Tenants Information

Step One – Securing the property

Once you have choosen the property you would like to rent; you will be asked to pay half of the deposit plus the referencing fee, this will enable us to take the property off the market and hold it for yourself (subject to successful applications).

Step Two – Referencing

We will send your application forms to the referencing company…they will check your employment & residential history from the last 3 years & also carry out a credit check. This usually takes approximately 7 days, although this depends on how quick your landlord, employer etc take to give you a reference. During busy seasons, such as; summer, this may take the referencing company up to 2 weeks.

Step Three – Check In (If Shepherd Gilmour are managing the property on behalf of your Landlord)

Once we have received satisfactory references we can then arrange your check-in. If Shepherd Gilmour are managing this property on behalf of the Landlord, then you will have no direct contact with your Landlord only Shepherd Gilmour. At your check-in the following takes place;

• You must sign all legal documents, such as the Tenancy Agreements. Be aware that ALL tenants must be present at the check-in as we will only release keys once all signatures have been signed
• We will hand over keys to you
• We will take payment of the first months rent and the remainder of the deposit. This MUST be paid in cleared funds, therefore only CASH or BANKERSDRAFTS are acceptable. If you attend with only a cheque as payment it will NOT be accepted. Can bank transfer if required or pay by cheque – but this must have cleared into our account beforehand
• You MUST complete the standing order form, so have your bank details ready. Note; that only one standing order can be set up
• Insurance forms must be completed, or proof of insurance must be shown (see below for more details)

As this check in is pre-arranged between yourself and Shepherd Gilmour, you will be charged a cancellation fee if you do not attend. If you have any problems and cannot attend for any reason 24 hours notice is required.

Step Three – Check In (Landlord managing property himself)

We will arrange a day suitable for yourself and your landlord. Once arranged on that day;

• You will attend our office to sign your new tenancy agreement, pay the first months rent and the remainder of the deposit. This MUST be paid in cleared funds, therefore only CASH or BANKERSDRAFTS are acceptable. If you attend with only a cheque as payment it will NOT be accepted
• We will then hand over your keys
• In most cases after you have attended our office your Landlord will want to meet you at the property to go over his inventory & arrange how you will be paying your rent each month

OTHER POINTS YOU MAY NEED TO BE AWARE OF;

Deposit – This is either; 4 or 6 weeks rent, dependant on whether you have contents insurance. 4 Weeks rent is only applicable as deposit if you have or are going to have contents insurance. We can help you arrange this insurance - it is approximately £100 for 6 months cover for 1 person.

Holding Deposit T&C’s

If you are interested in any of our properties and would like to progress to the application stage you will need to pay a deposit equivalent to one month rent.

Half of which will be payable immediately before the application process takes place.

The holding deposit indicates that: you are willing to proceed with the application and for us to obtain references and that you are willing to commit to move into the property on an agreed date.

In addition to the holding deposit, you will be required to pay Shepherd Gilmour properties an agency fee before the application can progress.

The charge is £125 per person (which is non refundable under any circumstances). This charge is compulsory per property and covers all administration, credit checks, obtaining references and preparing the tenancy agreement.

It is necessary that referencing forms are brought back to us within 5 working days of the date that the holding deposit form is signed. This is so that we can obtain satisfactory employers and landlords references before the move in date, as this may slow down the process if we are kept waiting for the relevant forms. All tenants will have to be present for the signing of the tenancy agreement and relevant notice(s).

Should you subsequently pull out of the application after this point then you will lose your holding deposit. If the landlord or Shepherd Gilmour Properties should pull out for any reason other than the ones mention above then, your holding deposit will be returned to you in full.

With all of our managed properties the deposit is held with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). If the landlord manages the property themselves, then we will pass it on to them so they can register it with a scheme of their choice.