How do i rent a house / flat?

findingmyownway

Apologies for seeming totally dumb, but i have never rented a house or sorted out this kind of thing on my own. I have lived with OH for 6 years (been together for 7) after moving out of home with mum. This weekend he has decided he doesn't want to be with me anymore. Nothing is set in stone yet but i feel like i need to make a start on researching my options. We bought a house together 3 1/2 yrs ago, i don't think i can afford to buy him out but he could buy me out. So that would leave me with the option of renting/buying on my own? I don't think now is the right time to buy on my own so will go with the renting idea.

I am in Leeds. Does anyone know any good sites for looking at rental properties? I need to be able to take my cat.

I have plenty of offers of beds / sofas in the short term but i think i'd feel better if i knew a bit about renting.

How much does it typically cost for a start? Does rent include bills or not? I guess i would be looking at a ground floor flat or preferably a small house.

Thanks in advance

Riq

findingmyownway wrote: »

How much does it typically cost for a start? Does rent include bills or not? I guess i would be looking at a ground floor flat or preferably a small house.

Thanks in advance

To answer these two questions it just depends completely on the area you want to live. The bills also depends, sometimes it will, sometimes it wont. It will say on the advert if bills are incluided. If it mentions nothing of whether they are or aren't I would assume 99% of time bills aren't included.

Good luck with your search.

rightmove.co.uk is a good place to start btw.

The cat maybe an issue though, but you never know!

tbs624

Try here: http://leeds.gumtree.com/

As you'd be new to renting IMO the best thing to do would be to familiarise yourself with the rights and obligations of both LL and Tenants, before you sign any contract. Have a look here: :http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138289 and here : http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/138286.

Any rental property must have a Gas Safety Certificate by law so always ask to see it, and any deposit you pay must be protected by the LL registered with one of three deposit schemes. If you rent through a letting agent, you may be asked for "admin fees" ( whatever the agents wants to charge!)and fees for tenant credit checks (£50 approx). A LL acting for himself will probably only want a credit check fee. Please bear in mind that anyone can set themselves up as a Letting Agent, with no training, qualifications or particular expertise. If a LL has more than one property ask other tenants how they view them - a good LL will have no objection to you contacting current/previous tenants.

Good luck, but before you agree to be bought out from your current home by your OH do get some qualified legal advice so that you get a fair deal

PasturesNew

As a rule of thumb:

1] your own place won't be bills inclusive and you'd need to budget £150-200/month for the bills.

2] a shared house is unlikely to be bills inclusive. Those that are tend to be student-shared-houses or where you are lodging with the home owner.

Good luck to you and your kitty!

kte

If you go and see lettings agents make sure you tell them about the cat - we found it ruled many places out (although ended up finding somewhere wonderful and cheap!). Unless it has already had a cat in the property you'll have to ask permission to install a cat flap (which we were told we would have to remove when we left).

Good luck!