Landlord Services

Landlord services

Letting agents in Stockport and Manchester, built for landlords and trusted by tenants

You did not buy a property to spend your Sunday evenings chasing a plumber. Durrell & Joe is an independent letting agent in Stockport, looking after a wide variety of homes for landlords, from city centre apartments to family houses, across Stockport, South Manchester, Manchester city centre and into Cheshire.

We grow by partnering with specialists rather than adding layers between you and your property. As a TLP Assured agency, all client funds are independently held and managed by The Letting Partnership, and qualified independent professionals carry out inventories, check-outs and compliance reports. You get direct access to an experienced agent, with the infrastructure and protections of a much bigger firm.

There’s nearly 30 years of Greater Manchester property experience behind every decision we make. And when you ring, you’ll be talking to someone who’s actually been inside your property and met your tenants.

Book a free rental valuation

Call 0161 410 2401

Built for landlords. Trusted by tenants.

That’s not just a strapline, it’s the whole business model. Look after tenants and they stay longer, tell you about problems while they’re still cheap to fix, and treat the place like home. Fewer empty months, smaller repair bills, less legal risk. All from the same thing.

Who we work with

Investors buying into Stockport

Stockport gives you an entry price well below Manchester city centre, a station about ten minutes from Piccadilly, and a town centre with serious ongoing investment. We will view properties for you, run rental projections from what that street has actually achieved, and tell you honestly if there’s a better option.

Manchester city centre apartment landlords

Professional tenants, high expectations and a busy rental market. You want a managing agent who knows your building, keeps you in the loop and stays on top of compliance, with the personal attention of an independent agent.

Suburban landlords who want it done properly

Heaton Moor, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Didsbury and the streets in between: family homes and period terraces where the right tenant stays for years. You want good tenants who stay put and a property that’s properly cared for. Funnily enough, so do we.

Portfolio landlords

Five properties or fifty, across Stockport, Manchester and Cheshire. You need one point of contact, consistent reporting across every property, compliance tracked in one place, and someone who spots the next opportunity, or the one worth selling, before you do. We fit around how you run your portfolio, not the other way round.

Why landlords choose Durrell & Joe

• A person, not a call centre. You speak to someone who has seen your property, met your tenants and has the experience to make the call.
• The monthly landlord call. A proper conversation once a month, whether there is news or not. If you prefer to be more hands-off, that’s fine too. We won’t take offence.
• A 90-day health check. We contact every tenant by phone and email every 90 days, rather than waiting for problems or late rent.
• Your money is protected. As a TLP Assured agency, all client funds are independently held and managed by The Letting Partnership, an independent client accounting specialist, providing the highest level of assurance that landlord and tenant money is held securely and transparently. You can verify our status at TPL Assured here 
• Every contractor signs our Contractor Promise. Vetted, insured, qualified and local, and committed in writing on workmanship, timescales, conduct in somebody’s home, and leaving it as they found it.
• Compliance tracked ahead of the deadline. Gas, electrics, EPC, alarms and deposit registration. You hear from us before a certificate expires, not after.

Choose the level of service you actually need

Fully managed

We handle the tenancy end to end: marketing, referencing, paperwork, rent collection, repairs, inspections, compliance and rent reviews. With so many new rules to keep up with, more and more landlords are switching to fully managed, so the compliance is handled properly and they can get on with their lives. See our Fully Managed service.

Letting only

We market the property, find and reference the tenant, prepare the paperwork and hand over. You manage the tenancy from day one. It suits experienced, local, hands-on landlords who are confident with current legislation. See our Let Only Service.

Investment advisory

If you are looking to buy, we would rather help you buy the right property than manage the wrong one. We will view properties on your behalf, which matters if you are not local or up against a deadline, and build rental projections around the tenant you want. A family on a three-year view, professional sharers and a couple produce very different numbers.

We will also tell you when something is a bad buy. That is usually the most valuable part.

Not sure which? Give us a ring on 0161 410 2401 and we’ll tell you honestly, even when the answer is the cheaper option.

Rent guarantee insurance

Protect your rent with Let Alliance

If your rent is paying a mortgage, a tenant who stops paying is the biggest risk you carry. We arrange rent guarantee insurance through Let Alliance, one of the UK’s largest tenant referencing and lettings insurance specialists, so your income and legal costs are covered if a tenancy goes wrong.

Under Let Alliance’s current rent guarantee policy:

• Missed rent paid for up to 12 months, or until you get the property back, up to £50,000
• Legal costs covered up to £50,000 per claim to regain possession, including defending a claim from the tenant
• 75% of the rent for up to three months after you get the property back, while it is re-let
• Removal of unauthorised occupiers covered too

To qualify, the tenant must pass Let Alliance referencing, and the first month’s rent and deposit (or Zero Deposit) must be in place. We take care of both as part of setting up the tenancy, and we report any arrears quickly, well inside the policy’s 31-day deadline.

