Can someone explain to me how lettings work? what is the process you go through if with a letting agents?

Question

Can someone explain to me how lettings work? what is the process you go through if with a letting agents?

Answer 1

Check out www.npda.co.uk.

Its the national property developers association so I'm sure someone there will be able to advise you.

You can become a member (for free) and ask in the forum.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 2

firstly you need to find a place your interested in, then you need to contact the agency to arrange a viewing.

If you like the place they will ask you for a holding fee usually this is about £150 per person but it depends. This holding fee is non-refundable which means if you pull out or you fail the credit check or referance they will not offer you a refund, so you have to be absolutly sure you want to rent the place.

secondly they will charge you for a credit check and they will usually ask you for work/character references/.

There will usually be a few forms to fill in and on those forms they will ask you wether you have any ccjs/defaults ect, if you have its always best to be honest as if your not they will definitly refuse you, by being honest it shows you are more trustworthy. If your credit isnt up to par then the landlord of the property may ask you for a guarantor (homeowner, 24+ years, good credit) who is also credit checked/referenced for suitabililty.or they may ask you for 6 months rent in advance.

When you move in they will ask you for a deposit of typically 1 1/2 months rent in advance which is refundable according to terms and conditions upon your vacating the property. They may also do a sighned inventory which will cost you a further £50 or so.

They will charge you everytime you want to renew your contract (typical lease 6 months, so exspect a charge of £50 for paerwork ect every 6 months)

Iit really depends on the landlord about how the property is managed. Sometimes a landlord may manage the property, so they would inspect it ect sometimes the property is fully managed by the agency so they will be in charge of repairs and inspections ect.

in all its quite exspensive, if you can find a private landlord its sometimes cheaper.

Answer 3

My husband and I rent a private house from a private landlord.  However, we have nothing to do with the landlord at all.  Everything concerning our house is done through a letting agent.  If anything needs doing to our house we phone the letting agents who then send out a worker to fix the problem.  They then send a bill to the landlord who pays them for the work.  We also pay our rent to our letting agent.  Everything is done through the letting agent.  We have contact what-so-ever with our landlord.  It is a better way of renting, I think, because you have a leg to stand on if you have a stubborn landlord (as is ours by the sound of it!).

Answer 4

the letting agent acts as a mediator between tenant and landlord, of course they will charge a fee for doing this, 'management fee'