First-time renting in Worthing and Brighton — what to expect

The standard timeline from finding a property to moving in runs one to three weeks. Sometimes faster, if everyone moves quickly. Occasionally slower, if referencing flags a query or the landlord needs a guarantor. It starts with the viewing. We accompany every one of them, so there'll be someone from our office on site who can answer anything you want to know — expect to spend fifteen or twenty minutes there, and ask everything you need to before you leave. If you decide you want the property, the next step is to put a written offer in. The offer covers the rent you're proposing, your move-in date, the length of stay you're hoping for, and any conditions — pet, parking, redecoration. The landlord then accepts, counters, or declines. Once the offer is accepted, you pay a holding deposit. This is capped by law at one week's rent, and it takes the property off the market for fifteen days while we run the referencing process. We'll send you a link to fill in the basics: identity, employment, income, address history, and a previous landlord. A guarantor, if one is needed, does the same. When referencing comes back clean, we draw up the tenancy agreement, send it for electronic signature, and both you and the landlord sign it. Your first month's rent and your tenancy deposit then clear in our account, and we hand over the keys on the agreed date. If anything blocks the referencing along the way — a credit query, a gap in income evidence, a previous landlord we can't reach — we'll come back to you to talk through the options before we report back to the landlord. Almost every issue can be resolved with some extra paperwork.

Two different deposits, both capped by law and both refundable. The holding deposit is paid once your offer is accepted, capped at one week's rent under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. It holds the property for 15 days while referencing runs. It's not a non-refundable fee — at move-in it's either credited against your first month's rent and tenancy deposit, or refunded in full, depending on which you prefer. The only situations where it isn't refundable: you fail referencing because you gave false information, you fail to take reasonable steps to enter into the tenancy, or you withdraw. The tenancy deposit is the standard security deposit. It's capped at five weeks' rent (or six weeks if the annual rent is over £50,000). On a £1,200 pcm flat that's a maximum of about £1,385. Within 30 days of receipt, the deposit must be protected in one of three government-approved schemes: Deposit Protection Service (DPS), MyDeposits, or Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS). You'll receive a certificate from the scheme and prescribed information from us within the same window. Keep both. At the end of the tenancy the deposit is returned in full unless there are agreed deductions for damage (beyond fair wear and tear), cleaning to inventory standard, or unpaid rent. If you and the landlord disagree, the scheme runs a free adjudication — you submit your side, the landlord submits theirs, and an independent adjudicator decides. Decisions usually come within four to six weeks.

What the referencing agency is actually checking is a fairly short list of things — but each of them needs to come back with the right answer. Identity is the first one. Passport or driving licence, plus a recent utility bill or bank statement for address verification. Right to Rent runs alongside it: we sight either your original documents or a Home Office share code, and confirm that you have the legal right to rent in England. Then it moves to employment and income. Most landlords look for annual income of around thirty times the monthly rent, so for a £1,200 a month flat the standard is £36,000. Income is verified directly with your employer where you're employed, or through payslips and bank statements if you're self-employed. There's a reference from your current or previous landlord too, confirming you paid on time and left the property in good order. And finally the credit check — CCJs, bankruptcy, IVAs, defaults — run as a soft search that doesn't affect your score. If you think something on your file is likely to flag — a recent job change, a self-employed first year, an old default that you've since cleared — tell us before you apply. We've usually seen the issue before and can suggest the easiest way through it. That might be additional bank statements, a higher up-front rent payment, or putting a guarantor in place. A guarantor is someone, usually a parent, who agrees in writing to pay the rent if you can't. They're referenced separately to similar standards — typically a UK homeowner with annual income of around thirty times the rent. Guarantors are routine for students and for tenants who don't quite meet the income multiple on paper. The only situation where a guarantor doesn't fix things is when referencing comes back with a definitive fail — say a recent CCJ for unpaid rent. The landlord may decline regardless. Even then, most situations are resolvable with a conversation.

Since 1 May 2026, all assured tenancies in England are periodic from day one under the Renters' Rights Act. There's no fixed term, no minimum length, no break clause to negotiate. The contract rolls month to month from the day you move in. When you read through the agreement before signing, the things to make sure are clear are these. The rent figure, the date it's payable, and the method of payment — confirm both the amount and that the standing order is going to the right account on the right day. The deposit amount, and which scheme it'll be protected in. Your repair responsibilities and the landlord's; in broad terms the landlord is responsible for the structure, exterior, heating, hot water, sanitation, and most fixed installations under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, and that's something they cannot contract out of. Your job is to keep the property in tenant-like condition and report issues promptly. The notice you must give to leave is two months in writing, at any time after the first day. The agreement should also list every permitted occupier — that means everyone named on the contract, plus any children you'll have living with you. And it should set out any specific clauses on parking, garden maintenance, redecoration, or alterations. If anything in the agreement isn't clear, ask before you sign. We'd much rather spend fifteen minutes walking through a clause with you than have a dispute about it in six months' time. Since the Renters' Rights Act, there's no separate How to Rent guide to look out for — the information you'd once have found in it is now set out as a written statement within the tenancy agreement itself. So the agreement in front of you is the document that matters: read it before signing, and keep your signed copy.

There's a short list of rights worth being clear on. The full picture lives on gov.uk; this is the working summary. Your deposit has to be in a government-approved scheme within thirty days of you handing it over, with prescribed information served on you in writing. If it isn't, you can claim between one and three times the deposit at the county court — a remedy that's relatively rare to need but well worth knowing about. You have the right to quiet enjoyment of the property, which means the landlord and the agent can't enter without your permission except in a genuine emergency. The standard requirement for a routine inspection visit is twenty-four hours' written notice at a reasonable time of day. The landlord has a legal duty to keep the structure and exterior in good repair, along with heating, hot water, and sanitation. Under the extensions to Awaab's Law brought in by the Renters' Rights Act, hazards — especially damp and mould — have to be addressed within prescribed timescales after you notify the landlord. On the eviction side, no-fault eviction has been abolished. Your landlord can now only seek to end your tenancy on specific Section 8 grounds — for example, that they're genuinely selling the property (four months' notice), moving back in themselves (four months' notice, and only after the first twelve months of the tenancy), or that you've fallen three months or more into rent arrears (four weeks' notice). If you receive a notice you think isn't justified, contact Shelter or Citizens Advice before doing anything about it. You have a statutory right to request a pet in writing. The landlord has twenty-eight days to respond, and they can't unreasonably refuse. Rent increases are limited to once a year, on two months' notice, by a Section 13 notice. If you think the proposed rent is above market rate you can challenge it at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) at no cost, and under the new rules the tribunal cannot set the rent above what the landlord asked for. For more on what the new legal framework actually means in practice, see our [Renters' Rights Act guide for tenants](/guides/renters-rights-act-for-tenants).