4 Tips For Landlords To Improve HMO Rent Collection

When you’re renting out an HMO property in Chelmsford it’s imperative to collect your tenants’ rent payments each month in a timely manner. Unfortunately, this is something that many landlords struggle with.

If your tenants aren’t paying up on time, one solution is of course eviction. But, while it’s one possible option, it shouldn’t be your first choice.

Eviction takes a lot of effort, time, and money. In fact, it takes around four months and costs around £900 to complete the process, and that’s before lost rental income and potentially delayed mortgage payments are considered.

With this in mind, it’s important to have some ideas about what to do if your residents are failing to pay promptly.

As experts in the field of HMO property management, we’ve brought together some top tips for HMO landlords to help you collect your tenants’ rent in full and on time.

1. Communicate Clearly

At Charles David Casson, we know the importance of communication when it comes to managing an HMO property, especially when discussing rent payments. It’s vital to clarify exactly when rent payments are due and to highlight late payment fees or any other consequences if they fail to meet their obligations. This will help avoid the problem of late payments due to not knowing when they were due. Furthermore, being clear about payment schedules helps residents to budget properly for their rental payments – they’ll know precisely how much they’ll be paying and on which dates.

Our top tip: When you draw up your tenancy agreements, ensure each tenant initials and dates each page of their contract. This then provides clear evidence that they have understood and read everything that the lease contains. Provide everybody with their own copy of their signed contract too.

2. Discuss Why Rent Payments Are Late

As a first course of action, it’s a good idea to talk to tenants about the reasons why their rent payments are late.

• Do they have insufficient funds to make payment?
• Have they just forgotten the date that their rent payment is due?

You could discuss whether altering their payment method or date could help. In some cases, smaller payments made more frequently may be more manageable for your tenants. You could also consider asking them to set up a standing order or Direct Debit to reduce the chance of payments being overlooked.

Our top tip: Try scheduling rent payments for a frequency and date that meets the tenant’s needs. If a standing order or Direct Debit has been set up, there will no longer be concerns about remembering to make payments and there’ll be no need to chase up late payments.

3. Report Rent Payment Statuses To Credit Reference Agencies

Credit reference agencies now have a service that allows landlords to report their tenants’ rental payment statuses. This is a clear incentive to tenants to make rent payments on time and in full as they’ll probably be keen to maintain a clean credit score. You’ll also be rewarding your tenants who regularly make timely payments since their credit score will improve, enabling them to gain better access to credit.

Our top tip: If tenants are late making their payments, tell them that you’re going to report their late payments to CRAs. That could help encourage them to make payments more rapidly in the future.

4. Rely On An HMO Property Management Company

When you use the services of an HMO property management company like

Charles David Casson, you can enjoy all the benefits that come with a hands-off HMO leasing arrangement.

We can handle rent collection from your tenants on your behalf, making it simpler and quicker for you to receive your payments into your account.

Our top tip: Get in touch with our HMO property management team today on

01245 835859 and find out more about how we can simplify the process of receiving rental payments.