Renting a Property
With ever increasing prices hitting mortgages hard many people find themselves turning to rental property as a more cost effective alternative with added bonuses. So what are these added bonuses? Well if you are renting a property you don’t have to worry about the maintenance of the property. If you have building repair work such as damaged walls, windows, plastering or a burst water pipe they will all be taken care of on behalf of your landlord, meaning you have peace of mind that your property is being taken care of.
The terms rent and lease refer to an agreement between you and your landlord, it is an agreement that states you have the temporary use of a property, which is either owned by an individual or a company. Your agreement is a written contact that is drawn up between you and your landlord. This contract states how long you have the use of a property for. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant such as the length of the contract, the amount of rent that will be collected each month and what is and isn’t allowed to be brought with you to the property i.e. pets.
When it comes to finding the best way of renting a property you have three basic options open to you. Rental property is available from three avenues, which are private landlords, local councils and housing associations. If you want to opt for the private landlord you should look around several estate agents to ensure that you get the property that you want. Private landlords will normally rent their property at the market rate and their right to increase the rent depends on the type of tenancy. Make sure you get a tenancy agreement and read it carefully before committing to it.
If you opt for the local councils and housing associations, if you need rented accommodation you may be eligible for council or housing association accommodation. Housing associations do not normally allocate their homes to people directly, only through the council’s housing list. The council will allocate housing to those in greatest need on its list and property is often in great demand.
If you have a low income you may be able to apply for Housing Benefit to help pay your rent. Your savings as well as your income will be used to work out whether you can get benefit and if so how much.
As a landlord there are certain things that you need to ensure before you put your property up for rent. You need to ensure that the design and general upkeep of the property, whether it is a house or flat, you need to make sure that it is up to suitable housing standards and that it complies with health and safety laws. As a landlord it is your responsibility to ensure that your property is capable of providing heat and the building must be in good condition with any repairs that need to be carried out being done so.
Helen is the web master of ARCH Property Management, specialists in all aspects of Property Letting.
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