Private flat rental

[trem1]

I know some of you live in privately rented flats so i'm after advice/comments for my eldest son who's thinking of moving out and into a flat.
What should he be looking for to get a good deal and what should be avoided??

Can you let long-term or are they normally just short term lets ?

which is best furnished/unfurnished ??...he's got nowt

what are you normally allowed to do in respects of sheds/etc

Do agents do credit checks.......hes screwed if they do

[teamster1975]

Minimum term is usually a year I've found.

If he's got no furniture it depends whether he can get together enough gear to fill the place; you've got the point of having to start somewhere, it's amazing what people stash in the garage and you can pick up 3 piece suites & beds for peanuts in the paper or charity shops.

Re modifications; you are usually allowed to do what you like but the property must be returned to the condition it was in when you end the tenancy. Take lots of photos when they do the inventory so he can't be accused of causing damage that was already there!

Credit checks; yes they do these! But if he can get a guarantor this should be covered.

[mjb]

Estate agent contracts tend to be 6 month, with private being 12 month. This is because estate agents will charge a few hundred to print off a new contract and pop it in the post to you. Beware of the costs involved with estate agents - for my £575/mo house it cost me well over a grand in fees, then there's the deposit on top...

Estate agents ALWAYS do a credit check. You *may* get around this by acting as a guarantor if your credit history is clean.

Sheds won't be a problem unless you want to slap a concrete base down. Putting a garage up would be a no-no though. Interior modifications are down to the specific contract. My last house I couldn't even hang a picture on the wall, but this one I can even paint!

For a first house for a skint person, furnished may well be the way to go. You can't upgrade anything later though. "White goods" means fridge, washing machine, etc and if you're going unfurnished you REALLY want to avoid having to put up with the landlord's white goods. My washing machine broke down the other month. Took nearly 4 WEEKS to get it repaired. Could have done it myself in a few hours, or given how much we really really need a washing machine I'd have rather just thrown it out and bought a new one than wait a month! It took a few weeks to get the heating fixed when my little guy was only a few weeks old too! That's with an estate agent. With private landlords you're entirely at their mercy. At my last place I lived for years with mouldy walls and a cracked bog which I couldn't clean (it was only the limescale holding the water in!!!).

If he can afford it, go unfurnished, even if he has to spend the first six months using deckchairs instead of a sofa. I did that once - the wooden seaside type are surprisingly comfortable!

[teamster1975]

Estate agent contracts tend to be 6 month, with private being 12 month. This is because estate agents will charge a few hundred to print off a new contract and pop it in the post to you. Beware of the costs involved with estate agents - for my £575/mo house it cost me well over a grand in fees, then there's the deposit on top...

That may depend on area Matt, both our leases have been 12 month minimum term through a letting agent.
The initial costs are the killer; month and a halfs rent for the deposit plus a months rent up front, plus fees for background checks etc.

[mjb]

My estate agents are arses though. Couple hundred for a new contract every 6 months...

[teamster1975]

My estate agents are arses though. Couple hundred for a new contract every 6 months...

Farkin hall Matt! Talk about daylight robbery!

[mjb]

Aye. British Gas screwed me over after I moved and ruined my credit history, so they've got me over a barrel for the next 5-6 years unless I want to risk renting privately again

[lozz]

Hi mate,
Re private Lets,

avoid furnished flats if you can, otherwise, make up an inventory and get the landlord to sighn it,
some landlords are claiming to have items go missing to weasel out of paying back bonds at end of tenancys,
so inventories with a sighned witness is good to have,

tenancy agreements arnt worth the paper theyre wrote on,

tennancy lengths vary - 6 -12mths, you can get some landlords that will do long term lets
to get long term let you have to avoid estate agents/ property managers, theres alot of people out there that will rent direct cutting out the credit check fees and ask for a Reasonable bond etc,

[lozz]

My estate agents are arses though. Couple hundred for a new contract every 6 months...

Refuse to pay it,
ithink admin fees shouidnt be in excess of £35 iirc,
irember my ex landlord charging me £150 every 6mths,
he soon changed his tune after iseen someone at the c.i.b.

Talk to someone @ the c.i,b mate thats daylight robery that and ideffo wouidnt be letting him get away with it