By letting your property, you obtain a regular income, whilst retaining your capital investment PLUS any increase in capital value - something that has proved to be considerable in the last few years.

We are an experienced professional property letting and management company, established in 1988. Our membership of the RICS means that we adhere to a strict code of practice, and that our clients money is protected, both by the RICS Clients Indemnity Fund, and by adherence to the RICS Client Account Regulations.

The deposit is held by Axworthy Property Lettings, the Agent, as Stakeholder. The Agent is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the deposit is safeguarded by the Tenance Deposit Scheme which is administered by The Dispute Service Ltd., PO Box 541, Amersham, Bucks HP6 6ZR. No interest is earned on this deposit and no interest shall be payable. Further information is available on request.

We have fully staffed high street premises, easily accessible to applicants, landlords and tenants alike. We have modern IT systems in place to help us deal with the management of our clients' properties.And most importantly of all, we have an experienced and motivated management team who are highly skilled in the management of residential properties of all kinds.

Most modern residential tenancies are assured shorthold tenancies commonly known as 'ASTs'.

Certain tenancies cannot be AST's, and these include a letting to a company, and a holiday letting. The rules for these tenancies are different.

We can arrange lettings to companies, but holiday lettings are mostly managed by specialist companies, and this is something that we do not offer at present.

AST's are usually for a minimum period of 6 months although landlords will sometimes let for shorter or longer periods.

Older tenancies, mostly created before 1980, are known as regulated tenancies, and special rules still apply to them. We will be pleased to advise you on the implications of tenancies in individual cases.

There are also other types of tenancy, such as housing provided to employees, upon which you should be advised by a solicitor.

We normally do.

Our standard tenancy agreement is suitable for most AST letting situations, and this standard agreement is tailored for each tenancy.

If you require a special agreement to be drawn up, we will be happy to instruct your solicitor to do this at your expense.

Unless either the landlord or the tenant serves notice to terminate the tenancy, it will continue as a periodic shorthold tenancy from the end of the initial shorthold period.

The landlord or agent can terminate the tenancy at the end of the shorthold period term by serving the appropriate notice on the tenant. The notice must be in the correct form, and time is of the esssence, so you have to get it right!

The tenant can also give notice. Depending on the terms of the tenancy, one month's written notice is usually sufficient, to take effect after the initial shorthold term has expired.

If you do have a mortgage on the property, you need to tell the lender that you intend to let the property. Some lenders will charge additional interest on a mortgage for this.

We advise Landlords as to the best rent that can be achieved for their property.

The rent agreed at the start of an AST can be reviewed at the end of the first shorthold term, and normally again in a year, unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise.

The tenant has the right to appeal to the Rent Officer and also the Rent Assessment Committee if he or she considers that the rent is too high.

In practice, we find that this rarely happens if the rent is fair at the outset of the tenancy and the Landlord has kept the property is tenantable repair.

We enter into a detailed written Client Agreement with each of our landlord clients, which is signed by both parties upon taking instructions.

The agreement sets out the scope of what is covered by our letting packages, and (just as importantly) what our service does not cover.

We offer three packages to landlords, to suit individual circumstances. These are:

Full management

Financial Management

Introduction Only

Further details on each service, and our costs, are available upon request.

In summary, we introduce the landlord and tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; check in the tenant; manage the property; account to the Landlord for the rent received; and checkout the tenant at the end of the tenancy.

This suits landlords who are unable (perhaps because they are abroad) or simply do not have the time to manage the property themselves.

In summary, we introduce the landlord and tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; check in the tenant; account to the Landlord for the rent received; and check out the tenant at the end of the tenancy.

This suits landlords who may want to undertake the day to day management themselves, but do not want to be responsible for collecting the rent.

In summary, we introduce the landlord to the tenant, take up references; set up the tenancy; and check in the tenant.

The landlord then manages the property and deals with the check out at the end of the tenancy.

We will be pleased to draw up an inventory for you, at a charge of £30 per hour plus VAT.

