Change can be a good thing, and can pave the way for something even better
At Varcity Living we’ve been improving and adapting our services, including introducing Video Tours and Virtual Viewings to bring our services right to you.
We want our customers to receive the best from us at all times, no matter the situation. Because of this we’ve implemented tools for reporting maintenance problems from our website as well as an online payment system and a Landlord Dashboard. These online tools have all been implemented with the purpose of making the lives of our customers easier and ensuring our services are always available to them.
At Varcity Living, we’re all about making your life easier and a little more exciting too! That’s why we’ve added Video Tours to our website. Now, you can explore your future home from the comfort of your couch.
Just pick a property, go to the Video tour, and enjoy a first-person walkthrough – no travel, no stress, just you and your potential new home.
Loved what you saw? Great! Let us know, and we’ll happily arrange an in-person viewing so you can see it for real.
To find out more about the process of organising a viewing with us please see here.
With the introduction of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which came into force on 1 December 2022, the way properties are rented in Wales has undergone significant changes. This legislation was designed to simplify and standardise the rental process for landlords, agents, and tenants—now referred to as contract-holders.
Key Changes Under the Act
- Unified Contracts: All tenancy agreements have been replaced with a single type of agreement called an occupation contract. Our contracts now include:
- Fundamental terms (required by law),
- Supplementary terms (standard terms that can be modified),
- Additional terms (specific to the property or agreement).
- Written Contracts: Every contract-holder must receive a written statement of their occupation contract within 14 days of moving in. Our occupation contracts are sent to you once everyone has signed (via Signable).
- Clearer Notices: Notices issued by landlords or agents must now follow a new regulated format.
Property Standards and Safety
The Act places a strong emphasis on ensuring that all rental properties are safe and fit for human habitation. Landlords are legally required to address 29 specific matters and circumstances that could affect the habitability of a property. In order to comply with the rental homes Act, there must be a Carbon-monoxide alarm installed in each room housing a gas appliance, an oil-fired or solid fuel combustion appliance
As part of this, contract-holders will receive:
- A property inventory,
- A valid Gas Safety Certificate,
- An Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR),
- An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).
Additional Protections
- Joint Contracts: Joint contract-holders can leave without ending the contract for others, and new joint holders can be added without starting a new agreement.
- Abandonment Process: A new legal process allows landlords to reclaim properties that have been abandoned.
For more detailed information and frequently asked questions, please visit the Government Website https://www.gov.wales/renting-homes-act-and-regulations
If you would prefer to speak with us in person, we warmly welcome you to visit our office at 1 College Road, LL57 2AN, where a member of our dedicated team will be happy to assist you.
For sales enquiries, please let us know in advance so we can arrange an appointment with a member of our sales team at either our 1 College Road or 121 High Street office, depending on your preference.
To help cut down on unnecessary travel even further we are changing the way we handle property viewings to make things easier for our customers. We are asking all prospective occupants to ensure they are genuinely interested in a property by watching the available property video first. As well as helping to save on time and effort, a major benefit of these videos is that you can view them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, hopefully helping to make your house hunting a much shorter endeavour.
Once you have decided you would like some further information we will then arrange a viewing, where an agent will guide you through the property and provide information and insight that may not necessarily be contained in the listing description. Afterwards you will be directed to fill out our online Property Application form to secure the property.
We have implemented an online Property Application form, which means you can fill out the relevant information for becoming an occupant with us and secure a property completely online. Not only does this mean that you save time and effort on making your way to our offices, but it will also have a significant impact on reducing our paper waste, helping to minimise wasteful use of natural resources.
Once you have chosen your property and have signed the occupation contract, you will receive an invite to your PropertyFile account. Log in and you will find lots of useful information about your tenancy. This is also where you can report any maintenance issues for your property. Once registered, click here to log in or go to the top of this page and click ‘report maintenance’.
Our landlords benefit from the Landlord Dashboard on PropertyFile, which can be accessed from our website. This tool allows landlords to easily gain an overview of all properties they are letting with us, including such things as details on rental payments, printable statements, tenancy details and copies of the occupation contracts.
We are expanding the services we provide for our landlords, we can now offer a nearly paperless service throughout. It will also provide far greater visibility of a property to a landlord, which in turn will aid in such matters as maintenance troubleshooting, property upgrades and property management decisions. These new methods will help our landlords to save on time and effort, as well as cut down on the reams of paper often used in creating these accounts in document form.
Head to our Landlords page to find out more information, as well as guidance on becoming a Varcity Living landlord.
What differentiates us from our competitors:
Two Bangor offices, capturing foot traffic around the city
Our 360 virtual tour technology, helps to best qualify potential buyers prior to viewing
Competitive residential sales commission rate
Your property will go live online within 24 hours of us visiting for photographs
If you’d like to receive a sales valuation for your property, we would love to hear from you! To schedule in a valuation for your property, get in touch today by emailing the team via sales@varcityltd.com or you can give us a ring on 01248 719254.
To find out further information about selling or buying a property with us then please head to our specific page on this, which provides all the necessary information on our processes both old and new.
We are, and always will be, invested in continuing to make changes to our business in order to make things easier for our customers. To explore our online services simply select from the options below:
