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Moving into my first place. What's the cost?

Can any one help me?

Good friend and I are looking at renting a place for the first time. We've been adding things up to see what the cost is, but no doubt we're missing things. Can anyone outline the basic cost of living for a small 2 bed house/flat and point out little things that first time tenants would probably overlook?


Thanks.

Comments

  • caeler
    caeler Posts: 2,612 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Mortgage-free Glee! Photogenic
    Take a look at the stickies above your thread, they offer some excellent guidance for first time renters and I used it myself.

    People talk about making sure deposits are protected, inventory is double checked and agreed, take photographs of everything, etc. Listen they are right!

    The basic cost will be rent, tv licence, water, gas and/or electric, BT phone/internet and home contents insurance.

    When you sign the tenancy you'll both be liable for the rent even if one leaves so I'd suggest you have that discussion together up front (even if you are really good friends).
  • Jowo_2
    Jowo_2 Posts: 8,308 Forumite
    You will need to pay a months rent in advance and between 1 month to 6 weeks deposit, plus agency fees which can be high as up to £200 per person (plenty of critical posts on these forums about this practice). Therefore there's the potential for you to have to part with the equivalent of 2 months worth of rent in terms of cost before you even get the key.

    As the previous poster has outlined, you need to fully understand what a joint tenancy entails - namely that if one tenant gives notice, the tenancy ends for all unless the remaining tenant can negotiate a further contract with the landlord, and it is irrelevant which of you is responsible for damage/arrears - you are jointly and severally liable. The tenancy works as if there is just a single 'tenant' there so the fact that there are a couple of individuals there is irrelevant.

    There are lots of posts on this forum from friends that fall out when they live together and don't understand how a joint tenancy works. This includes quarrels about overnight guests, smoking, cleaning, non-contribution to bills and so forth, so setting a few basic houserules could help to prevent petty disputes that snowball out of proportion.

    There are also numerous posts from tenants who suffer damp and mould (sometimes caused by their own behaviour) or poor heating so you would be wise to check the heating/water system of the property to make sure you aren't lumbered with expensive/inefficient heating (such as electric heaters or an old gas boiler) or a property prone to damp. Therefore take care to inspect and check the heating and ventilation that's in place.
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