Travelling time and mileage will be charged in addition, where the property is more than 10 miles from our offices.

Rents are paid into Axworthy's clients bank account by tenants. Receipts are tracked by our management systems, and arrears are chased.

Deductions are made for our fees and any contractors invoices which we have paid out of the clients money received.

We pay the balance of the rent to landlords directly into their bank accounts. It normally takes three working days for the payment to reach the landlord’s bank after it leaves our clients account.

We send landlords a monthly statement by post, which clearly sets out what has been received and spent on their behalf.

Unlike some agents, we do not wait a month before paying out our Landlords.

The landlord is responsible for providing and maintaining the property in good tenantable and safe condition, and for insuring the buildings.

The Landlord's responsibilities include:

Carrying out all structural maintenance and repairs, and also maintaining the landlords installations, such as plumbing, electrical, central heating etc.

Keeping the property safe: it is now a criminal offence to let a property in an unsafe condition.

The basic principle is that Landlords must show due diligence in keeping the property safe, which includes the electrical and gas installations, the flues and appliances (such as boilers and gas fires).

A gas safety certificate is required every 12 months and any portable gas or electrical appliances need to be certified too. Axworthy will arrange for contractors to do this work at the Landlord's cost, if we are fully managing a property.

These are clearly set out in the tenancy agreement. Tenant’s responsibilities include the following:

Keeping the interior of the dwelling and gardens in satisfactory condition, fair wear and tear excepted.

Maintaining the fixtures and fittings, but not replacing any that wear out. For instance, a tenant would have to replace a tap washer, but not a tap; or unblock a drain, but not repair the drain itself.

Specified pets will be accepted at the discretion of the Landlord and agents.

A separate Pet Agreement is signed by both Landlord and tenant, for the specified pet or pets.

The landlord reserves the absolute right to require the tenant to remove any pet from the property during the tenancy under the terms of the Pet Agreement.

Most of the properties we let are unfurnished. There is less demand for furnished accommodation, and the rent achievable is usually no more if the property is furnished.

If you let your property furnished, you should expect to pay a fee to the agent for preparing and checking the inventory at the start and end of each tenancy (see FAQ on Inventories above)

Landords are advised to ensure that the property is in good decorative order throughout. Wipe clean plain emulsion and gloss finishes are best, for ease of maintenance.

Good presentation of the property will make the property easier to let; it will encourage a good tenant to look after it; and it will also make it a lot easier to assess any damages at the end of the tenancy.

The Landlord is always responsible for external decorations.

Landords should bear in mind that any items included in the inventory are effectively included in the rent. They will have to be maintained; and also they must be repaired or replaced if they break down or get stolen.

We strongly advise Landlords NOT to include such items as: washing machines, TV, stereo, computer or other such equipment.

We normally encourage landlords to leave at least the following in a let property:

Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers as necessary for health and safety legislation.

A cooker

Fitted carpets and curtains in clean and unmarked condition.

Light bulbs to all light fittings.

Axworthy keep a register of applicants for tenancies, and these are matched to the properties available.

Axworthy will ask for financial and character references, which will be taken up by the agents.

To secure a tenancy, a tenant is normally asked to pay a deposit of £100 (sometimes more).

This deposit will be deducted from your ingoing costs (see FAQ below)

Should an application for a tenancy not proceed for any reason, the deposit will be refunded less any fees and administration costs that have been incurred.

Before the tenancy begins, the agents will send a memorandum to the tenant and landlord, giving details of the ingoing costs, which will need to be paid to the agents before the tenancy:

One whole month's rent

The bond or returnable deposit

The agents administration fees

If a tenant has paid an initial deposit to secure the property, the amount of the deposit will be offset against the above amounts.

Initial payments (ie deposits, bond and first month's rent) are normally made in cash or by cheque.

Personal cheques must be received at least 7 working days prior to the start of the tenancy, to allow the funds to clear in the bank.