Cover is subject to the policy terms, and we will give you a quote and the full policy summary before you decide. It costs 3.5% of the monthly rent, as listed on our fees page.

Let Alliance is a trading name of Barbon Insurance Group Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA number 308724).

Ask us for a rent guarantee quote

Thinking about managing it yourself?

Plenty of landlords do it brilliantly. What’s changed is the risk. The Renters’ Rights Act has reshaped the private rented sector: Section 21 no-fault evictions have ended, tenancies are now rolling, rent can only rise once a year, and every landlord will soon have to register on a national database, with a landlord ombudsman and a new Decent Homes Standard to follow. Getting it wrong is now far more expensive, and an HMO oversight can run to five figures.

Send us your tenancy agreement and we’ll tell you where you stand. Free, no strings, and if you’re already compliant, we’ll happily say so.

Send us your tenancy agreement – email it to – hello@durrellandjoe.co.uk

Thinking of switching agents?

Landlords rarely move agents over fees. They move because they’d like to hear from someone now and then. If you can’t remember the last time your agent rang about anything other than a problem, it might be time for a chat.

Switching is easier than it looks, and we do the legwork. We write to your outgoing agent, collect the file, keys and certificates, transfer the deposit registration and introduce ourselves to your tenant. Nothing changes for them, apart from some friendly new faces.

Where we work

Stockport and its suburbs, South Manchester, Manchester city centre and into Cheshire: Heaton Moor, Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey, Didsbury, Chorlton, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Hazel Grove, Marple, Romiley, Reddish, Levenshulme, Withington, Wilmslow, Handforth, Poynton, Alderley Edge, and the Northern Quarter, Ancoats, Castlefield and Deansgate in the city centre.

Just outside that? Ring us anyway. We’d rather tell you we’re not the right fit than manage something badly from a distance.

Landlord FAQs

The questions Stockport landlords ask us most

1. How much rent could my property achieve?

More than a portal estimate will tell you, and usually for different reasons than you expect. Rent is set by the specific street, the condition of the kitchen and bathroom, parking, the energy rating and how quickly you want it let. Two identical houses on the same road can be £150 a month apart because one is fully furnished and the other isn’t.

An online estimate averages everything nearby, including tired properties and asking prices that never let. What matters is what comparable properties achieved. Book a free rental valuation online, or email hello@durrellandjoe.co.uk with your address and we’ll arrange a time.

2. Do you provide free rental valuations?

Yes. No fee, and no obligation to instruct us afterwards. We visit, usually within a few days, for around an hour. You get a realistic rent, an honest view of how quickly it should let, anything costing you money, and anything that would fail a compliance check.

If you are already with an agent, send us your management agreement and we will tell you what you are paying and your notice period. If you are better off staying put, we will say so.

3. How do you calculate the rental value of a property?

From what genuinely comparable properties have let for recently, adjusted for what moves the figure. In order of impact:

• Location, down to the street. Catchments and station walking distance matter enormously in the Heatons and Cheadle Hulme.
• The kitchen and bathroom. These two rooms decide the rent more than any other factor.
• Size, layout and usable bedrooms. A box room is not a bedroom to a tenant.
• Energy rating. Tenants ask about running costs, and a poor EPC costs you rent as well as compliance risk.
• Parking, garden and outside space.
• Furnished or unfurnished, and what local demand actually wants.
• Timing. The same property lets for more in May than in December.

We give you a range with a recommendation. Asking slightly under the top of the range usually earns more over a year, because it lets faster and gives you more choice of tenant.

4. What is included in your fully managed lettings service?

Everything from the first viewing to the final deposit return: marketing and photography, accompanied viewings, referencing and Right to Rent checks, a compliant tenancy agreement, a photographed inventory, deposit registration, rent collection and statements, arrears chasing, repairs, emergency cover, an annual photographic inspection with a written report, compliance tracking, notices and the deposit return.

Plus three things that are not standard: a person who has seen the property, a 90-day health check with your tenants, and an agreed expenditure limit so routine repairs are not held up.

See our Fully Manage Service

5. What is the difference between tenant-find and fully managed lettings?

Tenant-find, also called letting only, stops on move-in day. We market the property, carry out viewings, reference the tenant, prepare the paperwork and hand you the keys and the file. Fully managed continues for the whole tenancy: rent, repairs, inspections, compliance, notices and the deposit.

