Terms and Conditions

Fully Managed Contract terms of business

 

 (the 'Property') hereby agree for Yaxley Homes to act as my agent and rent the 'Property' on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy basis.

 

I warrant that any consents necessary to enable me to enter in to an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (mortgagees or other) have been obtained.

 

I agree that Yaxley Homes will rent the 'Property' on a 'Fully Managed' basis as described to me in their brochure

 

Should the 'Property' be re-let to the same tenant after the initial tenancy agreement expires, I agree to pay Yaxley Homes a further  £250 plus vat - £300 including vat for each subsequent Tenancy Agreement.

 

If the 'Property' is re-let through Yaxley Homes to a new tenant, after the initial tenancy agreement expires, I agree to pay 75% of a month's rent plus vat - 90% of a month's rent including vat.

  

To perform the duties set out below in accordance with the following terms:

 

The managing agent agree with the landlord

 

 To actively market the property until suitable tenants have been secured.

 To carry out thorough referencing and vetting of any prospective tenant. Provided that the managing agents do not accept responsibility for the conduct or the creditworthiness of the prospective tenant and the landlord must satisfy themselves as to the suitability of such tenant.

 Prepare the appropriate tenancy agreement.

 Arrange transfer of utilities and meter readings to the tenants.

 Arrange a current gas certificate where required (if property has gas). No tenancy will commence without a current landlord gas safety certificate of which the   landlord is responsible for payment.

 Collect deposit monies and hold in account (deposit protection scheme) for the duration of the tenancy.

 Collect rents by standing order and account to the landlord monthly.

 To notify the landlord of any rent outstanding for a period of 7 days. No rent will be payable to the landlord until cleared funds have been received from the tenant.

 Carry out regular internal inspections throughout the tenancy.

 Arrange any necessary maintenance to the property and deducting cost from the rent received where requested.

 To notify the landlord of any apparent breach of any lease of the property or any unlawful acts or omissions or circumstances relating to the use or occupation of the property.

 To advise tenants of their obligations under the terms of any lease of the property (but without any liability for the non-compliance of such tenants.)

 Arrange a thorough final inspection of the property at the end of each tenancy.

 Provide general liaison between tenant and landlord including providing a24hr/7 days a week emergency number.

 The managing agents are unable to assist in resolving any outstanding disputes arising from any period prior to us taking over management of the property.

 

 

The landlord confirms that he/she is the legal owner of the property listed in this agreement and is in no way acting on behalf of another party.

 

The landlord/s hereby authorize Yaxley Homes to act on their behalf in the management of the above property during the agreed letting period: to sign all agreements, to serve all notices, to inspect the property at regular intervals and to collect all rent due on their behalf. The landlord herby appoints Yaxley Homes as the agent to undertake all subsequent management and agrees to the terms and conditions set out in the management agreement.

 

The landlord confirms that Yaxley Homes cannot be held responsible for any damage caused to the property on vacation by outgoing tenant and appreciate that any security held may need to be utilised in respect of any rent shortfall.

 

The landlord agrees that all fees and other agreed cost due to the managing agent are to be deducted in full directly from monies and rent income collected on the landlord’s behalf.

 

The landlord agrees that if, for whatever reason, the landlord refuses a tenant that has successfully passed all referencing and credit checks, the landlord will be required to refund the full cost of referencing any tenants to Yaxley Homes.

 

The landlord agrees that Yaxley Homes cannot be held liable for any breach of contract by the tenant.

 

Please note all monies will be forwarded to you within 7 days of the commencement date of the Tenancy, provided all documentation has been signed by yourselves.

 

 

Terms of Business

The Client (you) instructs Yaxley Homes (us) to offer the property for sale on the following terms:

 

Sole Agency

You will be liable to pay commission to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time unconditional contracts for the sale of the property are exchanged:-

With a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency or with whom we had negotiations about the property during that period; or

With a purchaser introduced by another agent or website / portal other than our own during that period.

If a sole agency is agreed it shall last for the period stated on the agreement overleaf. At the expiry of that period we will continue to act on a sole agency basis until you give us in written notice converting this agreement in to a multiple agency or the agreement is terminated by 21 days written notice. The 21 days written notice can be given to end at the expiry of the sole agency period.

If another agent is instructed, or where a website/portal other than our own is used during our sole agency, and if at any time unconditional contract for the sale of the property are exchanged with a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our sole agency, then you will be liable to pay a multi agency commission fee at our standard fee of ( 1.75% plus vat - 2.1% Including vat)of the agreed sale price.

 

Multiple Agency

You will be liable to pay commission to us, in addition to any other costs or charges agreed, if at any time unconditional contract for the sale of the property are exchanged with a purchaser introduced by us during the period of our multiple agency or with whom we had discussions or negotiations about the property during that period.

You confirm that no introduction of prospective purchaser for the property has been made already.

