Landlord Incentive Scheme

What is the Landlord Incentive Scheme?

We want to work with landlords and letting agents to find the best ways for providing local people with good quality, affordable housing for rent through the Landlord Incentive Scheme.

We are looking for properties of all sizes and types of self-contained accommodation in any area of the Island. 

Some of the help you can get through our incentive scheme is:

• rent guarantee for a three-year period
• £2,000 bond for excess damage
• one-off incentive payments for number of beds
• 'right to rent' and affordability checks
• free photo inventory, tenancy agreements, and notices
• officer assigned for advice and support throughout the tenancy.

We assess your property against the minimum standard before accepting it onto the scheme. A brief overview of these standards include:

• free from damp, well-heated and insulated, safe and meet the minimum standard of legislation and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)
• clean, well maintained, and presented
• secure and suitable light fittings
• curtain tracks or poles
• fitted with operational smoke alarms on each floor
• structural elements of the property must be in good condition
• internal decorations must be less than five years old.

You will agree to give an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement to the tenant. The property will be managed by you or an agent acting on your behalf, and you'll be responsible for maintenance of property standards, including safety certificates and repairs.

Ask how you can get £250 for nominating a landlord to sign up a new property to the scheme. Contact our accommodation officer by email, landlordincentivescheme@iow.gov.uk or call 01983 823040 if you would like to know more.

We offer guarantees under the scheme to help facilitate our relationship with you and also for your relationship with your tenants.

Damages

We offer an excess damage guarantee which includes repair of damage that has been caused by the tenant and that is beyond fair wear and tear. However, the guarantee will not replace new for old or pay for upgrades, so it can only cover repairs under these circumstances.

Rent

The guarantee offered under the Find a Home Scheme begins from the start date of the first tenancy we have facilitated for you. If the contract between us is signed prior to the start of the first tenancy, this period is not covered.

The rent guarantee covers the rent while the property is empty (between tenancies) in most instances. It will account for periods where repairs need to be undertaken. However, the rent guarantee may not pay out if the property is left empty unnecessarily, for instance, if repair works are taking longer than necessary.

We aim to let properties signed to the scheme within three weeks. This is dependent on a number of factors such as the desirability of the property and who we are working with at the time that the property is available.

Tenant check

We perform checks on prospective tenants and decide who will be offered a tenancy in your property. We do this to avoid breakdowns and claims under the guarantee. These checks are tailored to the circumstances of the prospective tenant. The types of checks that are undertaken include:

• assessing their ability to afford the property by looking at their income and expenditure 
• checks into why they are leaving their current or previous accommodation 
• a home visit to assess how they maintain their current accommodation 
• documented dialogue with their previous landlord to find out any known issue.

If the rent is not being paid, first, you should contact the tenant and attempt to resolve the situation. If you are unable to do so, we will contact the tenant directly to try to resolve the issue.

The property contract states that any rent arrears will be paid under the guarantee if it reaches at least eight weeks, but we will try to resolve any issues before this time.

It's possible to extend a contract when it expires. But this will depend on several factors, such as how the initial three years have progressed and the circumstances of the tenant in the property.

If you wish to extend a contract for a further period, contact us to discuss this towards the end of the contract.

• Example agreement and terms (PDF, 230KB)