Fees
Chase Residential Ltd – Fee’s Information – Landlords & Tenants
Standard Fees:
Lettings Only (Tenant Find) 8.00% + VAT
Renewal Fee of Let Only 6.50% + VAT
Let Only & Rent Collection 10.00 % + VAT
Renewal Fee of Let & Rent Collection 7.50% + VAT
Letting & Full Management 13.00 % + VAT
Renewal Fee of Let & Management 10.00% + VAT
Short Lets 20.00 % + VAT
Renewal of Short Let 15.00% + VAT
Further Information for Landlords:
Landlord will be charged £36.00 per adult for the references conducted by the Agent for the prospective tenant along with the commission. Chase Residential Ltd will use Homelet Referencing & Rent4Sure Ltd as their referencing companies to obtain the references.
Landlord is to organise for Inventory Check In & Check Out, as they will be paying for these costs.
If Chase Residential Ltd organises the Inventory Check in/Check Out, the cost are as follows:
Inventories:
Studio Flat £95.00
1 bedroom Flat £100.00
2 bedrooms Flat £120.00
3 Bedroom Flat £150.00 (House - £180.00)
4 Bedroom Flat £200.00 (House - £230.00)
Chase Residential Ltd does not make any commission from the Inventories conducted. The cost of the inventory check in/out will be collected from the landlord and passed on to the Inventory Clerk/Company.
Other Arrangements:
Chase Residential Ltd can also help to arrange for the following:
Arranging Gas Safety Certificate £80.00
Energy Performance Certificate £80.00
Deposit Protection Registration £12.00
Information for all applicant/s (Tenant/s)
You will be asked to pay a holding deposit to reserve your interest in renting this property, subject to satisfactory references. Chase Residential Ltd will collect 1 weeks rent of the total asking rent as Holding Deposit.
The Holding Deposit is a refundable payment requested from the tenant to demonstrate a commitment to rent the property whist referencing checks take place.
The Holding Deposit is refunded where a tenant later enters into a tenancy agreement before the deadline for agreement, the landlord decides not to rent the property, or an agreement is not reached in time (and the tenant is not at fault).
The holding deposit will be used towards the first month’s rent in advance.
The holding deposit will be kept for 14 days from the date this document signed. Upon signing this Application Form, the tenant/s agrees to execute the tenancy within 14 days subject to acceptable references.
Holding Deposit will be retained by the Agent for the following reasons:
Tenant/s provide false or misleading information which reasonably affects the decision to let the property to them
Calls into question their suitability as a tenant
Tenant/s fail a right to rent check
Tenant/s withdraw from the proposed agreement or fail to take all reasonable steps to enter an agreement
responding to reasonable requests for information required to progress the agreement when agent and or the landlord have taken all reasonable steps.
References:
Chase Residential ltd will use is RENT 4 SURE or HOMELET, to conduct the references.
Applicants will need to complete a reference form online which will be sent on their email by the Agent. Reference checks includes: credit search, current/previous rental history up to 3 years (obtaining references from previous landlord/managing agent where necessary), employment checks & right to rent checks. If there is any additional checks required Agent will notify you in advance.
Deposit:
Chase Residential will collect 5 Weeks rent as deposit. This deposit will be forwarded to whoever is managing the property. The deposit is held in registered government scheme.
If Chase Residential is holding the deposit it will be protected into My Deposits.
It will be Agents responsibility to provide you Deposit Certificate & Prescribed Information if the deposit is protected by them. If the Deposit is held by the Landlord, then landlord it will be landlord’s responsibility to provide the Deposit Certificate & Prescribed Information.
The deposit will be refunded to you only when a written authority is received from the landlord. Any deductions made from the deposit are made on behalf of the landlord.
The tenancy agreement entered into is between the landlord and the tenant and, therefore, the tenant cannot hold Chase Residential Ltd liable for any deductions made from the deposit which may be in dispute.
Payment of rent:
The first instalment of rent must be paid in cleared funds when you sign the tenancy agreement. Thereafter, rent is payable by standing order (unless agreed otherwise) to arrive on the due date as stated in the tenancy agreement. This means that the standing order must be set up so that the funds leave your account three days before the rent is due. If payments are to be made on a different date, this must be agreed prior to the signing of the tenancy agreement and the extra payment for the period until the new payment date must be paid in advance.
Cleaning:
It is vital to keep the property in clean order throughout the tenancy. The property cleanliness will be recorded at the start of the tenancy on the Check In Inventory report.
Tenants will be expected to leave the property professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy and provide receipt to the agent or Inventory Clerk at Check Out. Failing to do this can result in a cost for professional cleaning if it is not up to acceptable standards.
