Renting flat/small house

tomos42

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are planning to move into a flat or small house together in July (when our current tenancy agreement ends).
Here is our situation:
We are already living together in a student house, with two other people.
My girlfriend is graduating this year, but I am on a 4 year course so have another year of being a student.

We are looking for somewhere in York with at least a double bedroom, lounge and kitchen for no more than £500/month (we're paying £238/month each at the moment = £476/month combined)

Firstly, what happens about council tax, as I will be exempt (being a student) but not my girlfriend?

Secondly, we have never rented from a non-student letting agency or landlord/lady before. Is there anything we should bear in mind when looking at properties or choosing an agency or landlord/lady?

Thirdly, is it better to go with an agency or with a private landlord/lady?
I have had a bad experience with student letting agencies (charged us over £100 for cleaning, even though we left the house clean and in much better condition than when we moved in), although this particular company are apparently well known for screwing people over.
The previous tenants had their utilities included in their rent, and left an outstanding gas bill of £700, which meant we were unable to register with BritishGas until we could prove that we were not connected with the previous tenants.
They were also useless at fixing things - we got the phone numbers of the owner and his handyman eventually, and bypassed the agency.
I'm sure they're not all like that, but our private landlord & lady this year (also my girlfriend's last year) have been brilliant, so I'm more inclined to go down this route again.

We popped into a letting agency a few days ago, and they said that we should start looking at properties about 4 - 6 weeks before we wanted to move in. Is this a good estimate?
Also, if we find a property we like on the market now, is it likely that we can 'reserve' it until July?

Any help would be much appreciated, and sorry for the long post!

Tom

pavlovs_dog

i believe that your girlfriend would qulify for a single persons discount (25%?) on on council tax once you have given the council your tax exemption certificate (which you would get from the uni)

tomos42

Thanks p_d
Yeah, I've had to get an exemption certificate for the past couple of years. It's about the only thing that the Uni is organised about!

Tom

Conor_3

tomos42 wrote:

Secondly, we have never rented from a non-student letting agency or landlord/lady before. Is there anything we should bear in mind when looking at properties or choosing an agency or landlord/lady?

Yeah..they're all out to rob you blind and to get the maximum money for the minimum outlay. Most will want a bond equivalent to a months rent.

tomos42 wrote:

Thirdly, is it better to go with an agency or with a private landlord/lady?

Depends on how the agency handle repairs. This seems to be the only difference. Some agencies arrange repairs themselves. A Landlord can tend to maybe get around to it sometime.

tomos42 wrote:

We popped into a letting agency a few days ago, and they said that we should start looking at properties about 4 - 6 weeks before we wanted to move in. Is this a good estimate?

Yes.

tomos42 wrote:

Also, if we find a property we like on the market now, is it likely that we can 'reserve' it until July?

COME ON MAN, USE SOME COMMON SENSE.

Would you leave a property empty and lose £3000 worth of rental income in the hope that the person who said they would definitely have it 6 months previously will still be interested?

If you're a bit short in the common sense area, the answer you're grasping for is NO.

tomos42

Thanks for your reply Conor.
Maybe I didn't phrase the last question very well - It's possible to sign a contract for a student property now (even before Christmas in some cases), even though the lease doesn't start until July.
Of course the properties already have tenants who are paying up until then, so the landlord/letting agency aren't losing any money.

My question is whether the same sort of thing happens with non-student properties, i.e. if the current tenants do not wish to renew their contract several months before it is due to expire, does the landlord/agency advertise the property right away (say 3/4 months in advance) or wait until 4-6 weeks before the contract is due to expire?

I hope this makes sense,
Tom

Bargain_Rzl

Generally, non-student properties are not available to reserve several months before the event. People who aren't going to want to renew their contract don't generally have that specific a knowledge of when they will be moving out - house purchases and moves are so unpredictable.

I hope you find somewhere nice though - I love York and was a student there myself (Alcuin).

tomos42

That's what I wanted to know, thanks Bargain Rzl.
I'm in Halifax and my girlfriend is in Vanbrugh, not that it really matters once you've moved off campus! What did you study, if you don't mind me asking?
Yeah, we both really like York, although not many jobs for an Electronic Engineering student like me...Fine if you like chocolate tho

Tom

Heth_2

We are currently renting. I am a post grad student, and my husband works. We pay 75% of the council tax for the house.
Looking for places to rent on rightmove or similar you can sometimes find a property that is available in september or whatever, but most tend to be available now ones.
We started looking about 2 months before we needed to move in, but this was mainly bacause we were getting married so wanted to move a few weeks before, but could be flexible. We looked round about 8 or so places, currently paying 400 pounds a month for a 2 bed house, lounge, dining room, kitchen, small garden. That is in Coventry though, and the house is in a bit of a state. We are renting through an agency and while they aren't great, they haven't been too bad. Haven't had many probs with the house, fingers crossed getting the deposit back will be easy when we move.
The other thing was that renting a non student property and being post grad students (we both were when we first got the place, then husband started job a few months later) was a bit difficult. We had to put our parents down as guarantors even though we both got living cost tax free grants of 12 and 13.5 K respectively, so were effectively paid. They took up 12 references in total (3 each for us, and 3 each for our dads as well).

Ace

the council doesnt need to know that your girlfriend is living with you

tomos42

Thanks for sharing your experiences Heth. It's always comforting to know that someone else has got through it ok!

Ace - I did wonder about that, as we're planning to rent a 1 bedroom property so it could technically just be me. What happens if the IR find out? I hope there's no informants on these boards...
I'm guessing the contract may have to be in my name only?

Tom

Ace

If you are really worried, then just ask your girl friend not to receive any post at the flat you are renting. Because if she doesn’t, then technically she is not living there. She is just staying over for a fewwwww days