Once we have your Holding Deposit, current legislation stipulates that the necessary paperwork should be completed within 15 days or such longer period as might be agreed. The relevant period for completing your application to rent the property and thereafter entering into a tenancy agreement will be extended to whichever comes sooner: a period of 15 working days from the date the holding deposit is paid or a period ending 4pm on the proposed commencement date of the tenancy.

If at any time during that extended period you decide not to proceed with the tenancy, then your holding deposit will be retained by our firm. By the same token, if during that period you unreasonably delay in responding to any reasonable request made by our firm, and if it turns out that you have provided us with false or misleading information as part of your tenancy application or if you fail any of the checks which the Landlord is required to undertake under the Immigration Act 2014, then again your holding deposit will not be returned. It will be retained by this firm.

However, if the Landlord decides not to offer you a tenancy for reasons unconnected with the above then your deposit will be refunded within 7 days. Should you be offered and you accept a tenancy with our Landlord, then your holding deposit will be credited to the first months’ rent due under that tenancy.

Where, for whatever reason, your holding deposit is neither refunded nor credited against any rental liability, you will be provided with written reasons for your holding deposit not being repaid within 7 days.

You will not be asked to pay any fees or charges in connection with your application for a tenancy. However, if your application is successful under our standard assured shorthold tenancy agreement, you will be required to pay certain fees for any breach of that tenancy agreement in line with the Tenant Fees Act 2019. In consideration of us processing your tenancy application, you will be agreeing to pay those fees to us on request.

As well as paying the rent, you may also be required to make the following permitted payments.

It is important that referencing is carried out and to complete this process we use a specialist referencing company who will take up the referencing process for us and will report back when the process is complete with either a Pass or Fail. The requirement for finances is that the total income of the household is proven to be not less than 2.5 times the annual rent. You must also have a clean credit record with no adverse credit history. Previous landlords will be contacted for their references.

If you are self-employed or retired, references will be taken up from your accountant and/or bank, pension statements showing a consistent income or savings.

References are obtained through an independent referencing company who verify income.

Yes, if you are employed on a zero hours contract then your financial income is assessed as zero and so falls short of the minimum income level of 2.5 times the annual rent that is required to pass financial referencing.

If you are a student who cannot prove a consistent and sufficient income of 2.5 times the annual rent, you will need a parent, relative or close friend to guarantee the rent and adherence to any other tenant obligation listed within the agreement.

Please check with us if the property you are interested in will allow students. For 3 or more students (or non-students) intending to share a property the property must have an House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Licence. Please check the property details on the web as it will be clearly stated if the property you are applying for is licensed as an HMO as it will be advertised as suitable for sharers. If a property does not have a statement to this effect then it will not be possible to apply for a tenancy

If you do not pass the referencing then you will not be able to rent the property you have applied for and you may also loose some or all of your holding deposit.

It is important that you establish before you commence your application that you have sufficient income of not less than 2.5 times the annual rent, a clean credit record and any previous landlord is willing to provide a positive reference.

If you do not have insufficient income but have other means to meet a rental commitment, for example savings, these may be taken into account for the purpose of financial referencing. The landlord may also consider a tenant who provides a guarantor or payment of rent in advance.

It is important that you are clear with us about any possible problems you may have passing referencing so that we can advise further before processing your application and if need be put you in touch with the referencing company we use to pre-vet you.

If you do not have sufficient income then the landlord may consider a guarantor acting for you or payment of rent in advance.

Providing A Guarantor
A guarantor is someone who guarantees that they will pay the landlord his rent in the event that the landlord does not receive payment from the tenant in a timely manor.

If the landlord is willing to accept a guarantor then the proposed guarantor will be expected to pass referencing. Both tenant and guarantor are referenced together, the guarantor 's provable income must not be less than 3 times the annual rent.

It is not possible to accept a guarantor who does not live in either England or Wales. We would also expect a guarantor to own their home in either England or Wales.

If you are considering offering a guarantor please read the information we have posted on this site concerning guarantors. It is very important that they understand their commitment and may not want to act as a guarantor where there is more than one person who will be a tenant/occupier of the property

Payment of Rent in Advance
A landlord may accept payment of rent in advance. However, most tenancies are a 12 month minimum term (sometimes 6 months), whatever the term is the rent paid in advance must be for the whole of that term.

