Locus Estates

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020 7249 2004

0203 457 7177

Landlord Process

1Accurate valuation

The achievable rental value of your property is determined by many factors including location and number of bedrooms, local services and amenities, the cosmetic appearance and overall condition of the property. Locus Estates will advise you on a realistic rental value taking into all these factors into consideration together with the current state of the local market.

2Consider Property Management

Looking after a rented property is easy when you have responsible tenants and live locally. However, if anything does go wrong, from a boiler breaking down to a tenant losing their job it can get very stressful. There is a mountain of legal obligations, with seemingly more forms to complete every day. Let us take the strain and manage your property for you. We can ensure that you’re protected in every way and we’ll work hard to make sure you’re not out of pocket financially. We’re proud of our knowledge of the industry and will always act in your best interests at all times.

3Preparing your property for tenancy

Decide whether to let your property furnished or unfurnished. Furnished properties will give a better visual impression to the prospective tenants on how the property will look, making it more likely to rent quicker. If the quality of the furniture warrants it, you can charge a premium rental price than if it was unfurnished. However, the down side is that offering the property furnished will increase costs over time as wear and tear necessitate replacing the furniture.

We recommend that the landlord provides white goods as a minimum (washing machine, cooker and fridge freezer) if letting the property unfurnished.

Flexibility is key as this will broaden the appeal of the property to prospective tenants as individual requirements vary. Anything surplus to requirements should be removed and placed into storage if need be.

4Marketing your property

Locus Estates vigorously market all our available stock across a wide variety of mediums.
We subscribe to Rightmove, Zoopla and we display your properties on this website as well as with in our shop window. We have many highly visible, strategically placed ‘To Let’ boards in the area. Your property will receive maximum exposure using a combination of these methods backed up by daily contact with pre-vetted potential tenants from our database. We aim to avoid void periods and to maximise the return on your investment.

5Receiving an offer

Once we receive an offer, we will relay that information to you, together with detailed information on the potential tenants. We check their situation, employment status, who is intending to move in, and how long they are looking to rent for. As the Landlord, you have the final say as to whether you wish to proceed and accept their offer. If not, viewings will continue until a suitable tenant is found.

6Offer agreed

At this point, we will ask for a holding deposit from the applicants and ask them to visit the office with their Right to Rent ID which will be checked and copied. We will also commence the referencing process. During this time, viewings are suspended until all checks have been completed to everybody’s satisfaction. If the deal falls through at any point, we will re-commence viewings immediately.

7References checked

All tenants will undergo thorough background checks. We use an independent reputable referencing company to report on their suitability and credit-worthiness, including their payment history on any previous lending and any adverse credit e.g. CCJ’s or bankruptcies.

Their identity is also verified as is their right to live and work in the UK – We cover the Right to Rent checks including whether they are subject to any immigration control. If they have rented properties in the past, we will ask their Landlords to provide us with a reference. This information is provided by a variety of sources including credit reference agencies like Experian or Equifax and is compiled into a report which gives a final credit score, and whether they have passed or failed. From that we can paint a very good picture on their suitability as a tenant for your property.

8Move In Monies taken and agreement signed

Once all referencing is completed and deemed satisfactory, we then ask the tenants to pay their first months rent and security deposit.

Upon receipt of cleared funds, we will arrange for the tenancy agreement to be drawn up and signed by all parties. All deposits are protected in a Government approved deposit scheme.

9Move In Date

If an inventory was taken, the Clerk will meet the tenants at the property to conduct the check in process. The meter readings will be taken, the keys will be photographed and then handed to the Tenant. If the property is managed, we will also retain a set of keys at our offices. Within seven days the inventory will be sent to the Tenant for them to agree and sign, with any amendments highlighted within 14 days or the inventory will be locked down.

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INFORMATION FOR TENANTS 

When renting a property, there are various costs that you will need to take into consideration when making an offer. 

BEFORE YOU MOVE IN 

Advance rent: Rent is usually payable in advance for each tenancy. You will therefore need to pay, as a minimum, the first months’ rent prior to the commencement of your tenancy, although the amount payable may differ dependent on the terms of your tenancy. 

A refundable holding deposit. you will be required to pay one weeks rent and this will be either returned or offset against the refundable tenancy deposit within 7 days, or up to a maximum of 15 days. This is required in order to submit your offer to the landlord. If accepted this amount will be deducted from the total monies due. The payment is refundable if your offer is not accepted.

