moving your tenant in

Our professional lettings service ensures everything is in place for a smooth and trouble free start to renting out your property

This is a legally binding agreement, setting out the rights and obligations of both Landlord and Tenant. Most residential property is let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) for an initial fixed term of 6 or 12 months. We can advise on all options available to help you make an informed decision on areas of responsibility, conditions of tenancy, how and when the rent will be reviewed and notice terms. We will prepare all the paperwork and draw up a comprehensive legal document for signing.

If we are fully managing your tenancy and rental property for you, then the tenancy agreement will include those activities we will be responsible for on your behalf.

Inventory / Schedule of Condition

All of the inventories produced for Pilgrims clients contain a full written description of the property, its contents and schedule of condition inside and out including the walls, flooring and all fixtures, fittings and furnishings provided with photographic evidence. This provides a crucial legal reference in case of any discrepancy or claim against a tenant’s deposit at the end of a tenancy.

Utilities & Council Tax

Usually, it is the tenant’s responsibility to pay utility bills and counciltax. We can organise all meter readings and arrange the transfer of water rates. gas, electricity, telephone, TV licence and Council Tax accounts to the tenant.

Deposit Schemes

A deposit is paid by the tenant at the start of a tenancy to safeguard against damage. Since April 2007, all new Assured Shorthold Tenancies must be registered with a government-backed tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme within 30 days of receipt of the deposit. If we are not providing our Fully Managed Letting Service to you, then you would need to register the deposit with a TDP scheme yourself. Landlords should be aware that there are significant penalties for failing to comply with deposit protection requirements.

We normally collect a deposit from the tenant which is equal to one and a half month’s rent. Pilgrims is registered with My Deposits and all deposits are held in a secure client account. We will register deposits on your behalf and liaise with their dispute service should the need arise at the end of a tenancy. We will also provide your tenant with the name and contact details of the TDP scheme and its dispute resolution service, which is a legal requirement.

Keys

You should provide at least one set of keys for each tenant. Where we will be managing the property for you, we will also require a full set which will be coded for security purposes. We can arrange to have duplicates cut.