What do you need to budget for when renting?

[duffybeatmetoit]

DH has offer of job in another part of the country and will need to find rented accommodation whilst I stay in our house. As it is a very long time since either of us have rented accommodation, can anyone advise what we need to budget for? All advice on the subject much appreciated!

council tax (check if it is not included in the rent)
agent fee
deposit
contents insurance
tv licence (again, check if it is covered by rent)
water (again, sometimes included)
electicity/gas

You should both apply for single person discount on the council tax.

You shouldn't have to pay an agent's fee (that is for the landlord)
but you will probably need one month's rent as deposit and 1 month's rent in advance.

not agent fee as such, but most agents take a fee for doing the credit check and printing out the contract...

Yes, the pointless admin fee. I hate paying that.

I also had to pay a £400 fee to get the house taken off the market in addition to £125 pp admin fee and £200 cat fee and 6 weeks rent as a deposit!

bloody hell! That's not right!

We had to pay around £300 in admin and credit check fees, a months rent and 6 weeks rent to be held as a deposit first off.
Of course there are then normal bills and contents insurance!

Thanks for all that. Is it better to go for something with bills included in the rent or where you pay separately? Do you have to sign up for a minimum period and if so how long is that generally?

some rentals insist on a professional carpet clean or floor polishing upon vacation, make sure he checks that everything is spotless when he moves in, otherwise they could deduct cleaning fees from your deposit. Insurance? for accidental damage/personal belongings.

If he just takes a small flat, he wont need to bother with tv, if he has laptop and broadband, love film and iplayer is a lot cheaper....

He might not need to bother with contents insurance either.

the standard ast contracts are for one year, with a break clause at 6 months. but there are countless variations on that.

Thanks - any thoughts on all inclusive rents v paying your own bills?

In my personal experience, places that include bills tend to be a bit... scummyer; they are geared towards people who would be otherwise unreliable at paying bills. (students for a start). I would always always have contents insurance; for a small place with not much in it it's be cheap but totally worth it.

consider that even if you get a fully furnished place you will still need to get spare stuff like cooking utensils and bedding etc.

I found that most places (here at least) are at least 6 months minimum period; last time I paid admin fees it was only about £50, deposit was 1 month rent+£100.

Always make sure you fill out the inventory fully; noting the slightest scratch on anything; make sure electrical appliances work fully, get written evidence of all transactions and problems (requests for maintainance / permissions etc).

Check for availability of power points and internet/ phone lines; I made the mistake of getting a place that had no BT or virgin line installed; I had to get written permission from landlords first, then pay the installation fee for BT.

Make sure the deposit is paid into one of the government vetted deposit protection agency.