A Tenant's guide to renting

monthen

Hello folks

Apologies if this has already been answered in another thread. I have already looked, and couldn't see anything directly relevant.

I am moving out of a rented flat shortly, and a letting agent is coming round soon to take pictures and draw up a description for the advert etc.

My question is: if I tell him about unpleasant aspects of the property, such as horrible smells from the drains, and noisy neighbours (no formal complaints made), is he under a legal obligation to inform prospective new tenants of that? I don't think it's particularly fair for a new tenant to pay an exorbitant rent and not be warned, as happened to us.

Any advice hugely appreciated!

Thanks

Andy

wolvesinwales

zakcox2012 wrote: »

If you want a reliable, efficient and friendly letting agents i recommend Luscombe and Co, Letting Agents in Newport, Gwent they have the best staff around. check their website luscombelettings.co.uk

They might be perfect but following this spam and a quick look at their reviews on google that all seem to be written by the same person judging by the spelling and grammer mistakes I will now steer well clear !!

paul1979uk

Afternoon all. First of all great first post, very handy. Unfortunately i'm already some way down the road with this flat i'm looking to rent. My main question is to do with estate agents fees and what they cover.

My gf and I are the tenants and have been charged £240 estate agents fees. So far i'm bemused as to what these fees actually cover, it seems to be one initial viewing and referencing/credit checks which took a third party company all of two hours to complete and call me to say everything was fine. The esate agent has done nothing else.

• They haven't done an inventory.

• Any query i've had they've told me has been forwarded to the landlord as they aren't managing this property and have been hired by him to find a tenant only.

• They won't give me the landlords details until the day we move in.

• I haven't had chance to inspect the flat and look for any issues with the building or furniture that I want written in to the tenancy agreement.

• I've had to ask for a copy of the tenancy agreement before we sign it on 5th May and have been told it's on it's way.

• I turned up at their office on Saturday morning, as instructed by them, with photo i.d. The woman on duty didn't know what to do with it.

What am I paying them for? I just don't understand it. I also feel like i'm going into this totally blind. I've asked for the flat to be cleaned properly before we move in, preferably professionally, apparently they've told the landlord. What happens if I move in and the place isn't cleaned satisfactorily or there is damage to furniture etc that I can be blamed for?

TheUmpteenth

file>print...

Gunnytron

We have just moved out of a flat and the LA is trying to charge us for cleaning the carpets. They were not in perfect condition 3 years ago when we moved in and we also went over them with a rug doctor. Surely any remaining should be counted under normal wear and tear?

Also, the reason we moved put is because we were told that the flat was being sold. We did see it advertised but on our move out day the rep from the LA let slip that the flat is now going to be rented again. Is this even legal?

gildius

Great post!

The last house I rented was stuffed fall of problems. The main thing I learned was to take photographs of EVERYTHING the minute you move in, write down all the problems you find, get your letting agent/landlord to acknowledge that they've seen the photos, and get them to sign your list of problems.

On the plus side, my new rented house is mostly lovely!

kathola

Some contract jargin advice please!!

I am about to move into a property and do not wish to remain with the energy provider (Spark Energy, which I think benefits the LA in some way).
However, in the tenancy agreement it says:

7) The Tenant undertakes to promptly pay all accounts for services and utilities ... etc

It then goes on to say that an account will be opened with the LA preferred provider in my name in (a) and (b)

(c) The Tenant can change the provider to one of their preference but must notify the Agent of having done so and provide details of their account - ???? Do I legally have to notify them?

(d) The Tenant will not allow any of the utility services to be disconnected, altered or removed in any way without prior written consent of LL or LA.

(e) The tenant will be responsible for payment of all costs chated by a service provider/utility company to reinstate and or restore any service changed or allowed to be changed by the tenant e.g. Changing from credit to pre-payment and additionally pay £60.00 + VAT to the Agent for their associated administration costs. All charges incurred will be paid by the Tenant, which, if not paid on 1st demand will be deducted from any deposit held. - Does this mean I have to pay the Agent £60 + VAT when I change from Sparks to another provider???

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this company have made so many mistakes already but it's too late to get our deposit back and we will be homeless by Friday if we don't go through with it!

Thriftyj

We would love to buy our rented house (from private landlord currently through letting agent). Has anyone got an advice on how we approach? Many thanks in advance

Blunny89

Hi there,

Me and my flatmate have recently moved out of our old rented accommodation (through a reputable letting agent). When we first moved in, the inventory was incorrect, so we had the person record how it needs changing onto a dictaphone. Since, we never received an updated inventory.

During the checkout process, the old inventory was used and the letting agent are trying to charge us for cleaning (almost 50% of our deposit) and redecorating the flat. Bearing in mind the flat looked better upon moving out and we spent a good two days cleaning, me and my flatmate think this is unreasonable but are unsure regarding what rights we have, if any?

Does anybody have any suggestions? Much appreciated.

Lee

tbs624

Hi Lee - welcome as a newbie

If you go onto the main HBR& S board and hit the "new thread" button up at top left, then repost you'll get plenty of responses