Tenancy Information

Once you have viewed the property and have decided to make an application to rent, you and must pay a holding fee equivalent to one week’s rent. See below for more detailed information on this process. We also require each applicant to complete a referencing application form and external credit check, which will then be processed to verify the information provided. Please note that this is not a guarantee of tenancy. A decision will be made once all documentation has been verified, checked and the Landlord consulted.

If you have county court judgements registered against you it may not be possible to grant you a tenancy unless satisfactory evidence of the clearance of debt is produced prior to the commencement of the tenancy.

If you are unable to provide satisfactory references or credit checks a tenancy may still be offered if a satisfactory guarantor is provided. The guarantor will be expected to sign a form to guarantee your legal commitments in the tenancy, including payment of rent if you default and the guarantor will need to provide satisfactory references and credit checks.

If all enquiries are satisfactory, you will then be offered the tenancy of the property subject only to the terms of the tenancy agreement, the payment of the deposit, the agreed advance rent and the landlord’s agreement that the tenancy can proceed.

We will conduct Right to Rent Checks on all prospective adult occupants of a rental property. You will need to show your identity documents in person. Two forms of identification and proof of residency will need to be provided.

Acceptable documents that a tenant can use to demonstrate their identity and Right to Rent are dependent on their nationality.

Options for British citizens are: combination of valid UK driving licence & original UK birth certificate or a valid passport.

Options for all other nationalities are:

• Valid EEA*/Swiss national ID card (after 30th June 2021 a visa or proof of settlement status granted may be required)
• Combination of passport and valid visa or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP)

If you are a foreign national, it is essential that you provide proof of your residential status. You will need to provide a RIGHT TO RENT SHARE CODE

We will require a Holding Fee of one weeks rent. Upon successful application, this will form part of the first month’s rental payment.

Upon receipt of the holding fee, Wainwrights will reserve the property for 14 Days to allow credit checks and referencing to be carried out, after which time Wainwrights reserve the right to re-market the property. Assuming successful referencing results, the Holding Fee will be put towards the first month’s rental payment.

At any stage after the Holding Fee has been paid to Wainwrights, should the applicant decide not to proceed with the property, the Holding Fee is Non-Refundable. The full amount will be retained by Wainwrights.

If the application is unsuccessful having provided false or misleading information and/or we receive an unfavourable referencing result, Wainwrights will retain the full Holding Fee. This may also apply if the applicant fails to take all reasonable steps to provide information requested within the 14-day period, for example failure to supply necessary information for credit checks.

A maximum deposit equivalent to the value of 5 weeks rent (example: with a rent value of £500.00 PCM, the payable deposit is £576.00).

For properties in England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 means that in addition to rent, lettings agents can only charge tenants (or anyone acting on the tenant’s behalf) the following permitted payments:

• Deposits (a maximum deposit of 5 weeks’ rent for annual rent below £50,000, or 6 weeks’ rent for annual rental of £50,000 and above);
• Payments to change a tenancy agreement, e.g. addition/removal of tenant, or name change (capped at £50 inc. VAT – or reasonably incurred costs, if higher);
• Payments associated with early termination of a tenancy (capped at the landlord’s loss or the agent’s reasonably incurred costs);
• Utilities, communication services, e.g. telephone, broadband, TV licence and council tax;
• Interest payments for the late payment of rent (up to 3% above Bank of England’s annual percentage rate);
• Reasonable costs for replacement of lost keys or other security devices; the cost of replacement keys or other security devices will be passed onto the tenant at the agent’s/landlord’s reasonably incurred costs.
• Contractual damages in the event of the tenant’s default of a tenancy agreement;
• Any other permitted payments under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
• Tenancy Alterations : On variation, assignment or alteration of a tenancy, fees are capped at £50.00. Payments associated with early termination of a tenancy are capped at the landlord’s loss or the agent’s reasonably incurred costs.
• Out of Hours Call-Out Fees: Should the tenant require a representative of Wainwrights to attend the property for an emergency call out (Example: Having locked themselves out of the property) a fee of £50.00 will be levied.
• Office Hours Call-Out Fees: Should the tenant require a representative of Wainwrights to attend the property for a call out during office hours (Example: Having locked themselves out of the property) a fee of £25.00 will be levied.

Wainwrights are a member of the Client Money Protection Scheme (CMP) Membership Number: C0137656. Any client’s money that we hold is protected. This insurance scheme ensures that your money is handled in the correct manner. Download CMP certificate.

Wainwrights are registered members of The Property Redress Scheme (PRS). Membership Number: PRS0396667. Download PRS certificate.

Click here for the PropertyMark Membership Rules and Conduct.

This is an Office of Fair Trading redress scheme for consumer complaints. You can find out more information on their website: https://www.theprs.co.uk/or a hard copy of the Code of Practice is available in our office along with our internal complaints procedure Click here for internal complaints procedure.