rentawhile.co.uk    
 
Looking for a quality home to rent in Birkdale, Southport?
You've found the right place.
 
If you have viewed one of our properties, and compared it with what else is generally available, you will understand that we take extra care to offer truly special homes. In order to keep doing this, however, you will also understand that we also must have truly special tenants. We can't tell simply by meeting someone how well they will take care of our properties or whether they will fulfill their side of a rental agreement. Therefore we do need a referencing process. On the other hand, we also feel we owe you reasonable respect for your privacy, and do not wish to pry overly much.
 
  • Over time we have developed an approach which generally works well for all parties. In most cases, our tenants take care of the properties, and our relationship is one of mutual respect and consideration. When the tenants finally move on, we usually part on good terms, find we can usually return all or at least most of the security deposit and give them a glowing reference for the next landlord. In turn, we don't have to spend weeks or months renovating the property to make it acceptable for the next tenant.
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    The alternative is a situation where tenants feel free to not pay rent on time, or perhaps make unacceptable alterations or damage the property without telling us. We may then have to evict, they lose their deposit, the insurance company chases them down and ruins their credit record, and they then cannot buy or rent anywhere else - or at least not anywhere else they would want to live.
     
    There are two points you should know before you read the following description of just how all this works. First, this is much the same as you will find with any reputable rental agency. We just explain it better. Second, although there is a referencing fee you have to pay (just like with any other rental agency), if you read the following information, you will see that you can pretty well know whether you will pass the referencing or not even before you give us that fee, so there is very little risk that you will lose the money.
     
    Here's how all this works. We hand over the referencing job to an insurance company. They charge us a fee (currently around £50, but we will confirm with you at the time) for the actual referencing. Therefore we have to have that money from you before the referencing can begin. When you successfully pass the referencing, they issue us with an insurance policy which covers our risks should you decide you are not going to be a good tenant. We pay the extra fee for that insurance policy. The referencing agency also takes care of speaking to your landlord, your employer, and if necessary, your accountant. If you need to have a guarantor (more on this later), they will also take care of dealing with them. As you can see, this way of handling the referencing allows us to respect your privacy, as you deal directly with the referencing agency, and don't provide your financial information to ourselves.  
     
    The simplest way to kick off the referencing is if you have access to the internet, and an email address. You give us the referencing fee and your email address (don't forget there are some other questions we ask you -- click this link to see the "What we will ask you" page). We pass your email address and the fee on to the referencing company. They then contact you via email, with a link to an online form you can fill in. Once you have done this, they contact us for the go-ahead, after which they begin contacting your referees. The process can take as little as 2 or 3 days, as long as all the referees respond quickly and confirm the required details. Of course, if you are self-employed, it can take a little longer because your accountant will probably need a little time to respond (it will help if you warn the referees in advance). It will also take longer if you cannot meet the requirements, because then you will be asked to supply a guarantor who will also need to be referenced.
    In any case, it is wise to start the referencing process as early as possible. That way you have the maximum time to deal with any unexpected requirements from the referencing agency. To be safe, you really should give it an absolute minimum of two weeks -- and more if you cannot be sure your referees will respond immediately when requested. Of course, warning your referees in advance may also help. You will understand that we cannot hold a property for you unless you have satisfactorily completed the referencing process.
    If you do not normally have access to the internet, then if you are online please print off the forms you will find by clicking this link: "Referencing Form" . If you are not online, please phone us on 01704 569239 and we will post everything to you. These forms can be faxed to the referencing agency (either you can do it, or you can provide them to ourselves and we will do it), but this will probably take a few days longer than if we use the internet method.
    Finally, in order to help you understand what Homelet will be looking for in their financial referencing, here are the conditions you will need to meet as we understand them. These conditions are not our own, of course, so we cannot control them and they may change. If you would like clarification of any of this, please ring Homelet direct on 0845 1176000 or 08702 402295.
    If you are self-employed, you will need an accountant to provide verification of your previous three full years of accounts. If you are PAYE employed, you will need to have been employed for at least six months. If you wish to show you are of independent means and have large cash reserves, they will need verification that the funds have been in your account for at least six months.
    If you are unsure your income or your savings will be considered enough to qualify, you can quickly find out by phoning Homelet direct on 0845 1176000 or 08702 402295. All they will need to know is the amount of the rent, and your income, and they can tell you immediately.
    If all this information seems a bit much, please do understand two things. One, we need to ensure our tenants are reliable and honest as best we can. Otherwise, we cannot continue to offer such high-quality properties. Two, you really will have to deal with this situation regardless of where you go to rent your home -- it's just that other landlords and agents either don't explain everything as clearly as we do, or that they don't offer the standard of properties we do and therefore feel they can take more risks with the standard of tenant they accept.
    We hope that you will now understand our approach, and agree that it offers the best possible arrangement to ensure you are able to feel completely comfortable and at home while staying in one of our properties.
     
