Tenant Fees Schedule

To reserve a property, we ask for a holding deposit equivalent to one week's rent. This is a permitted payment under Schedule 2 of the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Once we receive the holding deposit, the law requires the necessary paperwork to be completed within 15 calendar days.

The holding deposit can be kept only if, before that deadline, you decide not to proceed, fail to take all reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy agreement (or any Deed of Guarantee) — for example by not responding to reasonable requests from us or the referencing agency — give false or misleading information that the landlord is reasonably entitled to take into account, or fail a Right to Rent check required of the landlord under the Immigration Act 2014 (Tenant Fees Act 2019, Schedule 2). Where it is lawfully kept, it goes to the landlord: Harvey W James does not keep it as a fee.

If the landlord decides not to offer you a tenancy for reasons unconnected with the above, the holding deposit will be refunded within 7 days. If you are offered and accept a tenancy, the holding deposit will be credited against the first month's rent.

Where, for any reason, the holding deposit is neither refunded nor credited, you will be provided with written reasons within 7 days.

You will not be asked to pay any fees or charges in connection with your application for a tenancy.

The security deposit is capped under the Tenant Fees Act 2019:

Annual rent under £50,000

five weeks' rent.

Annual rent £50,000 or above

six weeks' rent.

The deposit covers damages or defaults on the part of the tenant during the tenancy. It is protected with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), on a custodial basis only, within 30 days of payment, under Part 6 of the Housing Act 2004.

The first month's rent is paid at or before the tenancy start. This is expressly permitted under section 4B(2)(c) of the Housing Act 1988 (as inserted by section 8 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025) as "initial rent due during the permitted pre-tenancy period".

Rent for the second month onwards is paid on the rent-due date each month. Multiple months' rent (for example 6 or 12 months) cannot be required in advance as a condition of granting the tenancy, even where the applicant offers it. The compliant route for an applicant who would otherwise have wanted to pay upfront rent is the Goodlord Guarantor service — your application route will indicate whether this applies to you.

Landlords and agents cannot cover costs by charging higher rent for the first month, or any other month.

Interest at 3% above the Bank of England Base Rate, calculated from the rent-due date until paid, in order to pursue non-payment of rent. This will not be levied until the rent is more than 14 days in arrears.

The reasonable cost of replacement, supported by receipts. Charged at cost — not a fixed fee.

£50 (Inc VAT) per agreed variation. This covers our cost of taking the landlord's instructions and preparing and executing new legal documents.

£50 (Inc VAT) per replacement tenant, or any reasonable costs incurred if higher. This is the permitted payment under Tenant Fees Act 2019 Schedule 1 paragraph 6.

The fee covers our administrative work in setting up the new tenancy: taking the landlord's instructions, referencing and Right to Rent checks for the new tenant, deposit re-registration, and preparation and execution of the new tenancy agreement.

The legal effect of a change of sharer is a surrender of the original tenancy and the grant of a new tenancy to the new combination of tenants. It is not a tenant swap or transfer.

Since 1 May 2026 every tenant of an assured periodic tenancy has a statutory right under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s.5(1ZA)(a) (inserted by RRA s.20; read with HA1988 s.4A, inserted by RRA s.1) to end the tenancy at any time by serving 2 months' written notice. No fee is payable by the tenant for exercising this right. The notice must end on a day on which rent is due, or the day before.

A tenant who moves out before their notice ends still owes rent to the end of the notice period; any rent unpaid by the end of the tenancy is claimed from the deposit (deducted if the tenant agrees, otherwise decided by the deposit scheme's free dispute service); any balance above the deposit is still owed. Rent stops sooner only if the landlord agrees an earlier end date in writing, or a replacement tenant's tenancy starts through the Assisted Tenancy Replacement Process after referencing. There is no early-termination or re-letting fee; the only other costs are any the tenant agrees in writing beforehand.

Where you wish to leave faster than the statutory 2 months' notice would allow, we operate an optional Assisted Tenancy Replacement Process (see Essential Terms §68.1). That process is voluntary, agreed in writing in advance, and never charged as an early-termination fee. The pre-RRA framing of a contractual exit charge no longer applies.

The only default fees the Tenant Fees Act 2019 allows are the two above: interest on rent more than 14 days late, and the cost of replacing a lost key or security device (Schedule 1, paragraph 4). We do not charge any other default fee, and we do not invoice tenants.

Two situations come up in practice:

• A missed appointment. If you turn a contractor away or are not in for an appointment you agreed, and the landlord has paid a call-out charge the contractor was entitled to under their booking terms, the landlord may claim the actual amount paid, shown by the contractor’s invoice, from the tenancy deposit at the end of the tenancy as damages for breach of the tenancy agreement (Schedule 1, paragraph 5), where the tenancy agreement permits it. It is not a fee and we do not invoice you for it.
• An upgraded appointment. If you would like an exact time or an out-of-hours visit for a repair that is not an emergency, you can agree that directly with the contractor and pay them the difference above the standard working-hour rate yourself. It is entirely your choice and never a condition of the repair being done: the standard appointment is always available at no cost to you.