Renting tips (Renting a Home)

Member Name: jennikitten

Product:	Renting a Home
Date:	04/02/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Flexibility

Disadvantages: Landlords can be difficult to deal with!

I've been on both sides of renting, as at the moment I'm renting out my student house in Nottingham and renting a room myself in a shared house in the south west.

Over time I've picked up a lot of tips from various landlords and tenants, so here are a few:

Always sign a contract and read it carefully. This may sound obvious, but if you don't have a contract, then you have no rights whatsoever and not even any proof you've ever lived there. Even with signing a contract, it's easy enough to move in and then forget you're responsible for looking after the garden etc. If you want to move out, how much notice do you have to give? Does your contract give the landlord any unfair advantages? When I looked over my new contract, it stated that I was responsible for paying the bills. Nope. If the other 3 people moved out, there's no way I'd be footing the council tax bill on my own, so I asked to have it changed to make it clear I was responsible for a quarter of the bills.

Know what you're getting into - will the rent be a fixed amount? How much is the deposit? How long is your contract for? Usually they are for a minimum of 6 months, which is a good idea even if you're planning to stay longer. You never know what will happen and you can always renew when you're more sure.

Anything extra that your landlord agrees to e.g. keeping a pet, make sure it is written into the contract as verbal agreements can always be denied. I've heard of landlords who agree to pets without really thinking and then somewhere down the line insist that they never agreed to it and want the tenants gone or a ridiculous amount paid for the pet.

As a rule, landlords (unless they are live in obviously) are only allowed to enter the property 28 days before you leave in order to show other people around, inspect damage etc. - some landlords are around every 5 minutes which is a pain. I have known others who just hang around in their tenants' houses or spend half the day walking up and down past the house which is a bit creepy.

Don't sign anything until you've seen the place. Ignore all the 'I'll fix this and change this and do that', because it's easy enough to say. Unfortunately a lot of landlords don't follow through with this (not always their fault but still). Assume that the property will be how you see it to avoid disappointment.

Ask the landlord of any other conditions. Yes these should be included in the contract but aren't always. My landlord actually has a handbook of very picky stuff that we aren't allowed to do, but at least everyone knows where they stand.

Your deposit can be held by a third party (google it for legit companies) which is useful to keep the peace and make sure that silly excuses aren't made by your landlord. You can't use your deposit for your rent, at least not legally.

Make sure your landlord is easy to contact - get an email address as well as at least 1 telephone number. My landlord lives in Ireland and is sometimes difficult to get hold of, so it's best to keep as many lines of communication open as possible.

Hopefully these tips will help :)

Summary: Common sense and you'll be fine