Notice is hereby given that if prior to this agreement the property was marketed by another agent on a sole or joint sole agency, or sole selling rights basis, or by a website/ portal other than our own, you may have a liability to pay a dual fee.

Our Commission Will be either:-

The fixed fee plus VAT or,

A percentage of the eventual selling price (subject to minimum fee of £1500 plus vat - £1800 including vat)

(Standard Percentage is 1.75% plus Vat - 2.1% Including vat)

Any discount will be agreed with the branch manager or the director of yaxley homes.

 

When Charges are Payable

Our fees become liable for payment on exchanged of contracts. You will authorise you conveyance to pay out of the proceeds of the sale at our agreed commission plus VAT.

Following termination of our agreement, if a purchaser introduced by us goes on to buy the property, our fee is payable unless the purchaser introduced by us goes on to buy the property through another agency 6 (six) months after termination.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Cancelling the Agreement

If this agreement is made in your home or place of work in the presence of one of our staff, you have the right to cancel the agency agreement before the end of fourteen calendar days from the date of this agreement (“cooling off period”) and you may validly serve on us notice of cancellation.

You have requested that we commence work immediately on your behalf, and in the event of your cancellation before the end of the cooling off period, you will be required to pay a fee of £250 plus VAT- £300 Including vat ay the prevailing rate for the time and costs incurred in attending you property and undertaking other activity on your behalf.

If we introduce a buyer (directly or indirectly) before the end of the cooling off period when you have within the cooling off period exercised your right to cancel the agency agreement, you will be liable to pay our agreed selling fee.

Other Agents

 

DUAL FEE WARNING- Please remember if you have instructed anther agent to sell your property on a sole agency/sole selling right basis, or if you have used a website / portal other than our own, you may be liable to pay their fee as well as ours. Please also remember that if a multiple agency arises you may be liable to pay a multi agency commission fee as agreed overleaf and another fee.

Additional Charges

We may carry out additional advertising or marketing of the property as agreed and charges may be payable whether or not we sell the property. Any charges will be agreed with you in advance and confirmed separately in writing.

 

General Terms

We will fully observe the provisions of the estate agents act 1979, The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and any other relevant legislation but your attention is drawn to the following points:-

We cannot accept responsibility for the maintenance or repair of any property for sale.

We will not discriminate against anyone under any section of the sex discrimination, race relations or disability discrimination acts.

The price to be quoted (which is not a valuation) shall be agreed with you and stated by us in any advertisements for the property. Any alteration required by you to that price shall be confirmed by you in writing.

We have permission to put up a ‘for sale’ board at the property. Legally, only one estate agent’s board is permitted and you agree that you will not allow any other ‘for sale’ board to be erected during the period of our agency.

We shall not to the extent permitted by law be responsible for any damages, loss or consequential loss arising (directly or indirectly) out of viewings, inspection or other attendances at your property (vendors are reminded that they should have suitable insurance cover in place including building, contents and public liability).

 

Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”)

The requirement for a property to have an EPC is defined by the housing act 2004 and the 2007 regulations (“EPC regulations”). If your property is not currently exempt from the requirement to have a EPC, then the EPC must be commissioned in accordance with the EPC regulations prior to commencement of marketing.

The EPC will be made available to potential buyers provided any buyer is genuinely interested in buying a property.

In order to market the property without delay, we will begin to market and may provide an EPC to a potential buyer before you have seen the EPC.

Where you or a third party provides the energy performance certificate (“EPC”), where applicable, we must have a valid EPC in our possession or under our control.

 

VAT

Value added tax (VAT) will be levied on all charges within this agreement at the prevailing rate.

 

GDPR Privacy Policy

Yaxley Homes ("we", "us") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and complying with The Data Protection Act 1998 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data that we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed. Please review this policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how it will be treated.

 

Services to Purchaser

We are legally obliged to inform you that we may offer the following service to potential purchasers:- Estate agency service; credit brokerage (within the meaning of consumer credit act 1974) in particular the arrangement of mortgages; general insurance; survey and valuation; conveyancing; lettings; property management.

 

Money laundering (AML)

The law requires us to establish your identity. We therefore cannot undertake any work until we have seen or received the original or a certified copy of your passport and a utility bill establishing your identity. If we are instructed by more than one person, we will need to be satisfied about the identity of each. If you are a company or a partnership, we will need such information for each director or each partner.

 

Services to prospective purchasers, We may offer the following services to you (and these services may also be offered by other persons) in circumstances where our employees, shareholders, directors] or their partners or their or our families may financially benefit:

 

(a) valuation and survey services;

(b) financial services;

(c) property management; and

(d) all other services from time to time.

 

Referral fee disclosure  

Services offered  via third parties (referral fees) Solicitors referral pays Yaxley homes £120 including vat per transaction for passing a new client that instructs them to sell or purchase a property, Mortgage advisor referral- The mortgage advisor pays Yaxley Homes £250 including vat per a new client transaction.  

