The letting process when renting flats in London through Lettings Professionals - for tenants
Step 1 - Searching for a house, flat or apartment to rent in south west London
We all know that the road to renting flats in London can be an especially long and torturous one. That's why, at Lettings Professionals, we have streamlined our house hunting process to make it as easy as possible for prospective tenants.
From the outset our property search facility is designed to be simple and user friendly. Whether you are a young professional looking for a trendy flat in Clapham, students looking for a decent house with easy access to your place of study, or a family looking for a cosy home, we can help.
The first stage is to register your details with us. We will take as much detail as possible about your circumstances and your requirements, to make sure we are finding properties that are likely to match your needs.
Step 2 - Finding, Matching, and Viewing Property
Unlike many other agents, we will then find properties for you so you don't have to. We will search our extensive database of houses and flats within theBattersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting, and Wandsworth areas in the Wandsworth borough, Clapham, Stockwell, and Streatham areas in the Lambeth borough to find a shortlist of residential properties for you to view. Some of the properties that we have details for have not appeared on the market yet, so you can be sure that you have access to the most up-to-date information about local property by contacting us.
When you are ready to look at the properties, one of our team will accompany you on viewings to ensure that they can keep you informed and answer any questions you may have there and then.
Step 3 - Securing the property in order to move forward with an offer
Once you have found your ideal house, flat or apartment, and you would like to proceed with a tenancy, we will take a holding deposit to secure your interest. This is standard when renting flats in London and ensures that the house or flat is taken off the market and we can negotiate your tenancy with the landlord.
Step 4 - Tenant referencing and checks
We will then need to take the following steps to arrange the tenancy:
- carry out a credit/financial check on each prospective tenant
- obtain an employer's reference for each prospective tenant
- obtain a reference from a previous landlord from each prospective tenant
Sometimes we may require a guarantor, which one of our staff can explain in more detail if necessary. Please note that for student lets, we always need a guarantor.
Step 5 - Paying the balance of deposits, rent and fees before moving in
The security deposits (or bond) required on properties let through us are normally the equivalent of five week's rent. Occasionally the security deposit on a house or flat is six weeks rent. The deposit will be held in accordance with current legislation until the end of the tenancy when it will be reimbursed in full, provided the terms and conditions of the agreement and tenant obligations have been met.
Prospective tenants will also be required to pay one month's rent in advance.
We charge an administration fee to cover the cost of obtaining references, preparing inventories, drawing up tenancy agreements, and the general administration of moving you into your new home.
Step 6 - Signing the Tenancy Agreement
The final step in the letting process is to have an agreement (an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement) drawn up to be signed by the tenants in advance of moving into their new rental home. Lettings professionals will usually take care of this.
After these steps have been completed, the keys to the property will be handed over and you are ready to move into your new home.
We hope you have found this guide to renting flats in London with us useful. And if you have further questions why not contact us here.