    This information is to help you gather the information needed in order to rent a property. You will be needing this regardless of whether you rent from us or from someone else.
    We will need to know the following in order to form a contract with yourself. Please note this information will only be held on file for the purposes of forming a contract with yourself, and no references will be taken up without your explicit permission. 
     
    1. In whose name(s) will the contract to be?   Only one person will sign the contract. That person will undergo referencing, be responsible for the contract, and be responsible for all occupants during the rental period. If the contract is to be in more than one name, then each person will need to be referenced separately, which means a referencing fee must be paid for each person. Each person will still be contractually responsible for the entire rent.
    2. Who else will be staying in the property? Please provide their names, dates of birth, and their relationship to yourself.
    3. About which of our properties are you enquiring?
    4. How long do you wish the initial contract to be? This must be at least six months, and no more than twelve months. You will be offered a renewal at the end of the initial period, subject to the conditions of the contract and barring any change in our ability to make the property available to you.
    5. When do you want the tenancy to begin?
    6. Are you currently living where you are Owner / Council Tenant / Private Tenant / with parents /other (please explain)?
    7. What is your full name? 
    8. What is your maiden name (if any)? 
    9. What is your date of birth? 
    10. What is your marital status?
    11. What is your address?
    12. What are your home and mobile phone numbers, and email address? Please note this email address will be used for the purpose of referencing and confidential information will be send there. If you wish to use a different email address for this purpose, please specify.
    13. What is your employer's address and phone number? If you are self-employed, please provide your accountant's details. If possible, please also tell us the name of a person who can be contacted for the purpose of referencing either at your employer’s or your accountant’s.
    14. Please provide us with the name, telephone number and address of a person living in the UK who can be contacted in case of emergency, and their relationship to yourself. 
    15. Finally, please provide written and signed authorization from all persons described in question 1 above, that we (or our agents) may contact your employer, accountant, previous/current landlord and personal contact, as well as take up financial references through a professional referencing and credit agency for the purpose of verifying your details and confirming your creditworthiness and ability to fulfill your side of any contract which may be formed between us.

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    This question is answered above in the "What Happens Next?" section.  

    How long have we been doing this?
    We have been letting residential property in Birkdale since 2001.
     
    We have been tenants ourselves, and found it frustrating not to be able to speak directly to the landlord on occasion.  On top of that, it seemed every time we spoke to the agent, there would be a fee of some sort to be paid.  As landlords, we have also used an agent on one occasion.  On that occasion, we found the agent added nothing to the relationship except for costs.  Theoretically an agent could be useful to act as a buffer and negotiator when tenants and landlords don't get on with one another, but we've found that everything is easier if we just select decent tenants in the first place, and then get along.
     
    Viewings can be arranged for almost any time, just let us know your needs and we will do our best to accommodate.
     
    If you would like to view one of our properties, or contact us for any other reason, please click the "Contact Us" link, or phone us on 07801 282826 or 01704 569239.  Please do try to keep the phone calls between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, or 9:00 a.m and 10:00 p.m. on weekends, but for emergencies we are available any time.