Tenants

A fixed term tenancy is for a specific length of time and there is a clear end date. It CANNOT be terminated earlier than the fixed term end date by either party. If you wish to vacate at the end of your fixed term, you must give written notice no less than 28 days and no more than 90 days from the end of your fixed term end date. A periodic tenancy has no specific end date and tenants must give a minimum of 28 days written notice to terminate a periodic tenancy.

There may be a time during your tenancy where the rent for the property you reside in is reviewed and may require an increase. Your rent can be increased if you are in a fixed term or a periodic tenancy but there are certain criteria that are required. We must provide you with the 60 days written notice for your rent to increase and this must be 12 months after the start of your tenancy or 12 months after your last rent increase.

Homely Property Management requires you to pay 4 weeks worth of rent for your bond plus 1 weeks rent in advance.

As soon as you have made all payments, including the first week and bond payments, then we will arrange for the keys to be collected on the start date highlighted in your tenancy agreement. Keys will not be provided earlier than your start date unless mutually agreed. If you decide to have a set cut, please ensure you notify Homely of this. We must receive all keys, including copies cut, at the end of the tenancy.

It is a requirement of most landlord’s insurance policies that we conduct routine inspections every 12 weeks. We will conduct an initial inspection within 6 weeks of your start date and then we will complete inspections every 12 weeks after that. At Homely we want to ensure that you are notified well in advance, so we will email you an inspection notice no less than 48 hours and no more than 14 days from when your inspection is scheduled.

You do not have to be present for the inspection and we understand that you may have work or other commitments during this time. If you are able to be present for the inspection, then great, you will be able to highlight any concerns or maintenance issues that you may have. Please do not feel like you have to take time off work to be present. We will have a key to be able to gain access to the property. If you do have any concerns then contact us right away and we will ensure these concerns are looked at first. In order to conduct these inspections we must have access to all rooms, garages and outbuildings. Please make these available if you will not be present, otherwise it may result in us having to come back to inspect these areas.

We have an easy and stress free way of reporting maintenance that is monitored daily. Visit our website and under the ‘Tenants’ tab click on the tenant maintenance button. In the ‘send message box’, write the maintenance issue that you are wanting to report. The interactive replies will begin and you will just need to answer these until your request is submitted. It is recommended that you upload any photos of any maintenance issue that you are reporting. This will not only help us but makes it easier for our trade suppliers to establish what is needed to have this issue repaired as quickly as possible.

It is important that as soon as you know you cannot pay your rent to contact us immediately. We will work with you to try and come up with a plan to rectify this as quickly as possible. The key is to communicate with us right away so we are aware of your situation.

Yes, it is not a problem to change the day you pay your rent. We will have to realign your rent day which will require some additional days rent to be paid in order for this to happen. Contact us and we can talk you through this.

Yes, the landlord has the right to sell the property even if you have signed a fixed term or periodic tenancy. There must be written notice provided to you once the property is marketed for sale or if the landlord has signed a sales agreement. We will assist you through this process and do everything we can to provide support for you during this situation. We understand that this can be a stressful time, but there is always a chance when a property is put on the market that an investor purchases the property and is happy for you to stay on as their tenant.

You must request for additional people to be added to your tenancy first. These additional people must fill out an application form and we will complete background, credit and reference checks before any additional tenants are accepted. If this request is approved there will be additional documents that will need to be signed by all parties to add these people to the tenancy. Please ensure you contact us about this first before any new tenants move into the property.

We make it easy to request adding a pet to your tenancy. We would require you to fill in the online pet application form on our website. Once you have submitted this, we will put this request to the landlord to decide. It is important to submit as much information as possible about your pet including photos if you have these. Please note that the owner does have the right to decline this request, so it is important not to obtain the pet until your submission has been successful. If this is approved we would require you to sign a detailed pet clause. We understand that having a pet can be like adding another member of the family to your home. We will put any pet request forward to assist you with making this happen.

Yes, absolutely you have rights as a tenant and there are independent services that you can contact in order to gain additional advice. Tenancy Services through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment offers advice to tenants and landlords. If you need help with any tenancy issues we recommend you call them on 0800 83 6262.