Frequently Asked Questions

MakeUrMove are an online letting platform used by private landlords and tenants across the UK. Our mission is to improve the world of renting by bringing landlords and tenants together through people-focused technology. We have developed our platform with you in mind and have a team of professionals supporting you through the letting process.

You can choose from an advertising as you need it service or build your own management subscription to include advertising, tenant reference checks, documents, renewals, rent collect, rent protection and even guaranteed rent.

Our website is continually updated with the latest news, regulation and legislative changes to keep you up to date. Make sure you subscribe to get these updated direct to your inbox.

Below is a list of frequently asked questions, if the answer you are looking for is not here please do get in touch with the team using our contact us form.

How quickly do you find tenants?

Our average time to find a tenant is 7 days.

Do you charge tenant fees?

No, we do not charge tenants any admin fees in relation to application or tenancy creation.

Why don't you charge tenant fees?

We don't believe charging fees to tenants represents good practice or that it can guarantee good tenants. We understand that there are costs in tenant referencing and that landlords will need to reflect these costs in their rental price.

Legislation in England, Wales and Scotland is in place preventing the charging of fees to tenants.

Do I have to use your services to manage my property?

With the MakeUrMove platform you can choose to use the tools as you wish. From advertising right through to a fully supported managed service.

The advertising services allow you to promote your property online, manage enquiries and viewings, process applications and complete your contracts in a compliant way by sharing all the relevant documents requires to set up a tenancy.

You can access much more than that though – subscriptions are a range of DIY managed tools through to agency supported services. Tools include licence checking, legal eviction and rent protection upgrades, tenancy renewals, safety reminders, compliance updates, maintenance management, trusted traders access and rent management.

What does the Good Landlord subscription service include?

The Good Landlord package includes Standard Advertising on major listing portals, Tenant Reference Checks, Property Licensing Compliance Checks, Tenancy Documents & Renewals, Rent Collection, Utility Notifications and access to our trusted traders for any maintenance jobs that need your attention.

You can upgrade to add on legal eviction cover, full rent protection or agency supported fully managed services.

What is the difference between the Good Landlord package and Rent Protection package?

The Rent Protection package allows you to have all the benefits from the Good Landlord package, plus rent protection and legal eviction cover. Rent protection covers the costs of any unpaid rent should the tenants default on their rent payments and the legal eviction cover covers legal expenses up to a maximum of £50,000 to regain possession of your property.

You also get access to our 24hr maintenance reporting tool for tenants, they can report issues and provide photos, get access to useful online guides and help and update you within the portal. You can assess the issue and contact them or instruct a contractor and keep a record of all jobs throughout.

Is there a minimum contract for your subscription services?

All our subscription services have a 12-month minimum contract. The contract starts when you start advertising or grant a new tenancy, whichever comes later.

How can I cancel a subscription?

If you are using one of our subscription services, you can cancel the subscription anytime by providing 30 days' notice and paying for any services used up to the date of cancellation. These include but are not limited to advertising, reference checks, document creation, renewal fees, gas safety checks, property inspections, viewings, legal eviction cover and rent protection cover. The balance will be confirmed to you once your notice is accepted.

Fully Managed services require 90 days' notice at any time

Can I downgrade my subscription if my tenant moves out?

If you have a Rent Protection subscription and your tenant moves out you may request a downgrade to Good Landlord during the empty property period until new tenants are found.

Should you have a Fully Managed property which requires our assistance to support and void property works – cleaning, redecoration and maintenance the subscription will continue at the full price.

What is legal eviction cover?

Legal eviction cover is provided subject to satisfactory reference checks and compliantly set up tenancies. You must ensure that you have met all conditions to be eligible for cover and these can be found in our terms or on your specific reference reports.

Upon acceptance of the claim legal expenses up to a maximum of £50,000 will be covered by our provider to process a claim in the courts for possession.

How does your viewing management software work?

When you set up your portfolio account and add your property with MakeUrMove, you will be asked to set your availability. With the online viewing diary, you can specify which time slots and days are suitable for you. The system uses this to suggest viewing times to potential tenants when they book a viewing online/ by phone.