Yaxley Homes – Complaints Procedure

Our Commitment to You

At Yaxley Homes, we are committed to providing a professional, transparent and reliable service to all our clients and customers.

We take pride in the standards of service we provide across residential sales, lettings and property management. However, we recognise that occasionally things may go wrong or our service may not meet your expectations.

When this happens, we want to hear from you so that we can investigate your concerns, address any shortcomings and, where appropriate, take steps to put matters right.

We are committed to handling all complaints fairly, consistently, professionally and without unnecessary delay.

This procedure explains how to raise a complaint, how we will investigate it, the timescales you can expect and your rights to refer an unresolved complaint to an independent redress scheme.

Who Can Make a Complaint?

Our complaints procedure is available to anyone who has received or been directly affected by our estate agency, lettings or property management services.

This includes:

• Landlords and property owners.

• Tenants and prospective tenants.

• Property sellers and prospective sellers.

• Property buyers and prospective buyers.

• Other clients and customers who have dealt with Yaxley Homes.

Complaints may relate to any aspect of the services we provide, including communication, customer service, marketing, property management, maintenance coordination, administration, fees or the conduct of our staff.

All complaints will be considered on their individual circumstances.

How to Make a Complaint

We encourage you to raise any concerns with the member of our team who has been dealing with your matter in the first instance, as many issues can be resolved quickly through discussion.

However, if your concerns remain unresolved or you wish to make a formal complaint, please contact us in writing using the details below.

By Email:

witham@yaxleyhomes.co.uk

Please include "Formal Complaint" in the subject line.

By Post:

Yaxley Homes
For the Attention of the Office Manager
51 Newland Street
Witham
Essex
CM8 2BD

Telephone: 01376 519092

To help us investigate your complaint thoroughly, please provide:

• Your full name and preferred contact details.

• The property address or transaction concerned, where applicable.

• A clear explanation of your complaint.

• Relevant dates and details of the events giving rise to your concerns.

• The names of any staff members involved, if known.

• Copies of relevant emails, correspondence, photographs or other supporting documents.

• Details of any previous attempts to resolve the matter.

• An explanation of the outcome you are seeking.

If you initially raise your complaint verbally, we can assist you in recording it in writing so that it can be formally investigated.

You will not be charged for raising a complaint.

Stage One – Acknowledgement of Your Complaint

Once we receive your formal complaint, we will:

• Acknowledge receipt in writing within 3 working days.

• Confirm that your complaint has been registered.

• Identify the person responsible for investigating your concerns.

• Provide a copy of our complaints procedure or direct you to the relevant page on our website.

We may contact you for clarification or additional information if required.

For the purpose of this procedure, working days are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England.

Stage Two – Investigation and Written Response

Your complaint will normally be investigated by the Office Manager or an appropriate senior member of the Yaxley Homes team.

Where necessary, the investigation may involve:

• Reviewing correspondence and communication records.

• Examining tenancy, sales, management or other relevant documentation.

• Reviewing maintenance records, inspection reports or contractor information.

• Speaking with staff members involved in the matter.

• Contacting relevant third parties where appropriate and permitted.

• Considering the terms of any relevant agreement, our professional responsibilities and applicable legislation.

We will consider each point raised and assess whether our service has met the standards reasonably expected.

We aim to provide a full written response within 10 working days of issuing our acknowledgement.

Our response will explain:

• The findings of our investigation.

• Whether your complaint has been upheld, partially upheld or not upheld.

• The reasons for our conclusions.

• Any corrective action we consider appropriate.

• The next steps available to you if you remain dissatisfied.

Where a complaint is complex or further information is required, we may need additional time to complete our investigation.

If this happens, we will inform you of the reasons for the delay and provide an estimated date for our response.

Stage Three – Further Review and Final Response

If you remain dissatisfied following our initial written response, you may request a further review.

Your request should be submitted in writing, explaining which aspects of our response you disagree with and why.

A senior manager or director will review the matter. Where reasonably practicable, this review will be undertaken by someone who was not responsible for the original investigation.

The review may include reconsideration of the original evidence, examination of additional information and an assessment of whether our initial decision was fair and reasonable.

We aim to provide our final written response within 10 working days of receiving your request for a further review.

If additional time is required, we will explain the reason for the delay and confirm when you can expect our response.

Our final response will set out our position on the complaint and confirm whether any further action will be taken.

It will also explain your right to seek independent consideration through the Property Redress Scheme, subject to the scheme's eligibility requirements.

Independent Redress – The Property Redress Scheme

Yaxley Homes is a member of the Property Redress Scheme (PRS), a government-authorised independent redress scheme for property agents and property professionals.

