Tenant services
Tenants
Murphy Waldron offers a welcoming multi-lingual friendly, professional, and personal
service to all our prospective tenants. We aim to find the right property for you,
based on your requirements and budget. Our team will help you every step of the
way to ensure you get the property that suits your criteria. We understand you lead
a busy and demanding lifestyle and we offer flexible viewing appointments to help,
either after work or at the weekend.
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We have put together some important information that we feel explains the whole
letting process from start to finish, hopefully make things a little clearer.
Deposit
The full deposit for any property is one calendar month's rent, plus £100. For example,
if the rent is £500 the full deposit payable will be £600. The deposit amount is
payable upfront before the application process takes place. Once you have moved
into the property your deposit will be paid into a Deposit Scheme. This is then
returned to you at the end of the tenancy, should the property be left in a satisfactory
condition and all bills settled. The holding deposit indicates that:
- You are happy for Murphy Waldron to process your application and obtain references
on your behalf.
- You are willing to commit and move into the property on an agreed date, we can normally
only hold a property for a maximum of 3-4 weeks; this is at the property owner’s
discretion.
- The property owner and Murphy Waldron will now take the property off the market.
Please be aware that until the deposit is paid in full we (and sometimes other agents)
will continue to show the property to prospective tenants and so you risk losing
the property to another prospective tenant.
- If you (the tenant) back out of the application once the deposit has been paid,
then you will unfortunately forfeit the deposit. This is because both the property
owner and Murphy Waldron would have taken the property off the market would have
also stopped viewings, thus, the property owner has missed other potential prospective
tenants.
Application
Once you have viewed, selected a property you think is right for you and paid your
deposit you will be required to complete a straightforward application form, online.
You will be asked to provide information on current/previous Landlord; employer;
character reference and to ensure you are financially acceptable. There is no need
to worry about the referencing process; it is a standard procedure that every applicant
must go through.
The Application process typically takes anything between 3 - 5 working days. The
Lettings Team will contact you as soon as referencing is complete to arrange time
and date to move in and sign the tenancy agreement.
Period of tenancy
The minimum tenancy offered is 6 months and is known as an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.
If you want to stay longer than the initial six months, you will be asked to renew
your tenancy for either another 6 months or 12 months. On the 5th or 11th month
of your AST, you are required to advise Murphy Waldron in writing of your intention
to give notice (1month) either that you intend to vacate the property at the end
of the tenancy or that you would like to re-new the tenancy for a further 6 or 12
months.
Guarantor
A guarantor is needed for those tenants who have recently moved to the UK and therefore
cannot provide previous traceable UK addresses; tenants not working in the UK /
students or for tenants whose annual salary do not satisfy the rental guarantee
requirement of exceeding the property’s annual rent. A guarantor is usually a parent
or relative that is willing to sign a consent form stating that should you default
on the rent for whatever reason they are then liable for the outstanding amount.
The guarantor has to be a UK resident.
Check in & check out procedure
A move in appointment will take place at our office on the day you collect your
keys. This is where you will sign the tenancy agreement and other documents and
pay your first month’s rent in advance. Please note that all the tenants/guarantors
named on the tenancy agreement must be present at the office when the move in takes
place. A member of the lettings team will escort you to the property and formally
check you in i.e. go through the property inventory/condition report, take meter
readings and any other queries on the property.
Once you have a confirmed move out date and given the required notice period, a
member of the lettings team will meet you at the property to check you out, receive
the keys back and take meter readings. At this point, we will advise you of any
discrepancies with the property, which in turn you then have your chance to point
out any issues. Following a successful check out (property left in a good standard)
and receipt of your finalised bills, we will then endeavour to return the deposit
as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Rent
One month’s rent is required in advance and must be paid in full before the tenancy
starts. This amount must be paid in cleared funds and cheques will not be accepted
i.e. either cash or transferred funds into our client account. Your Rent is then
to be paid on a monthly basis usually by standing order on each subsequent month,
e.g. if you moved into the property on the 15th January, your monthly rent will
be due on the 15th of each month thereafter.
Please note, it is your responsibility to ensure your bank has set this up correctly,
to avoid missing your rent due date please check that the necessary mandate / direct
debit is in place, as this is something we are unable to do. You can do this by
contacting your bank directly. Please Note: All late rent payments will result in
a late payment charge added to your account.
Identification
You are required to provide two forms of Identification. One form of ID must show
evidence of name documents (one of which must be PHOTO ID such as a passport). The
other form must be evidence of your current address, such as a utility bill. Please
speak to a member of the team if you are unable to provide these documents. All
forms of ID must be handed in before the referencing process takes place.
Inventory
A detailed inventory will be carried out and photographs taken and you will sign
this report with the agent present upon check in. You have a further 72 hours to
report anything outside of the inventory taken on the day and this, along with the
necessary photographs, will be added to the original inventory. When the tenancy
ends a check out report will be prepared in accordance with the inventory you signed
at the start of the tenancy. The outcome of this check out report will determine
how much of the deposit will be returned.
Inspections
Murphy Waldron conducts inspections on all managed properties every 4 months. The
first inspection is carried out after 6 weeks. These inspections give you the opportunity
to raise any concerns or maintenance issues. Any damage to the property will be
documented with photographs and may affect the return of the deposit.
Maintenance and Repairs
As the tenant, you will be required to report any maintenance issues or necessary
repairs that are required. These must be reported to either Murphy Waldron or the
Landlord, as soon as it comes to your attention. Failure to do so may result in
us being unable to repair the problem in time before permanent damage is done. This
may then result in part of your deposit being withheld.
Return of deposit
The deposit is returned at the end of the tenancy, this is obviously dependent on
the condition in which you leave the property upon departure. You must also provide
documentation that shows all utility bills are paid up to date. Please be aware
that it is not permissible for you to cancel your last month's rent payment because
we hold a security deposit. The deposit is legally a separate issue from rent payment
and you will be in breach of your contractual agreement if you do this, which can
lead to prosecution.
Utilities charges
Most monthly rents are exclusive of utility charges; you will be directly responsible
for any Gas, Electric & Water bills. At the start of each tenancy, we will take
and issue you with the current relevant meter readings, which need to be supplied
back to the utilities in order that they can set up your account and the property
bills can be transferred into your name. It is also advisable that you contact the
suppliers yourself to ensure the account is set up correctly as we rely on the postal
service to get the notifications through to the utilities. This is highly recommended
as to avoid any serious problems of arrears arising. Remember it is a tenant’s responsibility
to keep up to date bills.
Council tax
We will notify the local authority of your residence at the start of your tenancy.
They will then calculate your monthly council tax payment of which you are directly
responsible. It is the tenant’s responsibility to make sure the council tax is paid
on a monthly basis. Please contact the council for more information.
Telephone
If you require a telephone line, you are required to register your own account with
BT or whoever the provider may be. You can discuss this with BT by dialling 150
from the UK. It is your responsibility to terminate your account upon departure.
If the line has never been connected, it may be your responsibility to connect the
line yourself.
TV license
You are directly responsible for the payment of the TV license at the property.
Insurance
You are advised to obtain contents insurance for your personal possessions as a
condition of your AST – Murphy Waldron can assist you further with this.