In order to get your deposit back, an agreement needs to be reached between yourself and us/the landlord. Once we have confirmed we are not looking to make any deductions you will receive your deposit back in full. If there are any dilapidations such as cleaning or damages, we will highlight them in the check-out report, you then have the chance to personally rectify or agree to the deductions to be made from the deposit for us to rectify them on your behalf.
If there is a disagreement between yourself and us/the landlord, either party can refer this to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). The TDS will hold the disputed funds and they will not be released until the adjudication has been completed and the final report has been sent. The TDS will investigate, create a report which is binding, and then release the money. If the tenancy is not an assured short-hold tenancy, we will be able to explain the process to you.
Once an agreement has been reached, you will receive the money within 10 days.
If we do not manage the property we are not involved in the process, this will be dealt with by your landlord, but we are happy to explain your options to you.
Firstly by completing the DBA tenancy pre-application form, where we will ask you for information, such as who will be living in the property, rental offer amount, start date of the tenancy, desired length of tenancy and any additional information. This will be passed on to the Landlord and a shortlist of applicants will be selected. Every applicant will be contacted to inform them, with the shortlisted applicants being offered a viewing.
We will be in contact to arrange a holding deposit which will contribute to your first months’ rent. Once this holding deposit is paid the application progresses to referencing where you will be contacted by Vouch, our external referencing company (for more information click here). Once this has been completed and passed we will be in contact to arrange a prospective move-in date.
This depends on a number of factors such as if there is an existing tenancy coming to an end. We will discuss possible move in dates with you and agree upon the most suitable before requesting the holding deposit. This date, unless for extenuating circumstances, will be when you can move in.
If you believe your referencing is going to fail, it’s important to contact us as soon as possible, as if it is for an explainable reason, we may be able to discuss with the landlord to still allow the tenancy. If it fails due to false information being given the tenancy will not proceed any further.
A right to rent check involves you visiting our offices, with the correct documents, to prove that you have the right to rent in England (click here for more information).
The keys will be released to you on the agreed move in date once we have received the remainder final move in monies, a tenancy agreement has been signed, and all other tenancy documents completed and issued.
The most common emergencies are: fire, criminal matters, uncontrollable leaks and gas leaks. If you do have a fire or a criminal matter please contact 999, if you smell gas, please contact national grid 0800 111 999 who will send out an emergency contractor to attend and talk you through the next steps. If you have a leak internally in your property, please contact us as soon as possible. If the leak is from an apartment above, please knock on the apartment and ask them to stop using the water related equipment. Please then notify us as soon as possible either on the office phone or the out of hours helpline which is in your move in booklet.
On rare occasions a tenant would be asked to pay for the contractor invoice, such as if the kitchen sink was blocked and it was blocked due to the tenant’s actions such as putting food-waste or fat down the drain. Similarly, if the main drain becomes blocked due to wipes being flushed down the toilet the tenant would be asked to pay for the contractor invoice for any labour and parts required to rectify the issue. Outside the business hours, we have a dedicated contractor who will be there to help in emergencies. If you do have any problems, please call us, we will be happy to try and talk through any issues with you over the telephone.
For minor maintenance issues we are authorised by the landlord to instruct the work. The contractor will then contact you directly to arrange access at a convenient time to you. If you are happy, they can collect keys from our office. Please rest-assured that we have long standing relationships with our contractors and that they are vetted and have their insurances and qualifications in place. For more expensive maintenance issues we will require Landlord approval. There could be a delay here due to the location of the landlord or for the landlord to request further quotes. Once we have approval, we will then instruct the contractor who will contact you for access. Please remember that we at David Ball Agencies do not own these properties, we do always require landlord permission/instruction.
If your boiler is not working it could be a simple fix, such as topping up the pressure. We will ask the certified gas engineer to talk you through this over the telephone. For more serious matters, please contact us and we will instruct the gas engineer to attend.
In order to end a tenancy, you just have to contact us, and we’ll be able to run through the process with you as per the tenancy agreement. You will need to give one months’ notice in writing from your tenancy start date. We will then book in the inventory check out as close as possible to the last day of your tenancy.
You are responsible for leaving the property as you found it, so in good condition with the allowance for general wear and tear. Not being clean is not classed as wear and tear.
After the checkout, we will email you and the landlord a digital copy of the checkout report, and we will also update the utility providers with the final meter readings, so they can send you a final bill. You will need to provide us with a forwarding address and bank details for the deposit to be returned to you.