How To Be A Landlord: The Definitive Guide to Letting and Managing Your Rental Property

Now fully updated for 2025

By the author of the UK’s most popular property book, The Complete Guide To Property Investment.

Please note that this book only covers letting and management of a property you already own. For a guide to buying the right property in the first place, you should buy ‘The Complete Guide To Property Investment’.

Take a property, throw in a tenant and watch the money roll in. This seemingly simple formula has attracted nearly two million people in the UK to become landlords, but the reality is a whole lot more complicated.

Did you know, for example, that if you forget to provide a certain piece of paper you might be unable to evict a tenant – even if they don’t pay the rent? Or that you could be fined for not checking your tenant’s immigration status? And don’t forget the inevitable broken boilers, mysterious leaks and various tenant complaints that always seem to happen at the most inconvenient time.

How To Be A Landlord is a straightforward guide to everything involved in letting and managing a property – whether you’re an accidental landlord or an enthusiastic investor.

In simple and entertaining language, it covers important steps like preparing the property to let, advertising for tenants, conducting viewings, doing all the paperwork, managing the tenancy, and dealing with any tricky situations that crop up (including the dreaded emergency repairs and evictions…).

You’ll learn:

• How to set yourself up for success when preparing a property to let
• Where to find the perfect tenants for your property
• The essential checks you must make to avoid a nightmare tenant
• Everything you need to do when setting up a tenancy to avoid problems later
• How to deal with the most common maintenance issues and repairs
• The proper legal processes to follow when you have troublesome tenants
• Top tips from experienced landlords for how to look after your tenants – keeping them happy, your property safe, and the rent rolling in

Frequently updated and with contributions from over 50 experienced landlords, this is the most current and comprehensive book on the subject – and essential reading for anyone who wants a simple, profitable life as a landlord.

Rob Dix has been a private landlord for over a decade, and is the co-owner of a national letting agency with hundreds of properties under management. He's the author of the UK's most popular property investment book, The Complete Guide To Property Investment.