{"id":8448,"date":"2019-11-22T17:14:04","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T16:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lettingaproperty.com\/landlord\/blog\/?p=8448"},"modified":"2019-11-22T17:14:04","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T16:14:04","slug":"ive-found-my-tenant-what-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lettingaproperty.com\/landlord\/blog\/ive-found-my-tenant-what-next\/","title":{"rendered":"What happens after I’ve found my tenant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When\nhelping landlords with their rental properties, a question that we always get\nasked is \u201cWhat happens after I\u2019ve found my tenant?\u201d Most landlords have a broad\nunderstanding of the lettings process, but many \u2013 especially first-time\nlandlords \u2013 are keen to know the ins-and-outs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve\nfound my tenant<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, you\u2019ve\ngot your house on the market, you\u2019ve showed a few people around and you\u2019ve got\na tenant in mind \u2013 but there\u2019s still a lot to cover before you hand over the\nkeys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning\nthe referencing process<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly,\nwe\u2019ll ask you (the landlord) to submit an online referencing request. This is\nthe easy bit. As soon as we receive your request, your tenant will get an automated\nemail asking them to fill out a prescreening form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is their chance to be open about anything that could negatively affect their reference check – such as County Court Judgments<\/a> (CCJs) or ongoing debts. At this point, we can help any tenants that disclose any potential concerns by providing them with some expert advice and discussing their options. We\u2019ll then brief you on your tenant\u2019s situation so you can make a reasonable decision as to whether you\u2019d like to go ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common\nconcern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During this step, a common worry that tenants often admit is that their salary does not meet the property\u2019s income requirements. To rent a property, a tenant must have an income of 30 times the monthly rent. For example, if the rent is \u00a31,000, the tenant\/s must earn a combined income of over \u00a330,000 (30 x \u00a31,000 = \u00a330,000). If this isn’t the case, we\u2019ll ask the tenant to provide a UK based rent guarantor<\/a> who (if for whatever reason the tenant is unable to) will agree to pay the rent on their behalf. Once the tenant has got a guarantor lined up, we\u2019ll explain the situation to the landlord and check that they\u2019re happy to carry on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nholding deposit<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you\ngive the go-ahead, its time for us to collect a holding deposit. The holding\ndeposit consists of one week\u2019s rent and essentially act as the tenant\u2019s\nfinancial commitment to rent your home. We ask for the holding deposit at this\npoint because if the tenant has provided false information in their\nprescreening, they will fail the next stage of referencing: wasting our time\nand yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we discover that the tenant has purposely given false or inaccurate details that will reasonably affect the landlord’s decision to go ahead with the tenancy, we will retain the holding deposit. Fortunately, this doesn\u2019t happen very often. In most cases, everything runs smoothly and the tenant\u2019s holding deposit is taken off their first month\u2019s rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrying\nout reference checks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Following this, the tenant\u2019s details are checked by our referencing team. Many tenants worry that they\u2019ll have to chase their old landlord or track down their previous employer for a reference, but this isn\u2019t the case. Using the information that the tenant provides, our referencing team are able to conduct a complete reference check<\/a>, including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n