Before you start looking for your new home work out your budget (list all your incomes and expenses to see what you can afford to pay) You will need to save a deposit and a month’s rent in advance.

After viewing a letting property with Cooper Adams and you wish to take the let please inform us as soon as possible. We will check you are suitable with the landlord: Some properties have restrictions eg. Employed/Non smokers/Pets/Children. Please check this with us before you incur any costs.

You will also need to meet our referencing criteria.

Click the links below for information on securing your new home and what you need to do.

Cooper Adams will require tenant’s application forms completed together with our holding deposit paid. (Every individual over the age of 18 who will be residing in the property will need to be referenced). We will need your bank details, previous addresses (last three years), salary & payroll details, your latest three months personal & business bank statements, details of all income and pensions, previous three years employers and recent utility bills for ID. You will also need to let Cooper Adams take their own photocopy of every page of your UK passport which contains the document expiry date, nationality, date of birth, signature, leave expiry date, biometric details and photograph, if you do not have one you need to provide ID from the ‘Right to Rent’ list.

We can email you application forms (one for each adult). Just get the fully completed forms back to us with copies of your last three months’ bank statements and a utility bill with your payment for us to proceed.

Until Cooper Adams receives all this information with the completed forms we will continue to market the property.

Affordability: The rough yardstick is 33 times the rent. So if the rent is £1000pcm a tenant (or joint tenants between them) should earn (1000×33) £33,000 pa. If the tenant’s single or joint income is less than 33x the rent a guarantor will be needed and their income needs to be 33x the rent. The guarantor could be just for the lowest-paid tenant.

The only costs are:

One month’s rent in advance.
Holding deposit of one week’s rent.
Security deposit of five weeks’ rent.

The team at Cooper Adams letting spend a great deal of time in referencing our tenants, firstly meeting them at the property making sure it is the right one for them. Helping fill out the forms and paperwork. We instruct and pay a referencing company to verify all this information and thoroughly check a tenant’s suitability for payments. Amongst the referencing procedures are checking your credit status, current and previous employer, current or past landlords, income checks with recent bank statements proof of addresses as well as electoral roll, and taking into account any other information to help assess the affordability of your tenancy application. If inaccurate information is supplied or information withheld which results in an adverse report being received from our referencing agents the application will be rejected. We always check suitability as much as we can before we process your application.

We like to reassure our landlords as much as possible that you will be a good tenant. To assist in this we like to do a home address check (whenever possible) before we start the referencing process and before your referencing fees are spent. We merely pop round to meet you where you live it just takes two minutes, we can then recommend you to the landlord. We would always ask your permission, that you are 100% happy with this and arrange a convenient time to call and meet with you.

The most common failures for tenants are excessive poor credit history – for example unpaid debts leading to CCJ’s, unpaid council tax bills, etc, and insufficient income. If you have an IVA and all the payments are completely up to date and can be verified that should be OK. Basically a landlord would not want to rent to a high risk tenant with a history of non payments. If you fail you will need a Guarantor.

In some instances a Guarantor may be required. If this is the case the Guarantor will be referenced and subject to a credit search in the same manner as the applicant and must be able to show sufficient income or savings to cover the rental payments in the event that the tenant defaults for whatever reason. A guarantor needs to fully understand what’s involved. A guarantor is a third party, who agrees to pay the rent if the tenant doesn’t pay it. A landlord can ultimately take legal action to recover any unpaid rent from your guarantor. There is a legal requirement for a guarantee agreement to be in writing. The agreement sets out the guarantor’s legal obligations. In many cases, a guarantee agreement also extends to other conditions under the tenancy, for example, any damage caused to the property.

There are different rules for company lets –

There is no Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement but a Company letting Agreement. This is similar in its content but it does not come under the Housing Act and the main differences are:

  1. There is no minimum term
  2. Notice is usually only one month on either side but this is a contract at heart so you can write in whatever is reasonable and is agreed on both sides.
  3. The landlord would not serve a Section 21 or Section 8: you would serve a notice to quit.
  4. The Company would be the Tenant and the people living there would be the approved occupiers only.

The Company must agree to carry out right to rent checks on anyone who will be living in the Property – this will be stated in the tenancy agreement also. The reason for this is that once they have rented the property they may wish to change who actually lives there and you are unlikely to meet any occupiers although the company must give you the names.

