Digs are a specialist provider of student and professional apartments and houses in the Bristol area.
We pride ourselves on good service and have an experienced maintenance team on hand 24 hours a day with safety and security of a high importance for both our Landlords and Tenants.
If you are considering letting your property in Bristol you naturally want the best letting agent for the job. At digs we are confident that we are the letting agency to best fulfil your requirements.
With centrally located, eye catching offices situated on Triangle South, Clifton, our friendly, dedicated and experienced lettings team have well established relationships and a strong rapport with potential tenants across the city.
Digs offer a wide range of landlord services from tenant introduction to full management service for complete peace of mind throughout the lettings process and beyond, with the emphasis on obtaining a high yet achievable rental value.
For more advice on becoming or being a landlord see below to read our highly detailed Landlord FAQ section.
Property Marketing & Maintenance
We appreciate that as a landlord with student property in Bristol your focus is to find the best possible Tenant at the best rent. For this reason we have invested extensively in ensuring our website and other forms of marketing are as modern, extensive and user friendly as possible. Our website is easily found on all major search engines. Prospective tenants register with us online and receive a phone call/e-mail and text as soon as your property is marketed with us.
We have extensive experience in all areas of property management both in and out of Bristol and have also helped various student Landlords with development projects. We have close relationships with property designers, planning consultants, builders and all contractors who may be necessary in either large project developments or small maintenance issues.
We ensure we are kept up to date with all the latest regulations by being members of ARLA the most stringent regulatory body within our sector. Being members of ARLA means all client funds are PROTECTED under the Propertymark Client Money Protection (CMP) Scheme.
Download a copy of our Client Money Protection Certificate
For details of how to claim please see the 'Client Money Secuirty Certificate'
To find out more about what our ARLA membership means, please see the Propertymark Conduct and Membership Rules.
Advice on the Letting Process digs' experienced letting consultants meet with you at your property to discuss all aspects of the letting process and your requirements.We provide an honest valuation of the property's market value and will suggest ways to further maximise your rental and offer any further advise necessary, e.g. tax implications, insurances, mortgage information.
Where we come up against an issue that we haven't dealt with before we will take expert advice on your behalf. For more information on becoming a landlord renting property to tenants in Bristol then feel free to click here to check out our Landlord FAQ section or call us today on 0117 930 8750.
If you want all the hassle and stress taken care of for you, this is the letting service for you. Everything is covered. We find your tenants, look after the property and deal with any issues immediately. Each property and Landlord under this service is given a designated Rental Property Manager.
If you want the hassle of rent collection taken away from you, but still want to deal with the maintenance of your rental property, this service is for you. Let Only Service If you want all the marketing, finding of tenants and legal work carried out for you, but want to retain full property management once the tenant has moved in, then this letting service is for you.
This is a service that a few Landlords in Bristol find really suits them, it enables the Landlord to retain 100% autonomy over the paperwork and property management, while giving you the opportunity to use our shop front and marketing services to find you the right tenant.
Use the chart below to quickly check the levels of activity provided within the letting services on offer to landlords.
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| Expert advice and guidance |  |
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| Valuation of your rental property | |
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| Marketing & photography | |
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| Viewings (unlimited) | |
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| Right to Rent Checks | |
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| Periodic Right to Rent check follow ups | |
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| Tenancy Agreement | |
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| Standing orders/payment set up | |
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| Organising Gas and PAT Test | |
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| Confirmation Tenants have received Gas & EPC | |
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| Organising EPC | |
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| Registering deposit into a scheme | |
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| Prescribed Information relating to Deposit | |
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| How to rent Guides | |
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| Check in/inventory | |
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| Obtaining initial deposit and rent | |
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| Informing services and utilities: | - | - | - | - | - |
| • Gas provider | |
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| • Electric provider | |
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| • Water provider | |
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| • Council Tax (authority) | |
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| Key holding | |
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| Monthly rent collection | |
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| Monthly rental statements | |
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| Tenant check out | |
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| Arranging deposit deductions | |
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| Arranging property maintenance | |
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| Yearly tax return statements | |
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| Payment of contractor invoices | |
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| Legionnaires risk assessment | |
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| Smoke detector install and test | |
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| Carbon monoxide install and test | |
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* This can be offered as an additional service.
Whatever lettings service you decide is best DIGS can help you rent your property FAST and get you good tenants at a great rental rate.
We would be delighted to discuss this with you, areas and types of property can vary over time so please call or e-mail so we can arrange to discuss the various alternatives.
