Renting in London, without the runaround.
Tell us the area, the budget and the date. We will send you what fits and take you round it ourselves.
What you need before you get the keys.
Three payments, and that is the lot. Here they are before you view anything, so you can work out whether the rent you are looking at is the rent you can actually take on.
Paid when your offer is accepted. It takes the property off the market and comes off your first month's rent.
Cleared funds before move-in day, calculated per calendar month rather than per four weeks.
Held in a government approved scheme for the length of the tenancy, not by us and not by your landlord.
What we are not allowed to charge you.
Set by the Tenant Fees Act 2019. This is a plain summary of the law, not legal advice.
- Referencing and credit checks
- Admin or set-up fees
- Viewings
- The inventory and check-in report
- Renewing your tenancy
- Checking you out at the end
From first look to front door.
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Register what you want
Area, budget, the date you need to be in, and who is moving in with you. Online, on the phone or in the office. New listings reach you before they reach the portals.
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Come and see it
One of us takes you round, Monday to Friday between 10am and 7pm. The landlord is not usually there, so you can say what you actually think. Bring anyone whose opinion counts.
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Make your offer
Say what you want to pay and when you want to move. One week's rent as a holding deposit takes it off the market while the rest goes through.
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References
An independent agency handles it: identity, right to rent, income and your last landlord. It usually takes a few working days, faster if your paperwork is ready.
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Read before you sign
We send the agreement over ahead of signing day so you have time with it. Ask us anything in it, and take your own legal advice if you would rather.
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Money clears, keys move
First month's rent and the deposit land, the deposit goes into the scheme, the inventory is done and signed, then the keys are yours.
Have this ready and you will move faster.
Referencing is where most lets slow down, almost always because one document is sitting in somebody's other email account. Pick the line that describes you.
- Photo identification: a passport, or a driving licence alongside a birth certificate
- Proof of your right to rent in the UK. Every agent in England has to check this, so it is not us being difficult
- Your current landlord or agent's name and number
- A UK bank account the rent can go out of
- Full names and dates of birth for everyone moving in
Then pick the tab that matches how you are paid.
- Your last three payslips
- Someone at work who can confirm the role and the salary, usually HR or your manager
- Your signed contract, if you have started in the last few months
- A recent bank statement showing the salary landing
Starting a new job soon? An offer letter with the start date and salary usually does the job.
- Your accountant's name and number
- Two years of accounts, or your SA302 tax calculations
- Three to six months of business bank statements
- Your UTR number to hand
Trading for under a year? Say so early. It is workable, it just needs a different conversation.
- A UK based guarantor, with their own identification and proof of income
- Or the year's rent paid up front, if that is easier than finding one
- Written confirmation of your place from the university
- Your student identification
If your guarantor is outside the UK, tell us before you offer rather than after.
Short of one of these? Tell us at the viewing. There is nearly always a way round a gap, and it is far easier to solve before an offer than after one.
Once you are in.
Most of a tenancy is quiet. These are the four things that come up, and what happens with each.
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Something breaks
Report it the day you notice it, on one number and one email that reach a person rather than a queue. A slow leak is a cheap job in March and a ceiling in June.
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Inspections
On the properties we manage, once a quarter. You get told well in advance, it goes in at a time that suits you, and the written report comes to you as well as to the landlord.
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Bills and council tax
Council tax, gas, electricity, water, broadband and the TV licence are yours from day one. Ring the council in your first week rather than your first month, the backdated bill is never fun.
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Cold weather
Leave the heating ticking over during a freeze, including when you are away. Burst pipes are the one winter disaster that is almost entirely avoidable.
Moving out, and getting your deposit back.
The end of a tenancy goes wrong when nobody wrote down who was responsible for what. Here it is in advance, split by whose job it is.
Yours
- Give notice in writing. How much notice you owe, and where to send it, is set out in your own tenancy agreement. Read that rather than this page, and ask us if any of it is unclear.
- Take meter readings on your last day and send them to your suppliers, along with a forwarding address.
- Leave it as you found it, allowing for normal use. Everything out, everything clean, and anything you broke put right.
Ours
- We check it against the inventory you signed at the start, not against anybody's memory of how it looked.
- Nothing is deducted without asking you. Anything we want to take off comes to you with a reason and a receipt attached, and it has to be agreed.
- The deposit comes back through the scheme that has been holding it all along, inside that scheme's timescale.
Fair wear and tear, in plain terms.
Carpets flatten. Paint marks near the light switches. Sealant discolours. Nobody is taking money off you for a flat living in for a year.
A cracked worktop, a burn in the carpet or a wall that needs three coats to cover is a different thing, and that is what the deposit is there for. If we disagree about which is which, the scheme has a free adjudication service and either of us can use it.
Questions renters ask.
Not covered here? Put it to whoever takes you round the property. Nothing on this page costs anything to ask. Register your search
How much do I need saved before I move in?
One month's rent, plus a deposit of five weeks' rent, minus the one week you already paid to hold the property. That is the whole of it.
As an example, on a flat at 1,800 a month: 1,800 rent in advance, about 2,077 as the deposit, less the 415 already paid. Roughly 3,460 to find.
Do I pay you a fee for finding me somewhere?
No. Charging tenants for referencing, admin, inventories or renewals has been against the law in England since June 2019, and we do not do it.
Rent, the holding deposit and the tenancy deposit are what you pay. Nothing else comes to us.
Can I keep a pet?
Ask while you are still deciding, not once you have the keys. It is the landlord's call, and how the question gets put makes a real difference to the answer.
Tell us what you have, how old it is and whether it has lived in a flat before, and we will put it properly.
Can I view outside your usual hours?
Say so and we will see what can be arranged. If weekdays never work around your job, tell us at the point you register rather than turning down three appointments.
What if my reference comes back short?
It is not usually the end of it. A guarantor, or paying some rent in advance, covers most gaps between what you earn and what the landlord's insurer wants to see.
Tell us before referencing starts rather than after it comes back. Everything is easier to solve at that end.
Who actually holds my deposit?
Not us and not the landlord. Inside the statutory window it is lodged with one of the schemes the government approves, and the prescribed information reaches you in writing. The scheme we use is SCHEME NAME.
If we ever disagree about a deduction, the scheme will adjudicate free of charge and either side can ask it to.
Can someone move in with me later?
Anyone living there over the age of eighteen needs to be on the agreement and referenced, so speak to us first. It is a straightforward thing to arrange and an expensive one to be caught doing quietly.
Free valuation
What is your property worth?
Four quick questions. Then a valuer who knows the street calls you back, not a computer estimate.
Question 1 of 5