The referencing carried out on a company let differs to the referencing carried out on a standard let, as the company is letting it and paying for it. Our referencing department would investigate the company via:

  1. Companies House.
  2. The company accountant – They will look into how long they have been trading (ideally over three years) their profits and total income, this will need to reflect in any future rent liabilities
  3. Any landlords/letting agents if they have previously rented. Looking into whether the rent has been paid on time & how the tenancy was conducted.

After referencing has complete, before moving in

Once all satisfactory references have been obtained and a moving date agreed a legally binding Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement will be drawn up ready for signing by the tenant (and if required the Guarantor) as well as the landlord or their agent. Under no circumstances will the tenancy commence until the Agreement has been signed by all parties.

The Security Deposit will be held and protected under the Housing Act 1996 & 2004 (Tenants Deposits Protection Order) by The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) in accordance with their Terms and Conditions and at the end of the tenancy, if a dispute arises between the landlord and tenant with regard to the apportionment of any deductions from the deposit, e.g. for costs or compensation for damage, or for breaches of, or failure to comply with the tenant’s obligations and mutual agreement cannot be reached the amount in dispute will not be paid over to either party and the matter shall be referred to The Deposit Protection Service (The DPS) for arbitration. The deposit will equal five week’s rent i.e. rent is £1,000pcm – Security Deposit will be £1,153.85

The first month’s rent, Security Deposit and balance of any fees outstanding must be paid on or before the commencement of the tenancy. Payment must be by cleared funds i.e. Bankers Draft, Building Society Cheque, Cash, Bank Transfer, debit card. Personal or company cheques will only be accepted if paid at least ten working days before the agreed tenancy commencement date. Sorry, we cannot take credit cards or cash.

Rent is paid monthly in advance, this will need to reach our account on or before the rent day, due to weekends and bank holidays this can take up to seven days from leaving your account. All rental payments (after the deposit and initial month’s rent have been paid) must be paid by Standing Order. A Standing Order Mandate will be prepared for you to sign at the same time as signing the tenancy agreement. You have to send the payment to us by standing order, we do not collect or take the rent from you, if the rent stays in your account speak to your bank we cannot take it.

The acceptance of pets in any property is at the discretion of the landlord. If pets are allowed the rent will be at an increased amount. In all cases without exception, the tenant must undertake to have the carpets professionally cleaned and treated against infestation at the end of the tenancy.

If the tenant makes their own arrangements to have the work carried out a receipt must be provided. When renting a property with your pets there are a number of things you can do to make it easier:

Get a reference for your pet – By providing a reference from your previous landlord, you can show that your pet is well behaved and has caused no problems at your previous property. Maybe introduce your pet to your landlord – Meeting your pet in advance may put the landlord’s mind at ease.

Living in a Cooper Adams’ managed property

An emergency is something that would immediately endanger life or property if not treated promptly. If an emergency occurs out of normal office hours, during holiday periods or otherwise. In the case of an emergency that occurs outside of our normal office hours:

  • You should instruct a suitably qualified emergency contractor to make the property safe for an emergency repair. Full and proper repairs should be undertaken during normal working hours.
  • You should inform Cooper Adams letting as soon as offices are open, to report the incident.
  • You should send invoices (should the repair be justified) to Cooper Adams letting for reimbursement.
  • If you smell gas contact the gas emergency service (National Grid) immediately on 0800 111 999

Please note – no reimbursement will apply if the repair is due to a tenant not looking after the property properly in any way. An emergency is something that could not have been foreseen, and which could cause serious damage to the property such as:

  • Severe leaks
  • Total loss of electrical power
  • Blockage of your ONLY toilet (please note that if you have caused the blockage you will be liable for the bill)
  • Severe Fire or Flood
  • Total loss of heating or hot water, where there is no other form available (heating between 1 November and 31 March only) for those with special needs such as elderly, disabled, young baby etc
  • Broken windows or doors following a break-in. A handy man should only be instructed to temporarily board up the window/make the property safe and should re-attend during working hours to replace glass/doors. You must also report any damage to the police and obtain a crime reference number.

Whilst the Landlord may be responsible for certain repairs at the property, and indeed has a legal liability for some items, responsibility may not be accepted for bills created as a result of tenants calling out the contractor. As a result you may be liable for the full amount of the contractor’s bill when a repair is not justified.

A date and time will be arranged for the tenant (and if applicable the guarantor) to come into the office and sign the Tenancy Agreement, collect the keys and make initial payment by cleared funds.


Click here for our tenants frequently asked questions.

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