Tenant Information And Application Process
AFFORDABILITY
Below is an affordability calculator used to determine whether a person is financially able to be a tenant. This is determined by taking the monthly rent for a particular property and multiplying it by 30. Please see examples below showing monthly rent and the minimum gross annual salary required:
| Monthly rent | Tenant salary | |
| £ 400 | £ 12,000 | |
| £ 450 | £ 13,500 | |
| £ 500 | £ 15,000 | |
| £ 550 | £ 16,500 | |
| £ 600 | £ 18,000 | |
| £ 650 | £ 19,500 | |
| £ 700 | £ 21,000 | |
| £ 750 | £ 22,500 | |
| £ 800 | £ 24,000 | |
| £ 850 | £ 25,500 | |
| £ 900 | £ 27,000 | |
| £ 950 | £ 28,500 | |
| £ 1000 | £ 30,000 | |
| £ 1050 | £ 31,500 | |
| £ 1100 | £ 33,000 | |
| £ 1150 | £ 34,500 | |
| £ 1200 | £ 36,000 | |
| £ 1250 | £ 37,500 |
APPLICATION PROCESS
1. Prior to your viewing we will send you an email that explains the application process. After you have viewed, if you wish to proceed, please respond to the email outlining your application.
2. Once we have your email we will discuss yours, and any other applications, with the landlord and respond – normally within 24hrs. If the landlord selects your application we will call you to take a holding deposit equivalent to one weeks rent, by debit card. (If your application proceeds, the holding deposit will contribute towards your first month’s rent.)
3. You will be emailed a link to complete your application through the Vouch website. This must be completed within 48 hours.
4. Appropriate references will be obtained e.g. credit checks, Right to Rent checks, employers and landlord references, and then within 7 days of the holding deposit being paid, the full tenancy deposit will become due.
5. Once referencing is complete, subject to satisfactory references/credit status and Right to Rent checks being obtained, a tenancy agreement will be sent for e-signature. Our standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy can be found here. .
Should the referencing process be incomplete or unsatisfactory after 7 days from receipt of the holding deposit, the landlord reserves the right to re-advertise the property, which could mean the property is let to somebody else. For this reason, it is important that you do your best to enable the process to be completed as quickly as possible.
If, after 15 days, we are still unable to confirm your application is successful, we will cancel your application to enter into a tenancy (unless both parties agree in writing to extend the deadline for agreement) and your holding deposit will be refunded unless any of the below applies (see *HOLDING DEPOSIT).
If you are required to have a guarantor (see GUARANTORS section below), the guarantor will need to sign a Deed of Guarantee.
6. Pay the 1st months rent (minus the holding deposit that has already been paid). This must be paid and received in cleared funds at least 24 hours before you move in.
7. A time will be arranged to you to collect the keys to your new property.
*HOLDING DEPOSIT
Should an applicant (including prospective tenant or guarantor):
1. Withdraw from entering into a tenancy,
2. Provide false information for referencing,
3. Fail to act reasonably to enter into a tenancy before the deadline for agreement,
4. Fail Right to Rent checks,
the holding deposit will not be returned.
GUARANTORS
In some circumstances, for instance, if you are moving to the area and haven’t got a job finalized, you may need to find someone to act as a guarantor who will agree to guarantee your rental obligations. If this is the case, your guarantor will need to complete a Guarantor Application form (which can be filled in online at the bottom of this section).
Guarantors are required to meet certain criteria – they must be a UK citizen, employed full time, and ideally a homeowner. If you are self-employed or renting, you might still be able to act as guarantor – please call us to discuss your specific circumstances.