Who does the viewings?

MakeUrMove landlords usually arrange viewings themselves, such as attending in person, arranging with the current tenant or neighbour. If you cannot arrange this, you can choose our viewings add-on and we will arrange a local representative to accompany viewings and provide feedback to you.

How can I be sure I will get my rent if you collect it?

We have collected over £10.5 million of rent in the last 5 years and have maintained an average arrears rate of only 0.9% compared to an industry average of 9%. We aim to minimise long term arrears and the overall cost to private landlords.

Will I need to wait for ages to get my rent payment?

Our promise to clients is to pay rents the day they are received Monday to Friday with the exception of bank holidays.

Do you take any fees from rent?

All subscription fees are paid by direct debit and you will receive the whole rent amount each time it is paid. If we are instructed to fully manage a property, then property-related costs will be deducted from the rent once we have approval before being paid to you and a statement shall accompany the payments.

What is included in the reference checks?

MakeUrMove have partnered with the best reference agencies in the industry. All checks will cover; 
  • Credit Check
  • Financial verification
  • Current landlord reference
  • Identity checks
  • Right to rent remote checks (Landlords must complete face to face checks also)

How long do reference checks take?

Reference checks take around 3 working days on average. You will be updated throughout the referencing process. Tenants are notified that they have 3 working days to provide all the required documents and information.

What will happen if my tenants provide false information on their application?

We have a set of pre-check questions for potential tenants when they request to view the property. The pre-screening process can determine how likely they are to pass references and understand if they will require guarantors or rent in advance. 90% of our applications come back as acceptable. If the potential tenant has failed to disclose any information which would result in a failed reference checks or made false claims, reference fee will be retained from their holding deposit to cover your costs.

Can I do my own reference checks?

Yes. You can do your own reference checks alongside our services if the tenant gives you their consent. Once your reference checks are completed, you can store any documents securely in your MakeUrMove landlord account and notify us. We will then set up any rent schedules for rent collection, if this is included in your package.

I have found a tenant elsewhere, what shall I do?

Our services are not limited to finding tenants. You can still benefit from all the features of the package you have chosen. Please contact our team to let us know if you would like to proceed with reference checks or go straight into creating a tenancy.

The tenants failed reference checks, can I still go ahead with a tenancy?

Yes, but it is not recommended to do so. If you do choose to accept a tenant who has failed the reference checks, you can look into obtaining a guarantor or requesting rent in advance. Please note that you will not be qualified for rent guarantee or rent protection unless your tenant has passed the reference checks.

Do you collect a holding deposit?

Yes, if you have purchased a package including reference checks, we collect a holding deposit from tenants to secure the property during the application and reference check process. The deposit is protected under our client money protection.

Can I edit or amend the tenancy agreement?

Tenancy agreement documents are included in all our packages. As we want to ensure that any terms you include in your agreement meet the statutory and legal obligations, we do not provide an editable version of the agreement. If you would like to make minor adjustments, please contact our team. If you have any major changes to make, we kindly ask that you provide your own agreement and ensure it complies with the current legislation.

How are you different from free services like Gumtree?

Free advertising sites such as Gumtree provide you with advertising only. Our platform allows you to access your landlord account and stored property information 24/7. You can manage your letting online, such as handling enquiries, arranging viewings, recording viewings and producing compliant tenancy documents. We carry out strict checks before a property is live to ensure everything is compliant. Our customer support is also backed by ARLA qualified team members.

How are you different from Open Rent?

Open Rent's cheap services are focused on quantity. We are quality and human-focused. We promise real people support (no robots!) and ensure compliance all the way. All property listing and documents are checked thoroughly by our ARLA qualified team. All tenants who apply to view the property must answer a set of pre-screening questions, so you don't need to waste time on a hundred viewings that do not match your criteria.

Our services included a compliance pack and tenancy contract as standard, even if you don't use our references. Once a tenancy is created we will share all your compliance documents that you have uploaded with the tenant including the How to Rent Guide, Safety Certificate and signed tenancy documents.

Can I trust you?