Rent is always payable calendar monthly in advance, usually on the day when the tenancy commences ie: if your tenancy commenced on 12 March, the rent is payable on the 12th day of each month of the tenancy.

Rents are normally paid by banker’s standing order.

If you don't have a bank account, your rent can be paid in cash, at Axworthy's office, and a receipt will be issued upon request.

The agents prepare a tenancy agreement, which is signed by both the landlord and the tenant before the property is handed over to the tenant.

The agreement sets out the terms of the tenancy, including the rent payable, the shorthold term, and what obligations are placed on the landlord and tenant.

A property is often tenanted by two or more people living in the same house. They may be one family unit, or not.

Axworthy needs to know about everyone who will live at the property, before the tenancy begins – all adults over the age of 18 who live in the property must be included in the tenancy and be a party to the tenancy agreement.

The property may not be sub-let. In other words, a tenant may not have someone else living in the property, which is not the same as having someone to stay for a short time.

Should any one of the joint tenants leave during the tenancy, those remaining will be responsible for the full rent and for complying with the terms of the tenancy agreement.

If a sharer leaves and you want to share with a new person, that person will have to be a party to a new tenancy agreement.

The new sharer must produce the necessary references, so that a fresh tenancy agreement can be drawn up. The agents will charge an admin fee for this.

A returnable deposit or 'bond' is payable by the tenant at the commencement of the tenancy, as a deposit against costs incurred by the landlord as a direct result of the tenant failing to keep to the terms of the tenancy.

The bond is normally the equivalent of one and a half month's rent, unless the landlord requires a larger deposit.

The deposit is held by Axworthy Property Lettings, the Agent, as Stakeholder. The Agent is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the deposit is safeguarded by the Tenance Deposit Scheme which is administered by The Dispute Service Ltd., PO Box 541, Amersham, Bucks HP6 6ZR. No interest is earned on this deposit and no interest shall be payable. Further information is available on request.

The bond will be returned at the end of the tenancy, after the property has been vacated. It will be repaid in full, providing the property has been properly looked after and is left in a clean and tidy condition, (including the garden) and providing all outstanding rent has been paid in full.

If the bond has been paid by several people sharing a property, and one of those people leaves, it is up to the 'leaver' to recover his or her share of the bond from the remaining tenant. It is NOT the responsibility of the agents or the landlord.

Housing Benefit is a payment made by the Local Authority to help the tenant pay the rent. It can be paid either to the tenant, or directly to the landlord. It is not the same as Social Security.

Some Landlords will accept tenants who are in receipt of Housing Benefit, and some will not.

As a matter of course, Axworthy insist that a guarantor becomes a party to the tenancy, if the tenant is in receipt of Housing Benefit.

If for some reason the tenant is unable to provide satisfactory references, or if the tenant is in receipt of Housing Benefit, a suitable person will need to guarantee the tenancy.

The guarantor (often a relative or friend of the tenant) will need to sign the tenancy agreement, and the agents will take up references on the guarantor as if they were taking on the tenancy.

The guarantor will be responsible for the payment of rent and any landlord's damages should the tenant fail to keep to the terms of the tenancy.

In most cases the rent does not include such charges.

Normally, the tenant is directly responsible for the cost of gas, electricity, telephone, council tax and water charges, unless it is specifically stated otherwise in the tenancy agreement.

There are properties where it is not possible for the tenant to pay for charges directly, because there is no separation of meters etc. In such cases, the Landlord will either agree a fixed charge, or it will be included in the rent.

Unless either the landlord or the tenant serves notice to finish the tenancy, it will continue as a periodic shorthold tenancy from the end of the initial shorthold period (usually six months)

The landlord or agent can terminate the tenancy at the end of the shorthold term by serving the appropriate notice on the tenant.

A notice is often served on the tenant at the outset of the tenancy, but that does not necessarily mean that the landlord will require possession at the end of the term, only that the landlord reserves the right to do so.

Depending on the terms of the tenancy, a tenant can usually give one months notice in writing to terminate the tenancy, at any time after the end of the shorthold term.