All Landlords are now required by law to register deposits with a deposit scheme. The registration of the deposit must be made within a certain timescale and any proposed deductions at the end of the tenancy must be agreed with the tenant, again within a certain timeframe. The main implication is that an inventory must be extremely detailed as must any activities during the tenancy, including the check-out. There are 3 Deposit schemes which can be considered.
Digs can do a Viewings Only, Let Only or a Fully Managed Service, we will always try and accommodate a Landlord's particular requirements.
Inspections occur every quarter and a letter/report or e-mail will be sent to you after each visit. We specifically look for issues that may affect the structure of the building or faster than reasonable wear and tear on the property.
If your property is a Let Only we would transfer funds to you within 5 working days of move-in.
If your property is managed your funds would clear your account on the 15th of each month for the month in question.
Digs' dedicated property managers will organise any maintenance on the properties Digs manages. All of our independent contractors have been employed by Abode for numerous years and are trustworthy and reliable. For any large jobs a minimum of 2 quotes will be obtained.
If your property has Gas Central Heating, a Landlord Gas Safety Test must be obtained, this has to be done every year.
If there is Gas in the building a carbon monoxide detector must be installed and tested yearly. An EPC is required, this is an Energy Performance Certificate and last for 10 years. All furniture must comply with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. There must be a fire detection system in the property and this must be tested on the date;a new tenancy commences.
A house in multiple occupation is defined as any property that has members of a different family living together and sharing facilities. The rules can be quite complex and many HMOs are not subject to any legislation or licensing, but some are and it is important to know what to do and when. Please get in touch for more information regarding the latest legislation.
This very much depends on the initial condition of the property. Ignoring the structure of the building we advise that you should budget for 5% of the monthly rent to to put towards maintenance items over the period of a year. A few examples might be: redecoration, carpet replacement, boiler breakdowns, white goods breaking over time.
We will inform Bristol City Council Tax Department of the change of occupants along with your student numbers to enable them to issue a council tax student exemption certificate. If we do not have your student number please let us have it straight away to avoid receiving demands for council tax payment. If at a later date you receive a payment request from Bristol City Council it is your responsibility to contact them. Tenants are responsible for informing other companies of change of occupants, such as utility companies, TV licensing authority, broadband and phone providers. Digs will take meter readings the day you move into the property and are available on request from Digs 7 days after the date you move in. In due course the utility provider will send a bill direct to the property and it is then your responsibility to contact the utility company and provide your details. Failure to set up an account will mean Digs are permitted to provide the utility company with the name/e-mail address/phone number of the tenant/tenants on request and reserve the right to charge for this service.
www.bristoldigs.co.uk is updated daily with new properties. Everyone who registers on our website gets text and email notifications when new properties come on the market. We also advertise on various property portals and spend a lot of resources ensuring we are well placed on various search engines.
As a rough guide we advise a time scale of 4-6 weeks from marketing the property until the tenants move in. This can be far less depending on the type of property and the rental level.
Yes, you should do this, or if your property is an apartment you should inform the management company to make sure the insurer has been informed.
We can offer a rental guarantee service, although we find our strict referencing criteria means that this is not often requested by our Landlords. Please contact us for further information.
The simple answer is yes, but there are a number of expenses that can be offset against the rental income to give you a figure against which tax will be charged. A few examples of this are:
• Mortgage or loan interest,
• Agency fees,
• Building insurance premiums,
• Cost of repairs and maintenance. For further information please contact either Steven Harris at Digs who is always keen to help and can also recommend further specialists (accountants) and https://www.hmrc.gov.uk web site is extremely useful.
Abode and Digs have in excess of 100 Landlords overseas, we understand communication is key and regular e-mail updates are sent as well as monthly statements via e-mail. Unless a NRL1 exemption form is filled in for the Inland Revenue Abode/Digs will have to deduct tax from your rental income. The form is short, easy to fill in and can be downloaded from https://www.hmrc.gov.uk search for NRL1 form.
ARLA membership means your agent has and is continuing to demonstrate a high level of professionalism in all business practices within the industry.
ARLA members must have the ARLA Client Money Protection Bonding Scheme offering protection them from company misappropriation. Every agent is audited yearly to ensure they are complying. Agents also must have Professional Indemnity Insurance Complaints and Disciplinary Procedures.
ARLA members have a robust Code of Practice, covering key stages in letting and managing property. There are comprehensive membership laws including compliance with issues such as handling and accounting for Clients’ money;
ARLA demands certain levels of training, professionalism and commitment to customers from all its members.
ARLA updates its members regularly with changes in legislation and provides wide-ranging training and guidance assisting members to understand and interpret the letting and managing of a property.
For more information please visit the ARLA website.
We promise landlords a low average of 8 days void period – one of our 10 key promises