Our PRS Membership Number: PRS012443

If you remain dissatisfied after completing our internal complaints procedure, or we have not resolved your complaint within eight weeks of receiving your original written complaint, you may be eligible to refer the matter to the Property Redress Scheme.

The Property Redress Scheme generally requires that:

• You have first raised your complaint with Yaxley Homes in writing.

• You have allowed us up to eight weeks to investigate and resolve your complaint.

• Your complaint remains unresolved or you are dissatisfied with our response.

• Your last communication with us relating to the complaint was within the previous 12 months.

• The matter falls within the scope of the scheme.

The Property Redress Scheme will independently assess complaints in accordance with its published rules and eligibility criteria.

There is no charge to consumers for referring an eligible complaint to the Property Redress Scheme.

Property Redress Scheme Contact Details

Website: www.propertyredress.co.uk

Email: info@propertyredress.co.uk

Telephone: 0333 321 9418

Postal Address:

Property Redress Scheme
Limelight
1st Floor Studio 3
Elstree Way
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 1JH

Further information on making a complaint is available at:

https://www.propertyredress.co.uk/consumers

Complaints Relating to Maintenance and Repairs

We understand the importance of dealing with property maintenance issues promptly and appropriately.

Where a complaint relates to maintenance or repairs, we will review the actions taken by Yaxley Homes, including any reported delays, communication issues or failures in the services for which we are responsible.

Where we act as a managing agent, certain decisions or authorisations may require the landlord's involvement.

We will explain where responsibility rests with the landlord, the managing agent or another relevant party and, where appropriate, assist in communicating the matter to those responsible.

Maintenance issues should continue to be reported through our designated maintenance reporting system so that they can be assessed, recorded and allocated appropriately.

Urgent repairs and safety concerns should be reported immediately and must not be delayed while a formal complaint is being investigated.

Our complaints procedure does not replace our maintenance reporting process, although customers may raise a formal complaint about the way a maintenance matter has been handled.

Tenancy, Deposit and Other Disputes

A complaint relating to our service may be considered under this procedure even where there is an ongoing tenancy, property transaction or other contractual matter.

However, certain disputes may be subject to separate procedures.

For example:

• Tenancy deposit deductions or repayment disagreements may need to be considered through the relevant tenancy deposit protection scheme's dispute resolution service.

• Legal disputes concerning tenancy agreements, possession proceedings or contractual rights may require independent legal advice or determination by a court or tribunal.

• Matters relating to a landlord's statutory obligations may require involvement from the landlord or relevant enforcement authority.

We will explain where we believe another procedure or organisation is more appropriate.

Making a complaint does not, by itself, suspend any legal or contractual obligations. Equally, the existence of an ongoing dispute does not prevent a customer from raising concerns regarding the service provided by Yaxley Homes.

Fair Treatment and Confidentiality

All complaints will be handled professionally and impartially.

We will:

• Treat complainants with courtesy and respect.

• Consider all relevant information before reaching a conclusion.

• Avoid prejudging the outcome of an investigation.

• Communicate our decisions clearly and explain the reasons for them.

• Make reasonable adjustments where required to assist customers who may have difficulties accessing or using our complaints procedure.

• Handle personal information in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and our Privacy Policy.

Information relating to complaints will only be shared with individuals or organisations where it is appropriate and necessary to investigate or resolve the matter, or where disclosure is otherwise legally required or permitted.

We expect all parties involved in the complaints process to communicate respectfully and constructively.

Raising a complaint in good faith will not result in a customer being treated unfairly.

10. Complaint Records and Service Improvements

Yaxley Homes maintains appropriate records of formal complaints and their outcomes.

These records may include:

• The original complaint and supporting evidence.

• Acknowledgement and correspondence.

• Details of the investigation undertaken.

• Our written findings and decisions.

• Any agreed resolution or corrective action.

• Details of any subsequent internal review or referral to an independent redress scheme.

Records will be retained securely and in accordance with our data retention obligations and Privacy Policy.

We regularly consider feedback and complaints to identify opportunities to improve our services, internal procedures, communication and staff training.

Conclusion of the Complaints Process

Once our final written response has been issued and our internal complaints procedure has been completed, we may consider the internal complaint closed.

Any genuinely new information or material concerns will be considered as appropriate.

Where a complaint has been fully investigated and a final response provided, we may decline to revisit matters that have already been addressed unless new relevant information becomes available.

This does not affect your right to seek independent redress through the Property Redress Scheme, where eligible, or any other legal rights available to you.

Contact Yaxley Homes

If you have any questions regarding this procedure or wish to raise a formal complaint, please contact:

Yaxley Homes
51 Newland Street
Witham
Essex
CM8 2BD

Telephone: 01376 519092
Email: witham@yaxleyhomes.co.uk
Website: www.yaxleyhomes.co.uk

Property Redress Scheme Membership: PRS012443