There is an affordability calculator used to determine whether a person is financially able to act as a guarantor. This is determined by taking the monthly rent for a particular property and multiplying it by 40. Please see examples below showing monthly rent and the minimum gross annual salary required for the guarantor:
| Monthly rent | Guarantor salary | |
| £ 400 | £ 12,000 | |
| £ 450 | £ 18,000 | |
| £ 500 | £ 20,000 | |
| £ 550 | £ 22,000 | |
| £ 600 | £ 24,000 | |
| £ 650 | £ 26,000 | |
| £ 700 | £ 28,000 | |
| £ 750 | £ 30,000 | |
| £ 800 | £ 32,000 | |
| £ 850 | £ 34,000 | |
| £ 900 | £ 36,000 | |
| £ 950 | £ 38,000 | |
| £ 1000 | £ 40,000 | |
| £ 1050 | £ 42,000 | |
| £ 1100 | £ 44,000 | |
| £ 1150 | £ 46,000 | |
| £ 1200 | £ 48,000 | |
| £ 1250 | £ 50,000 |
Please note that guarantors are required to sign a Deed of Guarantee, a separate document, in addition to the application form, that essentially provides a guarantee for the tenancy should, for example, any of the tenant(s) not pay the rent. We need to have the SIGNED AND WITNESSED ORIGINAL COPY in our office before we can release the keys to the tenant.
OTHER FEES
Unpaid Rent – Interest at 3% above the Bank of England Rase Rate from the Rent Due Date until paid in order to pursue non-payment of rent. Interest will not be levied until the rent is more than 14 days in arrears.
Lost Key(s) or other Security Device(s) – Tenants are liable for the actual cost of replacing any lost key(s) or other security devices(s). If the loss results in the locks needing to be changed, the actual costs of the locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord or any other persons requiring keys will be charged to the tenant. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s) or other security devices (s).
Variation of Contract (Tenant’s Request) – £50 (inc VAT) per agreed variation.
Early Termination (Tenant’s Request) – Should the tenant wish to leave their contract early, they shall be liable for the landlord’s costs in re-letting the property as well as all rent due under the tenancy until the start of the replacement tenancy. These costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy.
Council Tax Bands
If you aren’t sure of the Council Tax band for a property, check the Council Tax Valuation register for detail.
Electric Heater Running Costs
For information on the running costs of electric heaters, this website sust-it.net has a useful table of costs based on your supplier and the wattage of the heater.
HOW TO GUIDES
For day to day help whilst you are living in a property we are developing a range of How To guides below
How to repressurize a Boiler with a Filling Loop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vahQHOnGo&t=119s
How to repressurize a Boiler with NO Filling Loop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUsBw1ZpiKY&t=4s
How to avoid Legionaires Disease
Granger_Oaks_LegionnairesLeaflet_141124.pdf
SERVING NOTICE
At the end of your tenancy, you will need to serve notice. When you can serve notice will depend very much on the contract you have signed, so check your documents first or contact us to check. As a simple guide, if you want to move out at the end of your contract you need to give a clear rental period (normally 1 month) as notice. When your tenancy is periodic, your notice needs to coincide with your rent payments, so say you pay rent on the 5th of the month and you want to move out of the 4th of May, you would need to serve written notice before the 4th April.
We recommend checking your notice period with us first before you sign new contracts to move out.
Once we have written notice we will contact you to make arrangements to readvertise the property and confirm our checkout procedures. Once the checkout report is complete we will contact you to arrange the return of your deposit or discuss any work that is required to be done.
If no work is required at your property, we always try to process deposit returns within 7 days of departure.
DATA PROTECTION
Granger & Oaks is committed to protecting and processing your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018. To ensure that we provide the best service possible we will need to collect and retain certain personal data and it may be necessary for us to process or share all or some of your personal data with a range of individuals (e.g. employees at Granger & Oaks, your landlord (or an agent acting on their behalf or their legal representative(s)) and organisations (e.g. a Local Authority, customer record management software provider, or esignature software provider). We will only ever share your data where we either have your consent to do so, to fulfill the contract, the law requires us to, there is a legitimate reason to or there is a vital or public interest to serve. Your personal data will always be stored within the European Union or if outside of the European Union with an organization operating under the General Data Protection Regulations. We are permitted to store your data and we will retain some elements of your personal data for a lawful period after you cease to be a tenant. You have a right of access to check the personal data we hold. We may charge a fee to provide such data if the request is unfounded, excessive or repetitive. If a fee is charged it will be reasonable based upon the administrative cost of providing the information. You may request that your personal data be erased, for example, where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing. We will comply with your request unless we have another basis of processing justifying our retaining the data (for example a legal requirement or the defense of a legal claim).