If the property is not professionally cleaned, prior to the check out, tenant/s will not be given an opportunity to get it cleaned after the check out. The Agent/Landlord will organise the cleaning and will deduct the cost from the deposit.
Tenant Fees Act
The Tenant Fees Act sets out the Government’s approach to banning letting fees for tenants. The key measures of the Act include:
Tenancy Deposits must not exceed the equivalent of five weeks' rent (unless the annual rent exceeds £50,000 in which case deposits are capped at six weeks’ rent).
Holding Deposits will be capped at no more than one week’s rent.
The amount that can be charged for a change to a tenancy will be capped at £50 unless the landlord/agent demonstrates that greater costs were incurred.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is amended to specify that the letting agent transparency requirements should apply to third-party websites.
Alongside rent and deposits, agents and landlords will only be permitted to charge tenants fees associated with:
A change or early termination of a tenancy when requested by the tenant.
Utilities, communication services and Council Tax.
Payments arising from a default by the tenant where they have had to replace keys or a respective security device, or a charge for late rent payment (not exceeding 3% above the bank of England base rate).
A breach of the fees ban will be a civil offence with a financial penalty of up to £5,000.
Breaches of the tenancy agreement (damages)
Where the tenant has breached their tenancy agreement and caused damage as a result, then landlords may still seek compensation via deductions from the deposit or court action.
Breaches of the tenancy agreement (default payments)
Previously it was expected that landlords would be able to charge for sending reminder letters. The latest draft of the legislation has tightened up the rules on default payments significantly, however.
Under the current draft of the legislation landlords are allowed to charge for two types of default payments - loss of keys and late payment of rent. Both are subject to restrictions.
For the loss of keys, landlords are allowed to charge the reasonable cost that they can evidence in writing. Anything landlords cannot evidence in writing with receipts will likely be considered a prohibited payment.
For late payment of rent, landlords and agents may only charge 3% above the Bank of England base rate in interest on the late payment of rent from the date the payment is missed. At the time of writing this would be 3.75% interest. They may not charge for sending reminder letters.
How to calculate interest on the rent
The calculation is (rent amount in arrears) x 0.0375 / 365 x (the amount of days since the arrears began).
For example:
A tenant misses a rent payment of £500 on 1st January and a further payment on 1st February, on February 28th the tenancy ends, and the landlord intends to charge for payment.
£500 for the rent amount for the first 31 days
£500 x 0.0375 = £18.75
£18.75/365 = 5p per day
5p x 31 = £1.55 for the first 31 days of arrears at that total.
£1000 = rent amount in arrears for the last 27 days
£1,000 x 0.0375 = £37.50 annual interest
£37.50 / 365 = 10p per day
27 days have passed since the tenant went into arrears so 10p x 27 = £2.70.
£2.70 + £1.55 = £4.25 in arrears can be charged for the late rent.
Changes to the tenancy
While most costs related to assignment or surrender of a tenancy are prohibited, landlords and agents are still allowed to charge certain small sums to tenants if the tenant requests a change in tenant or an early surrender.
Where the tenants have requested a change in the tenancy (such as swapping tenants), the landlord may charge a fee of £50 for the change or the costs incurred. They must be able to evidence in writing any costs incurred if they do go above £50 and the draft guidance makes it clear that £50 is considered the norm for landlords and agents.
Where the tenants have requested early surrender of the tenancy, the landlord or agent may charge fees equivalent to the loss incurred. As charges such as referencing, tenancy drafting, etc are prohibited landlords will not be able to show a loss has been incurred for the provision of these services. Instead, landlords and agents will be able to charge the equivalent of the rent lost due to the unforeseen void period. As the void period may not be clear at the point of charging many landlords and agents will likely start to regularly refuse tenants looking to surrender early as a result.
Third party payments
A number of third-party payments can be required as part of the tenancy agreement. Most can be used by landlords and agents, but some are exclusive to landlords.
Landlords and agents
1.A contractual clause insisting on the tenants paying the television licence is an acceptable payment
2.A clause insisting on the tenant paying the council tax is an acceptable payment
Landlords only
1.A clause requiring the tenants to pay for the landlord's costs from a specific service provider for utilities is a permitted payment.
2.A clause requiring tenants to pay the landlord's cost for a specific communication service (phones, broadband, cable/Sky TV) is permitted for landlords.
If the landlord seeks to charge more than the billed costs for these services, then any excess will be considered a prohibited payment.
For additional information or clarification about the above, please contact us on 0203 865 5738.