First Time Flat Renting - A Few Questions

chrispardo

Hi all,

I'm a 25 year old professional planning on moving into a rented flat in the town I work in come October. This is my first time really renting a property; myself and a friend have been informally renting a house off his family for the past 3 years, so I've never been through the process of viewing, applying, accepting, deposting etc.

The reason for October is two-fold: Firstly, that's when I told my current housemate and LL I'd be moving out, giving them a 2 month informal notice. Secondly, my annual review/pay-rise should be around then!

I have a few questions to try and pick your collective brains with, and thought it best to group these up rather than end up littering these boards with them:

1. With the aim to move in during October, when should I start viewing potential flats?

2. Related to the question above, do LA/LL insist on a tennant beginning their contract immediately, or would they have flexibility if I said I wasn't looking to move in for another 3 weeks (for example)?

3. I've been using RightMove to scout places for months, but have had friends tell me when they've contacted LAs from RM, the listings online are often out-of-date. Would a better option be to contact LAs directly and ask them to show me what they have?

4. In your experiences, how likely is it that I'm going to be able to have Sky or Virgin cable installed in a flat?

5. Any tips or things to watch out for are very welcome!

Thanks all in advance; I'm sure I'll think of more questions over the coming weeks!

ilovecheese

Hello

To answer some of your questions

I would start viewing about 2 months before you want to move in.

The Landlord will losing money all the time the property is empty, however, most should be willing to wait 2-3 weeks, it really depends on the position of your LL, and if he has any other prospective tennants.

Yes, you can go to any Letting Agency (or e-mail) them, telling them what you are looking for, however, don't assume that all letting agents are good at their jobs, and they will contact you when a property becomes available. You can register on Rightmove and get them to send you an alert every time a property is listed.

Out of the 3 properties that we have rented, we got permission for a sky dish at the first one, were not allowed one in the second and a sky dish was already installed in the third, you need to ask the agent this question, and get your reply in writing!

Other advice:-

If you find a property you like, ask the agent before you view it what their fees are - letting agents can charge what they like, so you need to ask if you will be charged for the check-in or check out inventory, what they charge to credit check you, and if they charge for the AST contract.

If you have any specific questions, or want something in the property changed/removed/cleaned/repaired, to not do this verbally GET IT IN WRITING!

Ask to see a copy of the AST, read it and make sure you are happy with the terms.

In short do not trust letting agents, I have only found 1 decent one in the last 3.5 years, most of the time they have no knowledge of the housing act, no idea how to treat people and some of them are so thick it makes me wonder how they manage to get up and get themselves dressed on a daily basis.

When it come to chosing a property, I would always knock on a neighbours doors to find out what the area/road/street is like. Take a good look around any property you go to see, and don't rush into a decision.

It is always worth "offering" a price rather than agreeing straight away to the rent that is being asked, if you don't ask you don't get!

Hope some of this helpful - good luck!!

chrispardo

Some really good advice there ilovecheese, many thanks! Guess I'll start viewings ASAP!

tbs624

There is also much useful advice for newbie renters in the "stickies" up at the top of this board.

chrispardo

Thanks, I'd had a quick look at those, which are pretty good for general advice on what to be wary of. No matter where I looked I couldn't find any info on how long these kind of things take, which to a renting newbie is one of those peculiar quirks that you have no idea about!

kmmr

private landlords are not on rightmove, so look in local paper or websites - whatever is the norm for your area. gumtree is good in london, but be wary of scammers. very easy to spot as they ask for money upfront, for what looks like the perfect flat at below market rates!

There are many good private landlords, but some bad. try to get a sense of their professionalism by asking about deposit protection etc. experinced lls will be able to answer clearly and confidently.

Biggest advantage is no letting agent! For both parties.

tbs624

Try the local Council for a list of accredited private sector LLs, and also look for a local LL association who should be able to put you in touch with those LLs who self-manage their properties.

On your question about when properties would be available for let , any LL or LA who has an empty property will of course push a potential T to take it asap because ,obviously, a property standing empty costs them money. That's not to say that you can't try negotiating Much depends on how likely it is that the property you are after will be snapped up by another potential T.

On the sky dish, different LLs obviously have different views on that, and some will be bound by Freeholder rules.Some may agree to it if you are willing to leave it when you move out of the property or arrange to remove it and "make good"

northern_at_heart

I would avoid dealing with a letting agency if at all possible, which probably means looking in local newspaper, Gumtree, supermarket ads, etc rather than Rightmove.

I've rented two places privately and one through an agency, and found the agent a complete rip-off (charged £20 for a credit check - Experian's costs £2!, £100 'check-out fee', umpteen 'admin fees' and the like). When it came to getting problems sorted they were very slow and more often than not we ended up contacting the landlord directly instead. My experiences with private landlords have been much better: maybe I've just been lucky, but both have been much more helpful and haven't ripped us off. The second one, we actually saw the flat on RM, and when we viewed it, it was the LL showing us round and when we got chatting he offered us to do us a deal and forget about RM... I'm not sure whether that's against their rules (it must be!) but we were more than happy to deal directly with him, so we all saved a fortune in fees.

Do always check though, that your deposit will be held in one of the approved schemes. And if there is any demand for payment before you've even viewed the flat, steer well clear! I think your instincts are your best tool in this situation. If a contract looks dodgy or isn't forthcoming, don't pay anything and walk away.

split_second

have you thought about a short term houseshare if you dont find one you like?

SharkyGeorge

Really useful thread as Im in a very similar situation! Have heard many scare stories and am worried about scams/being ripped off etc!

chrispardo

I'm a fairly positive person, so while I'll be wary of asking the right questions and making sure everything regarding deposits and additional payments are above board, I'm willing to start with the assumption that a LA is not out to get me.

I'm finding it tough trying to find a private LL. There's not a vast amount of flats around here (Stafford), and as I'm 20 minutes from the area at the moment I don't get any of the local papers. Tried Gumtree, but there was nothing. I've still been using RightMove so far, but it's frustrating how out-of-date it appears to be. Out of 5 flats I've rang up to ask about viewing, 4 have already gone. Waiting for a call back all afternoon on the other.

I'll let people know how I get on if it's of interest!