If you are looking to rent a property, please get in touch and register your details and let us know your requirements. We’ll need to know your budget, how many bedrooms you’d like, and the area that you’re looking in. We advertise all our properties on Zoopla, Prime Location and Rightmove as well as our own website so if you see something you like, let us know so that we can arrange a viewing for you.
Finding your ideal property can be tricky so it’s a good idea to write down a list of things you need to have, and what you definitely don’t want. This helps our team to offer you properties that will best suite your requirements. Your budget will also be a key factor here. Overstretching yourself financially will only cause you problems in the long run, so remember to include your bills, moving costs and other expenditure in your calculations. The referencing process looks at affordability as part of the checks. To pass, your monthly household income should be at least 2.5 times your proposed monthly rent.
Once you have found a property you wish to rent, we will ask you to put down a holding deposit equivalent to one weeks’ rent. This reserves the property for you whilst the necessary checks are carried out, and during this time we will not conduct any further viewings. When your checks are complete and you are ready to move in, this money will be put towards your first rent payment. Unfortunately, if you fail the referencing checks for any reason or you decide not to proceed, then this money will be forfeited.
Rochester Place conduct thorough checks on all prospective tenants both internally and through Homelet prior to granting a tenancy. We will need to see your valid passport, most recent 3 months consecutive bank statements and payslips. We will verify your employment including earnings, contact most recent landlord for a reference and carry out a credit check on you. For Self-employed applicants, we will ask to see your most recent tax return instead of employer references and payslips. For foreign nationals, you will need to show that you have the right to reside in the UK and are not subject to immigration control.
In certain circumstances we will ask for a guarantor to support your application to rent with us. They need to be a UK citizen, a homeowner (who can provide proof of ownership) and show a annual income of at least 3 times the annual rent.
Rochester Place will provide you with a draft copy of your tenancy agreement so you have the opportunity to read it through before you sign. It’s important that you understand the document thoroughly and query anything you’re not sure of. Once it is signed and dated then it becomes binding to all parties. If you breach any of the clauses in the tenancy agreement, it could result in financial penalties or worse, you could lose your home. If you are not sure of anything contained in the Agreement, you should seek legal advice or contact the Citizens Advice Bureau.
We secure all tenant deposits held by us with Mydeposits insured scheme. We are governed by strict rules and regulations concerning the holding of tenant deposits and will give you all the relevant information about your deposit and the scheme we use (Prescribed Information). Keep this information safe in case you wish to refer to it later. The amount you pay will vary from one property to another, but it will never be more than 5 week’s rent. At the end of your tenancy, provided all is well, you will receive it back in full.
Before you move in, it’s not uncommon for an inventory to be undertaken. This provides both you, us and your landlord with a detailed description of the property, the décor, any defects (damage to paintwork or walls, or marks on carpet for example). This should be provided to you with good quality photographs and will be used at the end of the tenancy if any deposit deductions are proposed. Not all landlords do inventories, we will let you know if that is the case.
We will contact you close to your tenancy commencement date and arrange a date and time for you to come in to sign the tenancy agreement and collect keys. Please note that the balance of your move in monies will need to have cleared our bank before you can collect your keys.
