First time renting and rent intervals

ncmcdonald

Hi

I am about to rent my first house. I have been dealing directly with the landlord as there is no letting agent involved.

They are asking for the rent to be paid quarterly over a year. So for instance if I moved in on 1st August they want me to pay the rent for the first 3 months up to 1st November.

This seems a bit dubious to me. Is this a common thing to be doing.

Thanks

Soot2006

It's fairly common in student housing and very UNcommon in every other type of housing.

tbs624

It's not particularly dubious - for example, it's common practice with some student lets.

The main drawback for you as the T (apart from funding a huge chunk of rent at the start) is that when, and if, you move onto a periodic tenancy after the full term expires (if no further FT signed up for and you remain in occupation) your notice period has to tie in with your rental period, ie 3 months.

The only other potential issue is that this maybe a "reluctant" LL who is already struggling with his mortgage & is trying to get back on track. Check whether your potential LL does have a mortgage on the property and if yes, then ask whether it's either a BTL or that he has consent to let. This means that, in the event of him defaulting on the mortgage & doing a runner, the Lender should honour your tenancy agreement. If its a standard residential mortgage & he hasn't sought CTL, there is no obligation on the Lender to do so.

ncmcdonald

It is student housing so I guess this is what the LL is used to doing with all the previous tenants.

I guess we should check as you say whether there is a mortgage on the property and what type. I have spoken to her and asked whether she would consider monthly payments rather than quarterly.

I didn't realise this was common for student housing so I appreaciate your comments.

tbs624

The reason it' s often used with student lets is to tie in with student loan funds coming in - you get the Ts to cough up their rent before they spend it all down the union bar on two for the price of one shots, forgetting that they needed to budget for their rent, their books, their food Many Uni-owned halls will ask for termly payments too.

Check whether the LL is signed up to the Uni's code of conduct for providers of student accommodation