Most property advice is written for the people who own the asset, which has always seemed like poor manners given that tenants are half of every tenancy. So this one is for renters, because SW19's rental market moves quickly, the law has just changed substantially in your favour, and knowing both facts puts you ahead of most applicants.
Be ready before you search
Good properties here let fast, sometimes within days. The applicants who win are rarely the ones offering the most: since the recent reforms, landlords and agents cannot invite or accept bids above the advertised rent anyway. The winners are the ones who are ready.
Ready means: photographic ID to hand, proof of income (payslips or accounts if self-employed), your current landlord's reference details, and honest answers prepared for the awkward questions. If your credit history has a blemish or your income is unconventional, say so upfront and offer context or a guarantor. Referencing discovers everything eventually; candour discovered early reads as reliability, discovered late reads as concealment.
Know what you can be charged, and what you cannot
The Tenant Fees Act settled this: a holding deposit of up to one week's rent, a tenancy deposit capped at five weeks' rent (for typical rents), the rent itself, and little else. Admin fees, referencing fees and check-out fees charged to tenants are banned. Your deposit must be protected in a government-backed scheme within 30 days, with the prescribed information served on you. Keep that paperwork: it is your leverage if there is ever a dispute.
Since the Renters' Rights Act came into force, demanding multiple months of rent in advance is also restricted: a landlord can require no more than one month upfront.
What the new law changed
The headlines, briefly. Fixed-term tenancies are gone: tenancies are now periodic, meaning you are not locked in for a year, and you can leave with two months' notice when life changes. Section 21 "no-fault" evictions are abolished: a landlord now needs a legal ground to seek possession. You have a right to request a pet, and that request cannot be unreasonably refused.
None of this makes tenancies adversarial. It makes them what they should have been all along: a professional arrangement between adults, with rules both sides can rely on.
The inventory is your friend
At check-in you will receive an inventory recording the property's condition. Read it properly, photograph anything it understates (the scuff, the tired mattress, the chip in the worktop), and send your amendments in writing within the stated window. Five unglamorous minutes at the start of a tenancy prevents almost every deposit dispute at the end of it.
Report things, in writing
The best tenants I manage report problems early, in writing, and the best landlords fix them promptly. A small leak reported today is a plumber's visit; ignored for a month it is a ceiling. Written reports also protect you: repair obligations sit with the landlord for most of what matters, and a dated message trail is how those obligations are enforced if it ever comes to that.
A word on agents
You can tell a well-managed property at the viewing: honest answers, compliance paperwork offered rather than extracted, and someone who responds to messages. That is the standard we hold ourselves to on the lettings we run, because a tenancy that works for the tenant is the only kind that works for the landlord. Anyone who tells you those interests conflict is doing at least one side of the job badly.
What to do next
If this article has raised questions about your own property, the next step is a calm conversation. I can look at the property, the market evidence and the practical choices in front of you, then give you a clear view of what I would do next.
Would a measured valuation help?
For calm, evidence-led advice about selling or letting in Wimbledon, speak directly with Brenchley’s.