1. Go to the listing page of the home you're interested in to make an offer. On the right side of the page, you'll see a form to make an offer.
2. Determine and submit details about your preferred move-in day, offer price, and who will be living there with you (adults, children and pets). This is your offer, so all these terms can be changed however you'd like until you're comfortable with what you're submitting. For example, if the listing rent price is £2,500/month, you can make an offer for £2,000/month. This may be because that price better fits your budget, you believe the home is overpriced, etc.
If the owner isn't happy with your terms, they can always counter your offer and begin the negotiation process with you. You can negotiate and counter the owner as many times as you'd like until someone walks away or both of you come to an agreement. When you can, avoid lowballing or any other behaviour that may put the owner off. Remember, negotiation doesn't mean the owner is your enemy, rather it means you should work together to see from each other's perspective. You both want the same thing!
3. Once you have the preliminary details filled out, click Make an offer to continue with the next steps in the offer process. Clicking Make an offer does not mean you are submitting the offer or that you'll be charged. There are still a couple of steps after this and you'll also get the chance to review your offer before finalising and submitting, so don't worry. 
4. On the next form, fill out a little more information about you and the other tenants you'll be living with. We'll ask for your occupation, employment status, and income. This is not the official tenant referencing process - rather, this is just to give the owner an idea of your finances. You can use our affordability calculator to determine your affordability and estimated budget.
Email - We'll automatically fill in the email address associated with your PropertyLoop account.
Occupation - Your options include Employed, Self-Employed, Student, Retired, or other.
Employment Status - Your options include Full-time, Part-time, Freelance, Contractor, or Sole Trader.
Gross Income - Gross annual income includes permanent, fixed-term, temporary, future, and self (inc. rental income and company directors) employment.
Additional Income - Additional income includes pensions, benefits, savings, and overseas income.
Current or historic adverse credit - Adverse credit includes county court judgments (CCJs) or court decrees, bankruptcy, IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) and DRO (Debt Relief Order). Adverse credit does not necessarily mean you will fail referencing. However, it is important to let us know about any current or historic adverse credit you have. Failure to declare current or historic adverse credit to us, however, will be counted against you as it may show a lack of transparency.
HRMC Tax Returns - If you list that you are self-employed, you will be asked if your HRMC tax returns are up-to-date? Income declared on your most recent HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) tax return must be up-to-date in order to accurately assess affordability requirements. Without a valid source of income or other guarantee of payment, you will not pass referencing.
In this example, we only listed 1 adult as the tenant, so this form will only ask for information for one tenant ("Tenant 1"). If you were to list multiple adults, you would see the same form for both tenants ("Tenant 1," "Tenant 2"):
5. After filling out the information about the tenants who will live in the home, select how the household would pay for rent and meet affordability requirements.
Household income meets affordability requirements - To meet referencing requirements, the combined income of everyone in the household, including flatmates, must be at least 2.5 x the annual rent. As well, tell us more about the children or pets who will be staying with you.
Getting a guarantor - To meet referencing requirements, the guarantor’s annual income must be at least 3 x the annual rent.
Paying rent upfront - To meet referencing requirements, tenants can choose to pay the full term’s rent in advance in place of monthly payments.
6. Select which security deposit scheme your household will use:
Deposit Replacement Scheme - The Deposit Replacement Scheme allows tenants to pay a monthly fee of 1 weeks rent in lieu of a traditional deposit. This reduces initial upfront costs, however, this fee is non-refundable, recurring, and cannot be used to pay for damages.
5 Weeks Rent (Traditional deposit) - Traditional security deposit of 5 weeks rent paid upfront to the owner. Security deposit is 100% refundable, given the tenant(s) adheres to the terms of the agreement – paying rent on time, keeping the home free from damages, etc. At the end of tenancy, tenants are responsible for any damages, excessive wear and tear, unpaid rent or other unmet obligations from the agreement.
7. Tell us more about the children and pets who will be living there with you. Once everything is filled out and looks good, press Apply to move onto the last few steps in the offer process. 
8. Review your offer details and make sure to select whether or not you'd like an allocated parking spot. Add every tenant's email address, if it hasn't been filled out already, so that they may receive an email with a copy of the offer and sign-up link to join PropertyLoop. Lastly, give a brief introduction of who you and the other prospective tenants are, and maybe why you're moving. We just want the owner to have an idea of what you're like. You can also add any special conditions you'd like to request, for example, if you'd like to request additional furniture.
9. Review everything to make sure your offer looks good.
Note: This offer is not a contract nor a confirmation of tenancy. You will not be charged or legally-bound when submitting this offer. 
10. Lastly, select whether you'd like submit your offer with or without the holding deposit.
Offers with deposit are pre-authorised so if your offer is accepted, the holding deposit will automatically be withdrawn from your card. By pre-authorising the deposit, you speed up the process and secure the property instantly upon offer acceptance. Owners prefer offers with deposit as it shows you are financially committed.
Note: One week's rent will be pre-authorised on your card and put on hold for the deposit. Your funds may be temporarily inaccessible during this time. You will not be charged if your offer is not accepted. If your offer isn't accepted, the temporary hold on your funds will be released and your money will be accessible in 3-5 business days.
Offers without deposit do not save your card or account information. If this offer is accepted, you will have 24 hours to then pay the deposit. The property will not be taken off the market until the holding deposit is paid. If you take too long, you do risk losing the property to another renter.
11. You're all done! You'll get a response from the owner within 24 hours and can check the status of your offer anytime on your Offers page. Have any questions? Reach out to our support team and we'll be happy to help.