What does renting involve?

[ojbsmum]

We're contemplating selling our flat and renting as a way to get more space and move to better area for schools. We're trying to think through all the pros and cons but as neither dh or I have rented for donkeys years we're not sure what is actually involved in renting.
If rightmove says £1000pcm, how much would we generally be looking at paying up front? Is it just 1 month rent plus a month deposit or other fees we don't know about too?
Anything else we should be aware of? And how would would we look for properties, should we look through agents or try and find a private landlord?
We never thought we'd be looking to rent again but think it could be our best/only way to move any time in next few years. Just want to go into it knowing what to expect... Any advice from tenants/landlords gratefully received!

I rent privately - and found it through a friend. I paid 1 month + 1 month deposit.

If you have good landlords i.e. Respond quickly, actually care about the condition the flat/house is in, then the cons are few:
Risk of being given notice when the contract runs out; we were on 6 month to start and it's now the case that I have to give 1 month, they have to give 2 months notice.

And limited in terms of decorating/putting up shelving, etc. Depends on the landlord again. They sometimes want it to stay the same/neutral, or OK it if you ask 1st and offer to repaint when you leave if needed.

Pros - your housing costs are v predictable. Give or take a few quid depending on energy use I know there'll be no surprises e.g. Blocked drains to pay to unbung, washing machine to fix/replace, boiler to service/repair.

I'd think with children, your concern may be the length of lease so you don't have to suddenly find somewhere new in the same area for school continuity.

It really, really depends on your landlord.

Best place I've ever rented had a great landlord - came round as soon as you mentioned there was a problem, hired professionals when necessary (rather than a "mate"), gave good notice if he did have to come round for some reason.

On the flipside, we've just moved out of a place where despite 6 months of complaining nothing was ever fixed - this included a radiator that was hanging off the wall as half of the screws had come out of the plasterboard, and gaping holes in the kitchen wall. We were stuck in a contract, and from what we could find online we had pretty limited rights as tenants.

Word of mouth is your best bet to find someone that won't mess you around.

I rent through an agency and had to pay one months rent plus a months deposit. The agents are great, they respond to my queries quickly, but the actual landlords can be a pain.....they don't actually like spending money on the place. Since I have lived there (nearly 12 months) I have had to have a new cooker and new shower as both broke within a week of me moving in. They were reluctant to replace either - but did as the agents told them they had to. I requested to paint the living and dining room which they allowed me to, but I am limited in putting pictures etc up as I can only use the fixtures already in place. It does say in my lease that I am not allowed to use blue tac, sellotape etc to put things up on the wall - but the kids have their posters up on the walls. I initially had a 6 month contract, and then it was supposed to go on a month by month basis. I requested a further 12 month lease and the landlords agreed to this - though the agents did charge me a £60 fee for this new contract! i also have inspections from the agency every few months, and so far so good, never had a bad inspection and they give you plenty of notice as to when they are turning up.

I'm renting at the moment - we paid no deposit and our landlord is letting us move out early before contract end. We found it on gumtree.

This is pretty rare though, most places I've contacted its a months rent for deposit and then a flat agent fee of a few hundred or more. Of course you should be able to get all of your deposit back.

Be warned - a few friends have been asked to move out of rented after their contract is up recently so bear that upheaval in mind when you weigh up living in own home or renting.

In my area the standard is 1 month to six weeks deposit plus the first month up front and then estate agent fees (up to £200 tops?)

I used to be lettings negotiator so my advice is

1. if renting through an agency check with them what their fees are (through fee for contract to any additional charges such as credit check, reference check fees - yes some agencies breakdown their fees individually and it all adds up)

Also check with the agency what their letting process is - some agencies require different documents but typically they require copy of ID (passport), credit checks, reference checks, inventory check in fee etc.

Also some agencies such as Foxtons provide properties on a managed basis i.e. the landlord has agreed for the agency to act as an intermediary when things go wrong/ don't work - this is beneficial if you can get this without pay any extra as you do not have to contact the landlord directly.

Typically with an agency upfront payments are agency fees + 1 months rent + 6 weeks deposit

You should make sure your deposit is registered with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and that you are given a certificate/ registration number as proof - the agency should arrange this for you (here is a site for more information about this www.tds.gb.com/) basic idea is to provide some protection to your deposit in the event of disputes over damages.

