Rentals
Renting, and letting, without the guesswork
The branch that places the tenant manages the property. Not a central department that has never seen the flat.
Tenants
What you will be asked for
Have these ready and an application takes days rather than weeks. Most applications stall on a missing payslip, not on the applicant.
- 01
Identity and address
A copy of your identity document or passport, and proof of your current address. This is the FICA verification every agency is required to do.
- 02
Proof of income
Three months of payslips, or six months of bank statements if you are self employed. Landlords generally want the rent to sit under a third of your income.
- 03
Credit check
Run with your consent. A blemish is not automatically a refusal; an unexplained blemish usually is, so say something about it up front.
- 04
Deposit and first month
Paid before you take occupation. The deposit is held in an interest bearing account and the interest is yours, which the Rental Housing Act requires.
Landlords
Letting a property is a smaller transaction than selling one and a much longer relationship. The failure mode is not a bad month; it is a tenant who was never properly vetted, in a property nobody has inspected since the day they moved in.
What the branch does
- Markets and shows the property, on this site, the portals and to the tenant list the branch already has.
- Vets the tenant properly. Identity, income, credit, and a call to the previous landlord, which is the check most often skipped and most often revealing.
- Draws the lease and takes the deposit into an interest bearing account in accordance with the Rental Housing Act.
- Does an incoming and outgoing inspection, in writing, with photographs. Without one, a deposit dispute is somebody's word against somebody else's.
- Collects the rent and sends a monthly statement, and chases arrears from day one rather than at month three.
What it costs
Letting and management are usually quoted as a percentage of the monthly rental, with a once off procurement fee when a new tenant is placed. The branch will quote you in writing before anything is signed, and the mandate says exactly what is included.
Deposits, and the argument that never happens
Almost every deposit dispute comes down to the same thing: no proper incoming inspection. If there is a signed list of what was chipped, marked and broken on the day the tenant arrived, there is nothing to argue about when they leave. It takes an hour at the start and saves a month at the end.
Talk to a rental agent
Whether you are looking for a place or have one to let, tell us the area and it goes to the branch that works it.
What is available now
Flats, townhouses and houses to let across every branch. Rentals are quoted monthly unless the listing says otherwise.
Property to rent