Term
The minimum letting period is six months. However, a typical tenancy will be for an initial period of one year with the agreement having a break clause allowing the Tenant or the Landlord to terminate the tenancy after six months. The notice period for a Tenant to terminate their tenancy is one month (including to break the tenancy at the six month point), and the notice period for a Landlord to terminate the tenancy is a minimum of two months.
Holding Deposit
A sum equivalent to one week’s rent will be required to show your commitment to proceed with a tenancy. This amount will be credited against your Initial Payment. However, this deposit will be forfeited if you decide not to proceed for any reason, or if you fail to provide complete and accurate information on your application.
Initial Payment
Before the start of any tenancy, you will be required to make the following payment:
One Month’s Rent: this is on a calendar month basis.
Security Deposit: this is held to cover against any damages or breakages (over and above normal wear and tear), missing items and any other liabilities incurred during the tenancy. It will be returned at the end of the tenancy, less any deductions. All deposits taken by us will be protected according to the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
Administration Fee: We do not currently charge a fee for processing a prospective Tenant’s application.
References: Each tenancy is subject to the receipt of satisfactory references and as a minimum we will require these from your employer and a previous/current landlord. We may sometimes also require a personal reference and/or a guarantor. Sometimes we may have to use the services of an independent accredited referencing agency and we will pass their charges on to the applicant. Should our initial enquiries mean that additional checks are required then any further charges will also be passed on.
We require all amounts to be in our account as cleared funds, and for the references to have been received before the start of the tenancy.
Utilities
The Tenant is responsible for all the utilities supplied to the property eg. electricity, gas, water, telephone and internet.
Council Tax
The Tenant is responsible for the payment of Council Tax and for registering with the relevant local authority.
Inventory
An inventory check is carried out at the start (check-in) and at the end (check-out) of every tenancy on behalf of both the Landlord and the Tenant. The inventory provides a basis for any claim to be made for cleaning, missing items, breakages or unreasonable damage, which may occur during a tenancy. It also helps to protect a Tenant from any unreasonable claims by the Landlord.
Insurance
It is the Tenant’s responsibility to insure their contents and possessions during a tenancy. As an extra service we can assist with obtaining Contents and/or Personal Possessions insurance.