We are the original online letting agency, established in 2008. We have helped over 25,000 landlords be good landlords since we started and over 250,000 applicants. We pride ourselves on our service and innovative technology. MakeUrMove is also rated Excellent on Trustpilot, with over 700 reviews from genuine clients, we were awarded Silver in The ESTAs Online Agent category in 2019 for our excellent service.

Can I advertise a property located in Wales?

Yes. We are registered with Rent Smart Wales and you will need to notify them that you wish to use our service for advertising/ managing property. Please note that we can only advertise properties that are registered with Rent Smart Wales. If you haven't registered, you will need to apply and provide proof to our letting agents.

Can I advertise a property located in Scotland?

Unfortunately, not just yet. Our letting agents are qualified in England and Wales at the moment. Our dedicated team are currently training towards the Scottish qualification and we are looking forward to offering the platform to properties in Scotland soon.

Do you do the right to rent checks?

Right to rent checks can only be carried out in person. When you use our check-in service, we will request that all occupiers over the age of 18 attend with their identity documents and we will obtain a photograph of this to include in your report. You will need to check that these documents meet the requirement under your obligation to carry out a right to rent check.

If you are arranging your own key handover and check-in then make sure you check the ID for all occupiers over 18 and record this by taking a photo.

Do you hold Client Money Protection?

Yes. We are a member of the Propertymark Client Money Protection Scheme. The details of our Client Money Handling Procedures can be found on the Propertymark website

What is Zero Deposit Guarantee Scheme?

The Zero Deposit Guarantee replaces tenancy deposit, giving landlords effectively the same security and protection as a 6-week deposit, but without the hassle of collecting a traditional deposit and keeping it in a protection scheme.

Will landlords still need to collect a deposit from tenants if they have chosen Zero Deposit Guarantee?

No. The Zero Deposit Guarantee replaces tenancy deposit, giving landlords effectively the same security and protection as a 6-week deposit, but without the hassle of collecting a traditional deposit and keeping it in a protection scheme. Without Zero Deposit Guarantee, landlords will still need to collect a deposit from tenants.

How are claims with Zero Deposit Guarantee dealt with?

Tenancy Dispute Service (TDS) will be used to adjudicate claims, so the dispute resolution is speedy and the outcome is the same as a cash deposit. TDS will settle the dispute within 28 days and approved claims will be paid in just 2 working days. This will be done at no cost to landlords.

Who qualifies for a Zero Deposit mid-tenancy guarantee?

Tenants who are making monthly payments for their rent and are not in rent arrears or dispute about damage to the property.

Is a Zero Deposit guarantee as good as cash in the bank?

Yes. Zero Deposit is FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) regulated and every Zero Deposit Guarantee is backed by Munich Re and comes with protection from the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) who also provide protection to the banks.

Is the Zero Deposit Guarantee compliant with the tenant fees ban?

Yes, providing it is always offered to the tenant as a choice.

What do tenants need to do at the end of the tenancy?

At the end of the tenancy, if there are no damages or unpaid rent, then the guarantee will end and there is no further action required. If there are any damages or unpaid rent at the end of the tenancy, tenants will still be liable to pay for it. Any disputes that can't be resolved with the landlord will be referred to TDS for adjudication.

Will Zero Deposit attract a different type of tenant?

The Zero Deposit Guarantee may attract a wider audience of tenants. However, we will still carry out the same screening and referencing process on tenants to ensure they are suitable and meet the criteria you have agreed with us prior to them being introduced to Zero Deposit.

Do you notify utilities when tenants move out?

If you are on a subscribed service (Good Landlord, Rent Protection or Fully Managed) we will complete notifications to gas, electricity, water and council tax though our partner Help The Move. They will switch your energy to SSE and notify the local authority and water supplier of the move out date and meter readings. We also notify them when a new tenant moves in

Do you notify utilities when tenants move out if I am not on a subscription?

If you are not on a subscribed service and are only using advertising then you can opt to use this service free of charge. You will notify us of the meter readings and move out date and though our partner Help The Move, we will arrange to switch your energy supply to SSE, notify the local authority and water provider. You must provide us with the new tenant details and meter readings to complete this service even if you find these elsewhere
Ready to sign up – Compare Packages