House Woes!

[phantomtek]

My two friends and I went to view a property for rent today, had a look round and we all like it.

We got application forms, and it tells us that the application fee is £84 per person plus VAT (£98.70) for them to use Homelet referencing.

It also says in order for them to secure the property we are asked to pay part of the bond in advance to show them we are serious. It also says 'Upon reciept of the advance bond (£150), the application fees and subject to confirmation that we are proceeding with the Homelet referencing, we withdraw the property from our Registers.'

It says 'Should the landlord and yourself wish to proceed we will commence the referencing procedure and your application fee and bond will become non-returnable.'

Does this all look normal? This is through a letting agent, David Moor. Will we get the advance bond back if we are unsuccessful?

Also, there was another lot there to look round, a single mother and two kids, will they likely be favoured over 1 young professional and 2 students?

Is the advance bond part of the £600 deposit?

Cheers guys.

[Phoenix]

Simple answer, is ask the letting agents and get a response in writing....

The bond is probably part of the security deposit on the flat, again you have to check with the agents, not sure about the fee, I never had to pay fees to letting agents, I believe that's the landlords job.

Who they favour is down to the landlord, some don't like DSS (or children), and if this single mother with 2 kids is on benefits, they may opt for someone with a stable job and good references. But then some will actually choose DSS over a professional, as we all know their benefit payments won't dissappear no matter what they do.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

I think we had to pay something similar to 'secure' our flat, sounds normal.

[phantomtek]

Cheers guys, I am off to the agents to hand the form in today I just wanted to know if it was all normal or if they were taking the mick abit.

I will let you know how it goes!

[JonB]

To secure our house we simply needed a months rent as a deposit.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[phantomtek]

We got there, after I drew loads of money out and lost my monthly saver bonus (About £70 IIRC) and they told us contrary to what we had been told before they don't actually deal with students!

Oh well, back to the search.

Cheers guys.