The honest test is what happens at 6pm on a Friday when a boiler fails, and whether you have a system for diarising a gas certificate. If you are two hours away, working full time or new to letting, fully managed will cost you less than one mistake.

6. How much do letting agents charge landlords?

Across the market, fully managed is typically 10% to 15% of the monthly rent including VAT, and tenant-find is usually a one-off fee. Ours is 12% including VAT for fully managed and £780 including VAT for letting only, with every possible extra published on our fees page. Got a portfolio? Talk to us about our portfolio services. [Link → 3.5.5]

The headline percentage matters less than whether the whole schedule is published. When comparing agents, ask in writing who vets their trades and what standard they are held to. Every contractor we use signs our Contractor Promise.

7. How do you reference prospective tenants?

Properly, and before anyone gets near your keys:

• Affordability, on documented income: payslips, bank statements, or accounts for the self-employed
• Employment verification, direct with the employer
• Previous landlord or agent reference, the single most predictive check there is
• Credit check, including CCJs and bankruptcy
• Right to Rent check, on original documents or via a Home Office share code
• Identification and proof of current address

Where an applicant does not meet affordability alone, we may recommend a guarantor, referenced to the same standard. If an application has a complication, we tell you the risk and let you decide. We will not quietly place a weak tenant to fill a property. Rent guarantee insurance is available.

8. How long does it normally take to find a tenant?

For a well presented, correctly priced property, expect to agree a let within one to three weeks of marketing, then two to four weeks for referencing and move-in.

Three things change that: price (5% over the market can double the time to let), condition (tired kitchens and bathrooms get viewed, not offered on) and timing (spring and summer are far busier than Christmas). Where notice allows, we market before the current tenant leaves.

9. What safety certificates and checks does a landlord need?

The core legal requirements for a private let in England:

• Gas Safety Certificate, annually, by a Gas Safe engineer, with a copy to the tenant
• EICR (electrical installation condition report), at least every five years
• EPC, valid for ten years, provided before the tenancy starts
• Smoke alarms on every storey and carbon monoxide alarms in any room with a fixed combustion appliance
• Right to Rent checks on every adult occupier
• Deposit protection within 30 days, with prescribed information served
• Licensing where it applies: mandatory HMO licensing, and selective or additional schemes. Check with Stockport Council or Manchester City Council for the address
• Legionella risk assessment, a reasonable-steps duty rather than a certificate
• Safe appliances and furniture, and no category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System

On fully managed we track every one and renew ahead of expiry. Miss one and you can lose the ability to regain possession, as well as face a fine.

10. Do I need an EPC before letting my property?

Yes. You need a valid EPC, given to the tenant before the tenancy begins, and you cannot legally market the property without one. They last ten years. Under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards you cannot let a property rated below E, except in registered exempt cases.

The government has now confirmed that every private rented home must reach EPC C (under a new EPC rating method) by 1 October 2030, with spending capped at £10,000 per property. If you are currently D or E, start planning now: loft and cavity insulation, a modern boiler and LED lighting are usually the cheap wins.

11. How is my tenant’s deposit protected?

By law, a deposit must be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, with the prescribed information served in the same window. Deposits are capped at five weeks’ rent where annual rent is under £50,000, and six weeks above. A holding deposit is capped at one week’s rent.

Register late and you can be ordered to repay up to three times the deposit, and may lose the ability to serve a valid notice. On fully managed we handle it and keep the evidence on file.

12. How often should a rental property be inspected?

We check in three months after move-in, then carry out a proper, comprehensive photographic inspection once a year, with a written report, at £90 including VAT. For HMOs and student lets, we pop round more often. On top of that, every tenant gets our 90-day health check by phone and email.

Inspections are not about catching tenants out. They find what tenants do not report: a slow leak under a sink, a failing window seal, early mould. Dated photographs also protect you if a deposit deduction or disrepair claim is challenged.

13. Who deals with maintenance and emergency repairs?

We do, on fully managed, using contractors who have all signed our Contractor Promise. We agree an expenditure limit with you at the start. Repairs below it are dealt with straight away; anything above it is quoted and comes to you first, unless it is a genuine emergency. For any single job over £500, we ask for 50% of the estimated cost up front before the work is booked.

You set the limit and can change it any time. £250 is only our suggested starting point. It means the small stuff, like a dripping tap or a sticky lock, gets sorted without anyone bothering you on a Saturday afternoon. Emergencies such as gas leaks, no water, no heating in winter, electrical faults and serious leaks are covered out of hours. On letting only, all of this is yours.

