When looking for student houses to rent, you have to do a lot of research. Not all houses will be the same and not all will charge the same. It will not be just the monthly rent that needs to be taken into account, but there will be other costs that you will have to bear. Sometimes, before you can be accepted as a tenant, the landlord will need to make sure he gets the tenant he wants. You may be concerned about the contract, but they may be too. Homeowners will have been cheated in the past and won’t want to take the risk again.
There will be a number of paid checks that they need to do and this will start when they do a credit check and in some cases CRB (Criminal Records Bureau check) and the bill will start from there. It may help if you provide your own CRB check, as this will make it more difficult for the landlord to overcharge you for the service. Many times there will be an administration charge and this again needs to be discussed as it often turns into £100 for very little work. If you ask to see the list, it will be possible to consult some of them and the landlord can download them.
If you think the landlord is not being fair with the charges, you may be better off looking elsewhere. It would also help if this was reported to your university as it will prevent you from overcharging others. One final fee that has been creeping up in some places is that agents charge to take a student to view the property. This is not allowed and should not be paid for. Depending on the circumstances, there may be the possibility of paying less rent. I wouldn’t buy a house without trying to get a discount. So why rent one without trying? When the mortgage interest rate is low, there is no need to pay more than a fair amount.
When it comes to repairs, don’t forget that the landlord is liable unless you are the person who caused the damage. If you are going to share a home, you need to be able to trust people, as it is possible for the landlord to collect from people for debts left by other tenants. They may also want the parents to act as guarantors in case there is a problem. By signing, you will be promising 12 months of rent even though the academic year is only 9 months. If you can negotiate a shorter contract, do so. Also check where the deposit is stored, as the owner has a legal obligation to keep it in a safe place. This is going to be an expensive year, so do your best to keep costs down.