A Tenant's guide to renting

MissMoneypenny

olala wrote: »

Hi, I am looking to rent in Central London. Can anyone tell me how much the fees for agents usually are?

By the way any ideas how to avoid paying them overall? How could I find landlords / housing comp directly?
Thanks, o.

If you start your own thread, people should give you some answers. It's a bit quiet on this thread.

Chris2685

Just wanted to say thanks for all the info included here. Very useful guide

powerfulone

From my last year of renting, my lesson learned is to find out all hidden costs.

Here are some hidden costs from my tenancy which I wish I knew before hand:

• Every 6 months - renewal fee circa £35
• Professional Carpet Cleaning - £100
• Gardener to remove weeds get garden up to standard £100

Although I am not getting the pro's in. Although there has been a lot of pressure from my LL to do so, there is nothing in the contract about getting hired help to do the jobs!

tbs624

powerfulone wrote: »

From my last year of renting, my lesson learned is to find out all hidden costs.

Here are some hidden costs from my tenancy which I wish I knew before hand:

• Every 6 months - renewal fee circa £35
• Professional Carpet Cleaning - £100
• Gardener to remove weeds get garden up to standard £100

Useful points for newbie tenants.

I personally don't agree with renewal fees, but this is something that tenants may like to query at the start of their tenancy. LAs should notify you in advance but often don't : the trouble is they do all seem to virtually have a cartel on this practice.

It does tend to be the LAs who charge renewal fees, rather than the self-managing LLs and sometimes a brief chat direct with the LL will get it waived. If you've been a reliable tenant a LL is not going to want a possible month or two's void and the uncertainty of a new unknown tenant for the sake of 35 quid.

You can only be asked to have a professional cleaning of the carpets if this had been done prior to you moving in.

Your contract will probably have had a clause about maintaining the garden and, again, returning it in a similar condition to how it was at the start of your tenancy.

Chris2685

Would it be possible for someone who is renting at the moment to just give a break down of all the costs that need to be though about when renting?

I can think of the following:
Council tax
Electricity/gas/water bills
TV license
Phone bills
Internet (broadband)

I thought tenants usually had to cover the service charge, but the LA we spoke to today when viewing a property said that this was covered by the LL. Is that the case for all rented properties?

I have had a good look through this thread and seen conflicting ideas about what costs are involved.

Thanks for any info anyone can give

MissMoneypenny

This is the new land registry link for downloading a title plan and title register of a property:-
http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/lro/index.html

MissMoneypenny

Chris2685 wrote: »

I thought tenants usually had to cover the service charge, but the LA we spoke to today when viewing a property said that this was covered by the LL. Is that the case for all rented properties?

I have had a good look through this thread and seen conflicting ideas about what costs are involved.

Thanks for any info anyone can give

I don't know, but I would get that in writing before you sign the contract. There have been a few threads on here where LLs or LAs said something and then denied it later.

Stickies don't get a lot of responses, so perhaps you could start your own thread and ask again?

vixarooni

Great thread

My boyfriend is a key worker and we have applied for the discounted rent scheme and have a viewing booked next wednesday. Do the same sort of things mentioned on here still apply to us (apart from the obvious!)

It will be our first home together and the whole thing is like a foreign language! Ive written down some of the things said here to take with me and ask, im glad i popped in here to have a look!

richard87

This is a great post thanks

ioksane

I just wondered how much all of the utility bills and council tax would come to for a single guy living on his own in the midlands in a typical flat or apartment with rent of between £300 and £400 per month. I am planning on moving out and just wondered exactly how much its going to cost me and is it possible to do so on £14,500 per anum.

Many Thanks Josh