Advice for Tenants

How do I secure a property to rent?

When you find a property you would like to rent, we will put your offer to the Landlord. Where an offer is accepted, this is subject to contract and references. We can either e-mail you an application form, post it to you or you can collect it from our offices. Once you have sent us an administration fee and completed reference forms, we will take the property off the market for at least a week whilst we take up references and enable you to take time to read through the tenancy agreement. Once references are accepted, we will ask for the deposit and the tenancy agreement to be signed. The first month's rent will be required in cleared funds prior to the start of the tenancy. Where references are not satisfactory, the administration fee, less the cost of taking up references will be refunded. If you pull out for your own reasons, your administration fee will not be refunded.

How should payment be made?

Online, internet banking, cash, cheque or bankers draft. Unfortunately credit or debit cards cannot be accepted.

What happens to my deposit?

Where the tenancy agreement is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, once your deposit has been received, it will be registered within a 'secured scheme', as required by law since 2007. At HBPM, we use The Dispute Service. At the end of the let, the property will be 'checked-out' and then the deposit will be returned to you, less any agreed deductions. Where agreement cannot be reached between the Landlord and Tenant any disputed amount will be sent to The Dispute Service for arbitration.

The Dispute Service is an independent, not-for-profit, company established in 2003 to resolve tenancy deposit disputes in the private rented sector. The Dispute Service operate the Tenancy Deposit Scheme in accordance with the requirements of the Housing Act 2004. This provides a dispute resolution service should a dispute about the allocation of a deposit arise at the end of the tenancy. See www.thedisputeservice.co.uk for more details or contact our offices.

What do I do if my washing machine breaks down?

Where your property is managed by Helen Breeze Property Management, you will need to contact us and we will organise an appliance engineer to visit at the earliest opportunity at a time convenient to yourself. All our contractors have Public Liability Insurance and work within our code or practice. Where the property is not managed, you will need to contact your Landlord.

Do I need to insure my contents?

The Landlord will insure the buildings and any of their contents in the property, so you will need to take out your own contents insurance if you want them covered. We recommend that you insure the Landlords buildings and contents from accidental damage caused by you or a guest. You may wish to obtain a quote from Homelet:

What are my outgoings?

The rent and your utilities as specified in your lease. Usually this includes Council Tax, Electricity, Gas/oil, Water and Waste water.