   

Deadline for agreement if a tenancy has not yet been entered into. Locus Estates will retain the holding deposit if the tenant provides false or deceptive information which affects Locus Estates decision to rent the property to the prospective tenant, if the prospective tenant fail a right to rent check, or if the prospective tenant withdraws from the agreement. 

A refundable tenancy deposit. Five weeks’ rent 

Changes to the tenancy agreement at the tenant’s request. In the event to make changes to a tenancy agreement A tenancy swap fee of £50 (inc. VAT) plus any reasonable costs incurred if higher, will be payable by the tenant. Please note that Tenancy Swaps are subject to the landlord’s consent and reference approval. 

Default Fee - early termination of tenancies. Early Termination of Contract at the tenant’s request: In the event that you wish to leave your contract early, you will be required to pay the landlord’s costs in re-letting the property as well as all rent, council tax and utilities due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenancy. The costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy. 

Default Fee - late payment of rent. Locus Estates may only charge tenants a default fee of interest on rent that is 14 days or more overdue. The fee will not exceed interest of 3% above Bank of England's base rate for each day that the payment is outstanding. 

Replacement of keys or other security devices in the event that any keys or other security devices are lost and need to be replaced, you will be required to pay the costs of replacing them. If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, you will be required to pay the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord any other persons requiring keys. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s) or other security device(s). If tenants require copy of the keys outside working hrs they will need to pay the reasonable delivery cost for the keys to be delivered to the property address.

TENANT PROTECTION

LOCUS ESTATES  is a member of UKALA (The UK association of Letting Agents) membership number : 190813, which is a client money protection scheme, and also a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme MEMBERSHIP NUMBER : D12308 which is a redress scheme.

 

 

INFORMATION FOR TENANTS 

When renting a property, there are various costs that you will need to take into consideration when making an offer. 

BEFORE YOU MOVE IN 

Advance rent: Rent is usually payable in advance for each tenancy. You will therefore need to pay, as a minimum, the first months’ rent prior to the commencement of your tenancy, although the amount payable may differ dependent on the terms of your tenancy. 

A refundable holding deposit. you will be required to pay one weeks rent and this will be either returned or offset against the refundable tenancy deposit within 7 days, or up to a maximum of 15 days. This is required in order to submit your offer to the landlord. If accepted this amount will be deducted from the total monies due. The payment is refundable if your offer is not accepted.

   

Deadline for agreement if a tenancy has not yet been entered into. Locus Estates will retain the holding deposit if the tenant provides false or deceptive information which affects Locus Estates decision to rent the property to the prospective tenant, if the prospective tenant fail a right to rent check, or if the prospective tenant withdraws from the agreement. 

A refundable tenancy deposit. Five weeks’ rent 

Changes to the tenancy agreement at the tenant’s request. In the event to make changes to a tenancy agreement A tenancy swap fee of £50 (inc. VAT) plus any reasonable costs incurred if higher, will be payable by the tenant. Please note that Tenancy Swaps are subject to the landlord’s consent and reference approval. 

Default Fee - early termination of tenancies. Early Termination of Contract at the tenant’s request: In the event that you wish to leave your contract early, you will be required to pay the landlord’s costs in re-letting the property as well as all rent, council tax and utilities due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenancy. The costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy. 

Default Fee - late payment of rent. Locus Estates may only charge tenants a default fee of interest on rent that is 14 days or more overdue. The fee will not exceed interest of 3% above Bank of England's base rate for each day that the payment is outstanding. 

Replacement of keys or other security devices in the event that any keys or other security devices are lost and need to be replaced, you will be required to pay the costs of replacing them. If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, you will be required to pay the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord any other persons requiring keys. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s) or other security device(s). If tenants require copy of the keys outside working hrs they will need to pay the reasonable delivery cost for the keys to be delivered to the property address.

TENANT PROTECTION

LOCUS ESTATES  is a member of UKALA (The UK association of Letting Agents) membership number : 190813, which is a client money protection scheme, and also a member of The Property Ombudsman Scheme MEMBERSHIP NUMBER : D12308 which is a redress scheme.

 

Letting Fee Information

The asking rent does not include letting fees. Our standard administration fee (which covers general administration and preparation of paperwork) is £xxx (£xxx+VAT). A security deposit, usually equivalent to six weeks rent, is also payable.

Depending on your circumstances and the property you select, one or more of the following may also be charged to you upfront;

Fees may be charged on a per person or per property basis, please call us on 020 7249 2004