14. What happens if a tenant stops paying rent?

We act on day one, not day thirty. The first missed payment gets a phone call, because most arrears are a changed payday, a bank error or a temporary problem. If it is genuine hardship, we will usually agree a written repayment plan with your approval.

If it does not resolve, we serve notice correctly and can instruct solicitors. Since Section 21 ended, possession needs a valid ground and correct paperwork, so the records from the start of the tenancy matter more than ever. Rent guarantee insurance, which we arrange through Let Alliance, covers this risk for a modest premium.

15. How is current rental legislation affecting landlords?

Substantially, and it is the main reason long-time self-managing landlords are now looking for an agent. Since 1 May 2026, Section 21 has ended, tenancies are rolling, rent can only rise once a year on a Form 4A, rental bidding is banned, and you cannot refuse tenants for having children or receiving benefits. Still to come: the landlord database (North West registration from 15 May 2027), a landlord ombudsman, Awaab’s Law timescales for damp and mould, and the Decent Homes Standard for private lets from 2035.

Passive management is no longer viable. Records, response times and evidence decide whether your position is defensible. None of it is a problem if a property is well maintained and the tenant is treated properly.

16. Should I accept pets in my rental property?

In most cases, yes, and it is usually a commercial decision. Under the Renters’ Rights Act you must consider a tenant’s request to keep a pet and can only refuse with a reasonable reason. Tenants with pets tend to stay much longer, and a longer tenancy with a dog in it almost always beats two short ones and a void.

You cannot take a deposit above the five-week cap, but you can require professional cleaning at the end where reasonable. Our advice: assess the animal, not the category. A middle-aged cat in a first-floor flat is different from two young huskies in a new-build.

17. Can you manage my property if I live outside the area or overseas?

Yes, and many of our landlords do, whether they are in London, Dubai or twenty minutes down the M60 with a job that does not allow a Tuesday morning off. You get the monthly landlord call at a time that suits your timezone, photographed reports, monthly statements and an agreed expenditure limit.

If you live abroad, sort out HMRC’s Non-Resident Landlord Scheme early. An agent must deduct basic rate tax from your rent unless you are approved to receive it gross. Apply with form NRL1 before the first rent is due.

18. How can I minimise periods when my property is empty?

Voids are the biggest single cost in letting, and almost all are avoidable. One empty month on a £1,000 property wipes out a year of the difference between a good agent and a cheap one.

• Keep the tenant you have. Fix things quickly and be reasonable at rent review time.
• Market before the property is empty, wherever notice allows.
• Price to let, not to test the market.
• Present it properly. Most tenants decide from the pictures.
• Time the tenancy end. A tenancy ending in May finds a tenant faster than one ending in December.
• Turn it round fast. Trades booked before the tenant leaves.
• Say yes to pets and reasonable requests.

19. When do I need to register on the new landlord database, and what does it cost?

If your property is in Stockport, Manchester or anywhere in the North West, you must register between 15 May and 14 August 2027. The fee is £65 per property per year, and you register both yourself and each property you let.

Have your gas, electrical and EPC certificates, deposit details and tenancy information to hand. On fully managed, we gather it all and walk you through registration.

20. Can I still get my property back if I want to sell it or move back in?

Yes, but not in the first 12 months of a tenancy, and you must give four months’ notice on the correct legal ground. Since Section 21 ended, selling and moving back in are specific possession grounds, and the paperwork has to be right first time.

If you use one of these grounds, you cannot re-let the property for 12 months afterwards. If you are thinking of selling with a tenant in place, talk to us early: sometimes selling to another landlord with the tenant staying is the better route.

21. My tenant won’t let me in for the gas safety check or EICR. What can I do?

Give written notice of at least 24 hours, offer several times that suit the tenant, and keep a record of every attempt. If you still cannot get in, that record is what shows you took all reasonable steps to stay compliant.

Never enter without permission. In our experience, refusal is usually about timing or worry over who is coming, which is why our 90-day health check and Contractor Promise help: tenants who know us tend to say yes.

22. Is buy-to-let in Stockport still worth it?

It can be, if the numbers work on the specific property. Running costs and regulation have both gone up, so the margin for a poor buy is smaller than it was. What Stockport has going for it is broad tenant demand, a fast train to Manchester and lower entry prices than the city centre.

Before you buy, we will run a rental projection from what that street has actually let for, and tell you honestly if it does not stack up. For tax and mortgage questions, speak to a specialist adviser.

Book a free rental valuation

We’ll pop round, tell you what it should let for right now, and point out anything that’s costing you money or putting you at risk. No fee, no obligation, no hard sell.

Book my rental valuation

Call 0161 410 2401

hello@durrellandjoe.co.uk · Instagram @anndurrellproperty