Things you need to consider when looking for a property:
- What length of a lease you’re looking for?
- The maximum rent you wish to pay (please see below)
- Public transport lines
- Local amenities
- Whether you’d like your property furnished or unfurnished
- What property you’re looking for (e.g. flat or house etc)
The process:
Before any searching can be done, it’s best to know what you can realistically afford; everyone wants a nice big 6-bedroom house with an indoor pool, but sadly it’s not always that easy. Your annual earnings must cover 2.5 times the annual rent, for example: if you’re looking at a property with a rental figure of £600 per calendar month, you must earn a minimum of £18,000 per year. If you’re confused on what price bracket you fall into, give us a call and we’ll be able to point you in the right direction.
If you’ve found your perfect place, but fall a little short on our affordability criteria, don’t panic – there are ways around this. One option would be to resort to up-front rent, we can accept the first 3 or the first 6 months’ up-front, and whichever is easiest for you. Another option, if you’re not in the position to pay up-front, would be to use a guarantor. There are a couple stipulations with a guarantor, unfortunately unlike the tenant affordability criteria, your guarantor would have to earn a minimum of 3 times the annual rent. Let’s go back to our £600 per month example, your guarantor’s minimum annual earnings must be £21,600 instead. They also must be over the age of 21, must reside in the U.K. and ideally need to be present when the contracts are signed.
We take pride in how quick we can deliver our service to you, if you call up in the morning – normally we can fit you in for a viewing that afternoon. Once we’ve met you at the property, you’ve had a good look around and can agree that it’s the home for you, and we’ll give you some application forms. Dependant on how easily accessible your details are, the forms take up to 15 minutes to complete, and need returning with your identification and your fees (please see a detailed description of fees below). Before we call the landlord, we’ll proof read your forms, and check your right to rent in the UK. If you’re unsure as to whether you have this, below is a link supplied by our insurers for you to check: https://www.letalliance.co.uk/content/uploads/Home-Office-Right-to-Rent-Document-Checks-User-Guide.pdf
We use a company called Let Alliance for all our referencing, they’ll do a credit check which goes back 10 years, and they’ll contact your current landlord and current employer. If you own your own home at present and are looking to move into rented accommodation, or if you’re currently between jobs or out of work – not to worry. We’re trained in advising the best way to go around these circumstances, just give us a call and I’m sure we can put your mind at ease.
There’s always a lot of questions that you will want to ask, don’t be afraid to ask any of them; there is no such thing as a silly question. Each of our team specialises in a different way, so to make sure your call is dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible, make sure you read the Our Team page first.
There’s a few things to pay before we can sign you out your keys, we won’t surprise you with any fees leading up to, or after you collect your keys to begin your tenancy. There are a few ways to pay the fees, usually the easiest is via an online bank transfer (bank details are available upon request), we accept cash in the office at a 2% charge, and we take cheques too. The 2% fee is something that is forgotten by most our tenants, so please ensure you’ve got this accounted for before you pop in.
