Tenants

Granite Lettings offer a friendly, dynamic, professional and personal service to all prospective tenants. Our goal is to find the ideal property based on your requirements. We will take into account your perfect location, number of bedrooms required, estimated move-in date and most importantly your budget. Our extremely efficient and experienced lettings team will help you every inch of the way to ensure you get the property that is right for you. We understand you lead a busy and demanding lifestyle so in return we offer viewing appointments to fit in with your timetable whether that is after work or at the weekend.

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

If you are interested in any of our properties and would like to progress to the application stage you will be expected to pay a deposit equivalent to one calendar months rent plus £100. So, if the rent is £500 the full deposit payable will be £600. Half of this amount is payable immediately before the application process takes place (this amount will then contribute towards the full deposit required once your application is classed successful. The full deposit will be returned at the end of the tenancy should the property be left in a satisfactory condition). This payment is known as the holding deposit and indicates that:

• You are happy for Granite Lettings to proceed with the application and obtain references on your behalf.
• You are willing to commit and move into the property on an agreed date, we can only hold a property for a maximum of 3-4 weeks; this is at the landlord’s discretion.
• The landlord and granite Lettings will now take the property off the availability list and off the market. Please be aware that until a holding 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 lose the holding deposit and agency fee. This is because the landlord would have taken the property off the market and Granite Lettings will have stopped viewings so in effect the landlord has lost out on other potential prospective tenants.

The deposit is then held in the Tenancy Deposit Scheme in accordance with new government legislation.

Agency Fee

In addition to the holding deposit, you will be required to pay Granite Lettings an agency fee before the application is processed. The agency fee is £150 for the first tenant and then an additional £50 for each additional tenant. For example, if there is just one tenant the agency fee will be £150. If there are two tenants then the agency fee will equal £200 (£150+£50). Three tenants would be £250 (£150 + £50 + £50) and so forth. This charge is compulsory per application and covers all administration, credit checks and reference fees in addition to the preparation of the tenancy. Both the holding deposit and agency fee must be paid in cleared funds, for example debit/credit card, direct bank transfer, banker’s draft or cash. Cheques will not be accepted. Should the tenant subsequently pull out of the application after this point then you will lose your holding deposit and agency fee.

If the landlord or Granite Lettings should pull out for any reason other than the reasons mentioned above, your deposit and agency fee will be returned to you in full.

Application

Once you have viewed, selected a property you think is right for you and paid your holding deposit / agency fee you will be required to fill out a straight forward application form. Information that you provide will be used to carry out various checks to ensure that you meet our requirements as a prospective tenant. Information that you will be asked to supply includes previous / current residential address, current / previous employer. There is no need to worry about the referencing process; it is a standard procedure that every applicant must endure. The Application process typically takes anything between 24 hours but can take up to 7 days to complete. Our property management department will contact you as soon as referencing is complete to arrange time and date to check in, collect your keys and sign the tenancy agreement.

Period of Tenancy

The most common tenancy offered is usually equivalent to 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 either for another 6 months or your contract will automatically switch into a periodic tenancy which means you are not committed to any further fixed term but you will be required to give one months notice should you want to end the tenancy. 12 months tenancies can also be obtained if preferred and in some circumstances we can negotiate shorter tenancies, for example 3 months. This is normally at the landlord’s discretion.

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 does 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 what ever reason they are then liable for the outstanding amount. The guarantor has to be a UK resident.

Successful

Should your application be successful the holding deposit you paid at the start of the process will contribute towards the full deposit required which is equivalent to one calendar month’s rent plus £100 as stated earlier. The full deposit total must be paid before the tenancy starts. This is usually paid one or two days before the day you are due to move in or at the latest, the day you collect your keys. This amount must be also paid in cleared funds, for example debit/credit card, direct bank transfer, banker’s draft, cash. Cheques will not be accepted. The deposit is held in the Tenancy Deposit Scheme in accordance with new government legislation.

Move In & Check Out Procedure

Once referencing is complete the property management department will contact you to set up a suitable date and time for you to collect your keys. It is important you arrive on time to avoid any delay, if you do miss your time slot then you may have to wait whilst we carry out other check ins for those tenants that have turned up on time. Please note that all tenants that will be living in the property must be present to sign the tenancy agreement.

A check 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, pay the remainder of the deposit and pay your first month’s rent in advance.

Rent

One month’s rent is required in advance and as above must be paid in full before the tenancy starts and before we hand over the keys. This amount must be paid in cleared funds, for example debit/credit card, direct bank transfer, banker’s draft or cash. Cheques will not be accepted.

Rent is then to be paid on a monthly basis usually by standing order on each subsequent month in respect to the original move in date. For example, if you moved into the property on the 10th March. Your monthly rent will be due on the 10th of each month thereafter.

Granite Lettings will provide you with a standing order form on the day you check in. You will input your bank details and sign the form of which we will then send off to your bank. Please note: It is your responsibility to ensure your bank has set this up correctly to avoid missing your rent payment date as this is something we are unable to do. You can do this by contacting your bank directly. Please Note: Late rent payments will result in a late payment charge.

Identification

It is very important that you provide four different forms of Identification before we hand over the keys. Two forms of ID must show evidence of name documents (one of which must be PHOTO ID such as a passport). The other two forms must be evidence of address such as a such as a utility bill (this DOES NOT include a mobile phone bill). We will be unable to hand keys over without this documentation. Please speak to a member of the team if you are unable to provide these documents.

Inventory

You will be supplied with a detailed photographic inventory upon check in, you have 48 hours to check this and return it with any discrepancies that you find. 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

Quarterly inspections will be carried out on all properties managed by Granite Lettings; this gives you the chance to raise any concerns or maintenance issues with the property manager. 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 Granite Lettings / 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. We have to carry out various obligatory checks and procedures on behalf of the landlord before we contact the Tenancy Deposit Scheme to issue the return of your deposit. 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

All 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 of which need to be supplied back to the utilities so 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.

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 the 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 some landlords will be happy to pay for this, please speak to a member of the team for details. This is totally at the landlord’s discretion.

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.