A guide to property management for North London landlords

Property management is easy to sell and hard to judge, because the difference between good and poor management often only shows up two years later — in a repair bill, a deposit dispute, or a tenant who left sooner than they needed to.

At a minimum, a managing agent should be the tenant's point of contact, collect and account for the rent, arrange repairs within agreed limits, inspect the property periodically, and keep the tenancy paperwork current. Anything less is rent collection with a longer invoice.

Ask how repairs are handled. Who decides what gets done? What can be spent without asking you? Which contractors are used, and how long have they been used? An agent who can answer those questions quickly is an agent who deals with maintenance regularly.

Ask about inspections. Period buildings in North London need looking at: gutters, roofs, older heating systems, damp appearing after a wet autumn. A property nobody visits is a property whose problems arrive all at once.

Ask about money. Where is client money held, and under which Client Money Protection scheme? Is there independent redress if you're unhappy — for example through The Property Ombudsman Scheme? Get both answers in writing.

And ask who you'll actually speak to. In a small independent firm the answer should be a person, not a department.

Howard & Manning has managed residential and commercial property in North London since 1946. If you'd like to talk about a property you own, call 020 8202 7686.