Renting for first time

[RentingOrNot]

Hey there!

I'm excited about the possibility of renting my own flat soon. Right now, I'm living with my parents, but I’ve come across a place that really catches my eye. I’ve run the numbers, and I can handle the rent along with bills, council tax, food, and all that. The thing is, I’ve never rented before, so I’m feeling a bit nervous about reaching out to the agent. I could really use some support or maybe a few words of advice. Thanks a bunch!

It sounds like a massive red flag.

First, are you certain you’d be a tenant not a lodger? Lodgers have far fewer rights.

Second, if the landlord’s offering a week’s notice then it doesn’t sound as if they’re looking for long term tenants and if anything went wrong, you might find it takes ages to get it fixed.

And lots of other potential problems. I’m sorry but I think I’d avoid this one.

The arrangements sound less.like you are getting your own place and more like a house shared with others, with one bedroom each. A houseshare or HMO.

My son did this when he first moved out and enjoyed the experience. He shared with a owner who had a professional job and just wanted a lodger to share his house with and bring him in an income. There are lots of these on a website called spareroom.

It’s a good way to start but I think the OP needs to be very clear about what she’s signing up for.

@EmpressaurusKitty

Absolutely right

I help people find rentals, my advice
Reach out to agents asap, good rentals go quickly. Be flexible on when you view, you may have to take a viewing rather than request one at a time that is convenient for you.
Equally if you want to proceed do it quickly, don't think you have ages to make your mind up
You don't actually need any documentation before you view normally but you may be asked your salary, job, if you smoke, have pets or children. In theory Landlords cant discriminate but there are ways around that.
Once you view if you want to proceed ask The agent for the application form or link and return it asap.
Then all applications will go to The Landlord for a decision. If you are successful you will be asked to pay a holding fee of 1 weeks rent. This will come off your first months rent. You will then go into Referencing. If you fail referencing you will not get the holding fee back.
This is the point where you will be asked for info about salary etc, usually via an online portal. These can be very yes/no and a bit frustrating at times.
If that all goes well you will be given a move in date (you can iften negotiate this a bit if needed) and a Tenancy agreement. Check this very carefully, its a legal document and you need to understand what you are agreeing to but they are usually pretty standard.
After signing it will go to the Landlord for signature and you should get a copy of a fully signed version. You will also be given a moving in amount - this will be 1st months rent, security deposit (usually 5 weeks rent) minus your holding fee. You will have to pay this before getting the keys.
When you get the keys you should also get some other documentation such as an energy certificate, gas safe cert and an Inventory. The inventory lists everything in the property and its condition. Check this carefully and if you wnat to dispute any of it you have 5-7 days to do this. Log anything you don't agree with by email so you have a record of it.
Think thats all.

The one the OP’s looking at seems to be a bit different, @Hoppinggreen. If you read her later posts, apparently it’s no deposit & a week’s notice for leaving.

I see, apologies I should have read more thoroughly.
Must be a HMO or Lodger set up then
I would advise caution or at least OP should check everything very carefully as there are some red flags there

Also, I am seeing a "no deposit scheme" being offered more now on standard rentals.
So the Tenant pays an additional monthly amount to pay for a sort of insurance against any damage rather than a security deposit BUT it doesn't absolve a Tenant of the Agency or landlord coming after them for damages at the end of the Tenancy as well.
Agents earn comission on it so many will push it but if someone can't afford a deposit its not a terrible idea. For anyone who has the deposit I don't advise it in most cases. One Agent tried to tell me that the Landlord on the property i was trying to secure would ONLY rent to my client if they used this no deposit scheme, funnily enough once i told them to put that in writing they backed down.

@LIZS @MrsMoastyToasty @Mumdiva99 @NoWordForFluffy @EmpressaurusKitty @Feelingstrange2 @Hoppinggreen
Thank you all, really appreciate all of your inputs! I wondered if that rental was a red flag and you’ve all helped me confirm that it’s not what I’m after, so I won’t be going for it.
@Hoppinggreen Thanks so much for your very detailed posts, ever so helpful!

Depending on how you feel, a shared house could well be a good place to start. You’d be independent but have company.