Guide for Prospective Tenants

These notes outline the terms under which West Country Property Services grants a tenancy on behalf of a landlord, and cover the arrangements for the start of the tenancy when your application for the tenancy has been confirmed.

Tenancy Application.

We will ask you to pay a reservation deposit at the time of your application for the tenancy, which will form part of the main security deposit to be held during your tenancy.  Normally, this will be £200.00.

Each person aged 18 or over will need to complete a Tenancy Application (except for married couples when either husband or wife may complete the form on behalf of them both).

Please complete all sections of the form, entering ’none’ or ’not applicable’ where appropriate. As well as your personal details, we will need to obtain:

• Confirmation of your occupation from your employer.
  
• References from a previous landlord and one other character referee (not a relative) or, if you have no previous landlord, from 2 independent character referees.
  
• A bank reference - You will need to give us authority for the bank to provide this.

We cannot accept ’to whom it may concern’ letters provided by the applicant.

Please note that completion of the application form does not guarantee that you will be granted the tenancy. When all your references have been received, we will contact you to confirm that your application has been accepted.

Normally this will be 7 to 10 days after we have received your completed application form and reservation deposit. Where we are only acting as letting agents (and not managing the property concerned) the landlord may ask to meet you before confirming acceptance of the application.

Guarantor

If you are under age 21 and/or it is not possible to obtain a satisfactory bank reference for you, you will need to nominate a guarantor. We will have to meet the guarantor and he/she will have to formally undertake to guarantee your rent payments by completing a Guarntor Agreeement and authorise us to obtain a bank reference in support of the undertaking.

Housing Benefit

If you will be claiming housing benefit (HB) to help with your rent payments, a guarantor will be required as above. In addition, you must be in a position to pay the initial payments before the tenancy begins and the second month’s rent from your own resources, as it is often several weeks before any HB is paid.

Please also note that we are not allowed to accept housing benefit paid directly to us by the local authority, so you will have to receive the benefit yourself and pay the rent from your bank account by monthly bank standing order.

Unsuccessful or Withdrawn Applications

If your application is unsuccessful because the references prove unsatisfactory, or if you withdraw your application, it is possible that a charge will have to be made against your reservation deposit to compensate the landlord for lost rent and to cover the costs incurred. This will be dependent upon the circumstances in each individual case.

Initial Payment

Before the tenancy starts, you will have to pay the balance of the deposit, the first months rent and the Tenancy Agreement Fee (including vat). The total amount will be shown on your Reservation Deposit Receipt form.

The payment may be made by:

• Personal Cheque - received by us at least 5 banking days before the tenancy start date, or
  
• By SWITCH card at our Office, preferably before the day the tenancy starts, or
  
• In Cash - at our office by 4.30 pm on the day before the tenancy start date, or by
  
• Bank Draft or Building Society Cheque - during the handover at the property on the tenancy start date.

All cheques/bank drafts must be made payable to ’West Country Property Services’.

Please note that we cannot give you keys to a property unless payment has been made as above.

Future Rent Payments

Future rent payments must be made by standing order so that the rent is received by the due date. The form will be prepared for your signature during the handover, with the payment date set for 3 days before the rent due date to allow time for the payment to reach our bank.

If required, it may be possible to arrange for the payment date to be adjusted to align with salary dates etc. This would mean paying the rent for the intervening period to maintain the requirement to pay the rent one month in advance.

Property Handover

Your tenancy will start with a formal handover procedure at the property on the first day of the tenancy. All those aged 18 or over named on the tenancy agreement will need to be present to sign the tenancy documents. In addition, during the handover, we will provide you with your copy of the property inventory (which we ask that you check thoroughly during the first 7 days of the tenancy), agree the utility services meters readings with you, brief you on the heating and other systems installed at the property and provide you with the keys.

Services at the Property

Unless otherwise specified in your tenancy agreement, the accounts for the utility services (electricity, gas, water supply, and sewerage) at the property will be transferred into your name from the tenancy start date and the meter readings agreed with you at handover. West Country Property Services will notify the authorities concerned.

If you require a telephone service, you will need to arrange this yourself. British Telecom can be contacted by dialling 150 - normally they will need several days warning. We can let you know whether a line is already installed at the property, in which case you will only have to pay a small re-connection charge.

Terms of the Tenancy.

Unless we advise you otherwise, your tenancy will be an Assured Shorthold Tenancy under the Housing Act 1988 (as amended by the Housing Act 1996). Your detailed obligations will be specified in the tenancy agreement and these will be fully explained to you before signature.

You should note, though, that the ’Term’ specified in the agreement is the minimum period for your tenancy and the Housing Act states that there can be no option to terminate the tenancy early by either you or the landlord unless there is a breach of the terms of the agreement. This guarantees that your tenancy can continue for at least the length of the term.  However, you must note that you will not have any right to end your tenancy before the end of the term period, and that the agreement will commit you to payment of the rent for the whole of the term irrespective of your circumstances.

In exceptional circumstances (eg on strong compassionate grounds), a landlord may agree to an early end to the tenancy before the full term has been completed, but this could mean a financial penalty at the landlord’s discretion.

To end the tenancy at the end of the term, you or the landlord must give notice in writing to the other party. The Housing Act requires the landlord to give a minimum of two months notice. The notice you are required to give will be specified in your tenancy agreement (normally this is one month).

If neither party gives notice, the tenancy will automatically continue on a month-by-month basis beyond the end of the term as a periodic tenancy. This will continue until notice to end the tenancy is given, as above, by either landlord or tenant.

If you request it, the landlord may be prepared to renew the tenancy at the end of the term, to give you the security of a further definite tenancy period.

Queries

If you are unsure about the terms of the tenancy for which you are applying or have any queries about the arrangements, please contact our office as soon as possible.