Lettings For Tenants

When moving into a rental property with Williams of Petersfield there are many things to consider. We have prepared the following information to help explain what to expect and what will be required of you. It should be noted that these notes are intended as a general guide and that each property and each applicant are different. Therefore the process may change slightly depending on your personal circumstances and the Landlords instruction to us.

Ordinarily we will accompany you to the viewing and show you the property. We will explain the basic details of the property and answer any questions you may have. There may be occasions where we are unable to answer all of your questions at the viewing but we will always endeavour to find out and get back to you.

If you decide that you would like to apply to rent a property you have seen with us we will require some basic information in order to put your interest forward to our Landlord client. We will normally need to know;

– When you would like to start the tenancy
– How long you would like the initial fixed term tenancy to be
– Who is moving in (number of people)
– The details of your employment (or where your income comes from)
– If you have any special requests (removal of certain items, permission for animals, request for certain maintenance to be carried out, etc.)

We will then contact our Landlord client and get the provisional authority to proceed with the application process.

At this point, assuming the initial terms have been agreed by both parties, we will require you to pay a refundable one week holding deposit and to complete an application form. Until we receive the one week refundable holding deposit and a completed application forms we will continue to advertise the property for let and show other interested parties. Unfortunately we are unable to hold or reserve properties on a promise alone.

Once we have received your refundable holding deposit and application forms we will remove the property adverts from our listings or mark them as Let Agreed. Please note that the holding deposit is non-refundable should you decide not to proceed with the tenancy after having submitted an application. This also applies to failed references due to undisclosed, inaccurate or false information. The holding deposit will also not be refunded if right to rent checks are failed.

Should the Landlord decide not to proceed with the tenancy for any reason then the holding deposit is refundable in full. Please note that all applications are ‘subject to contract’ and there is nothing preventing a Landlord from changing their mind without reason until the tenancy beings. However, please be aware that this is an extremely rare and unlikely occurrence.

Our application form will ask for more specific information about where you have been living for the last 3 years and your employment/earnings as well as some other general information.

We will then carry out a credit check to determine your financial history and also contact your employer and current agent/Landlord if applicable.

Please note that our basic criteria for a satisfactory application are as follows;

– a credit check confirming no bankruptcy, insolvency, County Court Judgements or regularly missed or late payments on existing credit agreements
– a positive Agent/Landlord reference (if applicable)
– verifiable annual household income of at least 30 x the monthly rental amount – this can be in the form of a reference from your employer, confirmation of earnings from an accountant (if self employed or a business owner) or confirmation of paying the term of rent in advance.

We will also require you to provide some photographic identification (a passport or driving licence) and something confirming your current address (such as a recent utility bill or bank statement – please ask for a comprehensive list of acceptable documents).

Once your references have been approved, we will be in a position to begin a tenancy and we will make an appointment for you to visit our office and sign the tenancy agreement and other supporting documents; this appointment will normally take place on the day the tenancy begins. We will also require the balance of completion funds (detailed below) at this point in cleared funds.

The costs for moving into a property to rent with Williams of Petersfield are as follows;

Refundable holding deposit – Maximum of one weeks rent

On the day of completion we will require you to pay;

First months rent – Variable
Deposit – equal to a maximum of 5 weeks rent (6 weeks rent will be payable for properties with rental values over £4167pcm).