Advice to students regarding the renting of accommodation - www.Student-Accom.com
A Quick Guide to renting a House
| You want a
good house - ask final year students in private accommodation..........
Why...........? |
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 the chances are that they have been in private
accommodation for two years and have found a good house (or recognise a bad one!) - they will know the
ropes |
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they are possibly going to be moving out at the end of
the year so the house may be available - ask! |
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the best houses (location, quality, facilities &
reputable landlords) definitely are let first - if it looks good, don't hang about - rent it! |
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BUT you may want to find other deals, if so wait, let
the landlords sweat - you've really just got to judge your market |
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if your 'house' group is large or is out of the ordinary
in any particular way, start searching now or even earlier - your requirement
may mean that you need maximum choice |
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under no circumstances pay to get on an agent's books - he gets his commission from the landlord - if he insists, look
elsewhere |
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try to find a private landlord - one who lets
direct - after all, he's possibly the one who's most interested in making sure that his
tenants are happy! |
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your new landlord will want to know that you are going to be
good tenants - BUT, likewise, you also should check up on him - ask around - ask
the existing tenants - ask the Advice Centre at the Union - what do they know
about him? |
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get the tenancy
agreement checked by your Student Advice Centre before you sign it -
once signed, it's too late! |
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make sure that your 'house' group can get on - there's
not a lot worse knowing that you've got yourself stuck with a toe-picking wally
who thinks that 9 on Sunday morning is a good time to show the world that when it comes to Rap, Eminem's not even on the grid! |
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advice costs nothing but can be worth a lot - yeah, it might be boring
but ... it's true! |
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Hopefuly you'll never need it - but could you get out of the place if there was a fire and you
were on the top floor - think about it |
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now.... go and try it (just to make sure & without the fire) - remember Scorched
Students make for Hot Headlines (sorry) - even worse for you if you're the one who's
not around to read them |
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Looking on the down side of house renting - if anything will, it's going to be 1 of 3 things that'll kill you in your rented home ....
- get a Carbon Monoxide Detector with a siren - they are cheap and you can use them elsewhere (they're small, portable, and always useful) - try Kidde Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Detector - Amazon sell them.
- check that the gas fittings have Corgi certificates (in the UK) - see 'Legal' below
- ask when the house was last checked electrically - standing under the shower with your hair standing up on 240 volts is neither style nor fashion (and tends to be terminal!) Ask to see the evidence of this check and .... if it hasn't been checked, ask the landlord if he'll get it checked. He may not want to (because it will cost him) but gently insist. If he still won't, chances are you shouldn't be staying in that house!
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| What is
required legally from the landlord? (UK legislation applies) |
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Gas Certificate - called a CORGI - no more
than 12 months old |
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Electrical Certificate - no more than 5 years
old - not required legally but advisable |
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Furniture - each piece of soft furniture
needs a label saying that it is Fire Resist |
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make sure he sticks to his part of the tenancy agreement |
| If the
landlord cannot comply with any of this, he's probably breaking the Law
..... |