2. if renting privately you should make sure you protect yourself as much as possible - make sure you sign an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement - the landlord should have a version for you. This agreement gives you maximum protection and is a legal document that can be used in court. Ensure that your landlord undertakes an inventory on move in - if he does not do this make it happen - you can easily download typical templates from the net - don't just take written evidence of the state of the flat you move into take photos too. A private landlord is supposed to by law register your deposit into a tenancy deposit scheme but many don't (www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/Tenancies/DG_189120) - this is why I say you must ensure you do an inventory with photo evidence in case of disputes.

Typically with private renting the amount of deposit you put down varies depending on the landlord it could be just 1 month deposit or standard 6 weeks. Best thing about private renting is that you save on agency fees but you take on a little risk in that

I think that pretty much covers it really.

Thanks everyone.
There's so much to think about.
Barring a lottery win we just can't afford to buy in areas we'd like for schools. Quite keen on the idea of someone else being responsible for maintenance (just had huge unexpected bill for new roof which has pretty much wiped out our savings) but I've been struggling with idea of not being in control of what happens when, especially decorating.
Our main concern though is landlord suddenly deciding they want to sell and having to move. This happened to me last time i rented, and already this year to both upstairs and next door neighbours. Is there anything we can do or look out for in a landlord to minimize this risk?

ojbsmum - you could try asking the agent (if you go through one) why the landlord is letting the place. In our case, we are letting our family home because we were posted abroad. We knew it would be for at least three years, possibly four, so were able to commit to a decent period. Our lovely tenants (who also asked for first refusal should we have decided to sell) have just given notice after three and a half years. I'll be sorry to see them go. As it happens, we've got another posting, so will be able to guarantee the next lot of tenants a long lease as well if they want one .

Some of the other houses in our development were bought by "professional" landlords/developers. Two sets of neighbours were given short notice to leave because their landlord was selling up, I suspect because he was overstretched.

As a landlord, if you are good tenants (pay on time, keep the place clean and tidy, report things that need fixing) I'd do my best to keep you for as long as I could. And because you're living in my family home, not a property I've bought to let and therefore want to make as much money out of it as possible, I don't quibble about fixing things.

You sound like a great landlord Neither. Don't suppose your property is anywhere near Guildford?!

I wouldnt have your hopes up with someone doing the maintenance. I rented for 5 years before buying my own place. In that period I lived in 3 flats. The first two were managed by the landlord and neither would fix anything. Our second was worst as he wouldnt even fixed the electric shower after it broke down. He got the plumber to disconnect it. We were moving within the same area and both times the landlord totally renovated the place after we moved out. The second one got a new bathroom. I think they never do any renovations when there I a sitting tenant? But the upside is, whenever you move you get new bathroom, kitchen etc. Our last place was managed by an agent and it was the best. They came very quickly when things broke down. None of them allowed us to nail anything to the wall. I'm not sure how safe that is if you have LOs. However it could be that I was renting a flat in a hot area, and they only rent to professionals with no children or pets.

I won't go back to rental if I have the choice. I don't want to move if I want something fixed.

Thank you ojbsmum . I'm afraid not!

Having lived in 7 different rentals in the last 10 years (moved for work in the main) it really does depend on the landlord and agent. I second trying to find out why it is being let - we lived in a house where the landlord had moved abroad for work but still thought of it as his home, he didn't want to repair anything but also wanted the house to magically maintain itself as he remembered it through rose tinted glasses. Also, why did last people move, try asking neighbours maybe. We had our door kicked in in the middle of the night we think connected to last tenants who did a midnight flit. By the way I live in Norfolk and choose nice places, just been unlucky!

Take photos when you move in and go through inventory carefully. We had to use deposit protection scheme adjudication on the landlord mentioned above, who after our whole families helped us clean etc solidly for a week tried to keep our deposit saying we had wrecked the place!

Word of mouth for an agent is good, check their fees. Our current house was a month's rent in advance and a month's rent as deposit, plus about £140 fees. We rented a house which was 2 months in advance equivalent as deposit, over £200 fees plus £100 each for compulsory check in and check out fees.

Hope this helps! Our current agents are lovely and fix things immediately and were really helpful. Landlord has the house as a buy to let and is keen for long term tenants. Depending on work we hope to stay for a while!

Good luck hoping no spelling mistakes, please excuse any as am on iPad which is balanced on sleeping cat!