will only be valued once an EFR representative has visited the property. We value the property on location and distance to festival venues, size of the property and obviously the general condition of the property.

How do I get started?

Just give us a call and we’ll arrange a convenient time to come out, view your property and take photos for the website.