If your tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) you will not be asked to pay any fees or charges in connection with your application for a tenancy. However, if your application is successful under our standard assured shorthold tenancy agreement, you will be required to pay certain fees for any breach of that tenancy agreement in line with the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

As well as paying the rent, you may also be required to make the following permitted payments.

Permitted Payments under Current Legislation
Before the tenancy starts the following are deemed permitted payments that will be payable to Property Link Estates Ltd (‘the Agent’):-

• Holding Deposit: 1 week’s rent (See above)
• Deposit: 5 weeks’ rent (or in the case of rental income of more than £50,000 per annum 6 weeks' rent).

During the tenancy the following are deemed Permitted Payments which will be payable to us where we are acting for the landlord of the property: -

• Payment of up to £50 including Vat if you want to change the tenancy agreement
• Payment of interest for the late payment of rent at a rate of 3% above the Bank of England base rate
• Payment of a reasonable amount for the reasonably incurred costs for the loss of keys/security devices
• Payment of any unpaid rent or other reasonable costs associated with your early termination of the tenancy (such as re-marketing costs, general administration, referencing, tenancy deposit protection and Right to Rent checks).

• During the tenancy the following are payable to the provider if permitted and applicable to the tenancy:
  Utilities – gas, electricity, water
  Communications – telephone and broadband
  Installation of cable/satellite
  Subscription to cable/satellite supplier
  Television licence
  Council Tax

Other permitted payments
Any other permitted payments, not included above, under the relevant legislation including contractual damages.

People who are allowed to be in the UK have a right to rent. People who are not allowed to be in the UK do not have a right to rent.

Right to Rent checks must be made by landlords, agents or householders who are letting private rented accommodation, or taking in a lodger. Anyone who lives in a property as a tenant or occupier, and sub-lets all or part of the property, or takes in a lodger, must also make the checks. This applies to people living in both private and social housing.

Usually it will be Property Link Estates who ensures that the prospective tenants or occupants have a right to rent. If the check is not made and the occupier has no right to rent there may be a civil penalty to pay by the landlord. You will be given further details of the checks we undertake as part of your application and you must complete the checks before a tenancy can be granted.

If you are unable to prove that you have the Right to Rent then you will loose the Holding Deposit paid.

Further information on the Right to Rent can be found here

In most cases the tenancy of the property you rent will be an assured shorthold tenancy (AST). However, under the circumstances where the tenancy cannot by law be an AST, for example, the tenant is a limited company or the property being rented is part of the same dwelling the landlord lives in then the tenancy will be a contractual agreement. When the tenancy is not an AST then the law on statutory tenancy deposit protection and the charging of tenant fees does not apply.

For non-AST tenancies the following fees may be payable to this agency: -

• Holding Deposit: £250 (applied as a credit to the first months' rent on a successful application)
• Tenancy Deposit: 1.5 months' rent
• Agency fee: 36% including Vat of 1 month's rent

You will be informed before you commit to reserving the property if the tenancy will not be an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.

Some landlords may wish to apply certain restrictions to a tenancy. Please find below some examples of typical restrictions that may be imposed:

• No property we let will allow smoking in the property
• A landlord may not consider it suitable to keep a pet in the property
• Unless the property is licensed to allow more than one household then it will not be possible to let a property to more that 2 people sharing who do not form a single household.
• Sub-Letting and taking in lodgers

You should be advised of any restrictions before an agreed viewing of a property takes place. However, please inform us of anything that you think may be a restriction at the time of making an appointment to view a property.

At the start of every tenancy we collect a deposit of 5 weeks’ rent (or in the case of rental income of more than £50,000 per annum 6 weeks rent). This is used in the event of non-payment of rent, breakage or damage caused.

In accordance with the Housing Act 2004, landlords must select either an insured based or custodial based scheme in which to hold a tenant’s deposit. A statutory certificate is then supplied to the tenant, advising on which approved scheme protects the deposit. This must be done within 30 days of paying the tenancy deposit or the tenancy start date whichever sooner.

In the rare event of a dispute, both parties will normally have 10 days to resolve the matter. If no resolution has been reached, they will be invited to make use of the Alternative Dispute Resolution process that is provided free with their chosen deposit scheme. Should the parties opt for Alternative Dispute Resolution they will be bound by its decision with no redress to the courts.

The information you must be provided with when your tenancy deposit is first paid explains all you will need to know about the resolution process.