Landlord Fee Guide – Menu of Charges (Description of Fees)
Guaranteed Rent
If you are renting your property with us on our Guaranteed Rent Scheme, we will not charge you any fees, with the exception of the optional end of year tax statement – see below.
Commission for Fully Managed and Rent Collection
A monthly commission is charged for the ongoing management of your property and will depend on the level of service you require. There is also an option for you to include insurance based Rent & Legal Protection (RLP) with both of these services. Please note that Rent & Legal Protection (RLP) is not as comprehensive as Northwood’s Guaranteed Rent scheme. For example, due to the claims process should a tenant stop paying rent, landlords with RLP will experience a delay before receiving their income. In addition, unlike the Guaranteed Rent scheme, RLP does not cover void periods i.e. periods when the property is empty, such as between tenancies.
Tenant Find
The Tenant Service is only available on a sole agency basis. In addition, landlords will need to be registered with the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) Custodial Scheme, which is currently free. Tenants’ security deposits will be registered by Northwood with the DPS Custodial Scheme and then transferred to your own DPS Custodial Scheme account.
Tenancy Set-up Fee
The Tenancy Set-up Fee covers the following: Advertising your property; Carrying out viewings for prospective tenants; Tenant and guarantor referencing & credit checks; Right to Rent checks; Issuing a compliant Tenancy agreement; Issuing tenancy & deposit prescribed information; Testing smoke detectors & CO detectors (if applicable) on the day of check-in, Obtaining tenant signatures on the inventory & Securing the tenants’ security deposit.
Optional Fees
Inventory Service
A written, comprehensive inventory & schedule of condition of your property is produced, together with a full set of colour photographs. The cost of the inventory depends on the size of the property and whether it is furnished or unfurnished.
Check-out
In order to assess for any deductions from the tenants’ security deposit, a check-out is carried out at the end of the tenancy using the in-going inventory. Based on our extensive experience, together with industry standard guidelines for both fair wear & tear and depreciation, we will advise you of what can and cannot be claimed from the tenants’ deposit. As with the inventory, the cost of the check-out depends on the size of the property.
Early Release – From The Tenancy
Sometimes tenants wish to end their tenancy early. This can occur for a variety of reasons, such as work relocation. If you give permission, the check-out fee will become payable immediately and is non-refundable. This is used to cover the re-letting costs we incur (i.e. marketing, carrying out viewings etc…) in circumstances where your tenants later change their mind and decide to stay. If, however, you agree to let you tenants leave early and do not wish Northwood to re-let your property, the check-out fee will become payable immediately, together with any potential loss of our commission that would be expected to occur as a result
Submissions to the DPS Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Service – Fully Managed & Rent Collect Only
If the tenant & landlord cannot agree with proposed deductions from the security deposit, the DPS offer an evidence based dispute resolution service (ADR). THE DPS ADR service is quasi-judicial in nature and submissions usually take in excess of 3 hours to compile. For Fully Managed properties, where the landlord agrees with Northwood’s assessment & advice, we do not currently charge for making ADR submissions. In the event that the landlord cannot agree with Northwood, we are still happy to make a submission to the DPS ADR service. However, in these instances a charge will be payable to cover our costs. For those landlords who opt for our Rent Collect service, where maintenance and property inspections are carried out by the landlord without the involvement of Northwood, charges apply for any ADR submissions.
Tenancy Renewal Charge
We consider renewing tenancy agreements for an additional fixed term to be important, as it provides more certainty for landlords than month by month periodic tenancies. The tenancy renewal charge includes: Advising you of current market rents; Contacting the tenants to determine if they wish to renew; Carrying out Right to Rent checks; Issuing an up-to-date compliant tenancy agreement and Securing tenants’ signatures on the same.
End of Year Tax Statement
If you require us to provide an annual rental statement, a charge will be made. Please note that monthly statements can be requested and are free of charge.
Redress Scheme & Client Money Protection
It is now a legal requirement for ALL lettings agents to be members of an approved redress scheme and hold client money protection. Your Northwood Crawley office is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO) redress scheme and has Client Money Protection provided through the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS).
Section 21 Notices
If you require us to issue notice to your Tenant in order to regain vacant possession of your property, a charge will be made.
