First time renting

Telecaster

Telecaster

Telecaster

Soldato
Joined
17 Jun 2012
Posts
5,951
I've just put in an application for a flat I viewed yesterday, currently living with a parent after previous attempt at life went pear shaped, back then I had a mortgage on my own place so no experience of renting.

I've absolutely no idea/forgot what I need to sort out, I'm looking at services but all the price comparison sites want to know your current supplier and deal before giving you a quote, which I obviously don't have.

Broadband seems straight forward, BT offer even covers my mobile requirements at £5 p/m on top.#

How does this look?

£600 rent
£80 ish council tax
£45-60 p/m dual fuel bill (estimated from online calculators)
£ ?? water
£100-150 shopping??
£10-15 mobile and broadband?

So about £900 p/m give or take, on £1500 take home.

Initial outlays would be some furnishings, but as a single bloke I'm not really in any sort of mad rush to sort this as I have some furniture in storage from previous home. I also have about £8k in savings should I need to dip into it.

What else do I need to consider? Insurance/what type/how much? Home let are doing the gubbins, they advertise at £10 p/m, no idea if that's any good.

Could quite possibly pay for a few bills yearly and reduce monthly outgoings like insurance policies and phone/broadband etc.
 
Contents insurance. Prices vary hugely depending on the area and don't forget that you will have to cover the owners furnishings (carpet, fitted goods etc..) against accidents.

Car insurance?
 
Budget around 25-30 p/my for water. Mobile and broadband is cheap on initial offer maybe but expect cost to go up later and don't forget line rental. You may also need TV license if you watch live TV too.
 
Thanks for water prices. No TV licence required.

I judged broadband costs from the threads on here, seems if you pay upfront and count in the £125 cashback it works out at £10-15 p/m.
 
Line rental by itself is creeping closer to 20 p/my without phone plans and broadband - you can get good deals for the first 12 months after that you'd need to switch provider probably.
 
You generally need to pay line rental for the line, even if you have no phone attached to it though, for the broadband to come in. The only exception to this I am aware of is VM who can do internet without the line, but I don't think it saves much.
 
Tenants liability insurance often included in regular contents insurance eg Aviva.

Since rental period can end after 6 months, consider possible early termination fees on Broadband. (providing you get ~£17 p/m all in should not be too bad though)

Rent from a company with reasonable referencing/sign-on fees - some want silly money ~350 others nearer ~200

When you confirm the inventory diligently take photos to email to agency of any issues.

(Don't you need a license even for iplayer catchup after September too?)
 
Yeah you will need a licence for that, but I don't use it, never had a TV or licence since I moved out of home.

Yes referencing/sign on was 330, plus security deposit of 700 and 600 month rent in advance, already budgeted for that hence the savings.
 
Bah, first hurdle.

I had someone on the phone today from the company the letting agency use for sorting utility suppliers and the like, which is odd because I've not been given the nod that my tenancy application has been successful, matey on the phone says "without jumping the gun, we don't get given the go ahead to phone you unless someone has ok'd the tenancy. So all sounding good.

Then I get an email from the estate agents telling me that even though my adverse credit history is 6+ years ago and that I meet the criteria and have good references that I will need a guarantor, I've no idea how they can give the go ahead to arrange utilities, inform the council and waterboard of my impending tenancy when they're after a guarantor.

Not sure what to do now, I don't really have anyone so instead I think I'll offer 3-6 months rent as a deposit and hope that shows I'm reliable enough to take on.
 
What do you mean by sort the utilities?

Are they just passing your details on or are they signing you up to new gas / electric contracts? If so that seems a bit off to me as they'll only be doing that to make money from the referral and you won't get the best deal.

As for the guarantor it might be down to salary rather than your credit history (the checks they do aren't always that detailed). Being a guarantor is quite a risk to take on so usually it would be a family member that does it for you, not always easy to find especially as you get older.

If you are really set on this place then offer 3 months rent upfront and see what they say. If they ask for six months think carefully about how that impacts your cash flow and do it as rent paid upfront, not as a deposit.
 
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Someone phoning you up about utilities sounds a bit dodgy, or its just a spam call as a result of putting your details into the compare sites. You can't really change the utilities until you have possession of the property.

Ah the old guarantor chestnut, some agents just want them no matter what but they'll not tell you until you have paid your "admin" fees. Nice money spinner for them.

Contents insurance can usually be found for cheaper than Homelet. Homelet will be paying commissions to your letting agent.
 
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MonkeyMan said:
What do you mean by sort the utilities?

Are they just passing your details on or are they signing you up to new gas / electric contracts? If so that seems a bit off to me as they'll only be doing that to make money from the referral and you won't get the best deal.

As for the guarantor it might be down to salary rather than your credit history (the checks they do aren't always that detailed). Being a guarantor is quite a risk to take on so usually it would be a family member that does it for you, not always easy to find especially as you get older.

If you are really set on this place then offer 3 months rent upfront and see what they say. If they ask for six months think carefully about how that impacts your cash flow and do it as rent paid upfront, not as a deposit.
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It's a brand new flat, the estate agency said I would get a call as it's a company they use to sort out the utilities, don't worry I knew it wouldn't be competitive and someone would be making off it, my point about it was that they don't get given the go-ahead to ring me until someone (landlord, EA??) has agreed to me being the tenant of which was a bit presumptuous as it turns out given the guarantor situation.

It's definitely because of my previous credit history, even though it's all satisfied from 6 years ago it seems it's still following me around, my wages easily clears their affordability figure of £18k p/a.

The only guarantor I could possibly get is my Dad who is retired and currently out of the country anyway, so I'd already done what you mention and offered 3-6 months rent in advance as can easily cover it, but as you say it wouldn't be as a deposit I'd want it as rent down up front.

LeeUK said:
Someone phoning you up about utilities sounds a bit dodgy, or its just a spam call as a result of putting your details into the compare sites. You can't really change the utilities until you have possession of the property.

Ah the old guarantor chestnut, some agents just want them no matter what but they'll not tell you until you have paid your "admin" fees. Nice money spinner for them.

Contents insurance can usually be found for cheaper than Homelet. Homelet will be paying commissions to your letting agent.
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Agreed, as per above reply.
 
Telecaster said:
It's a brand new flat, the estate agency said I would get a call as it's a company they use to sort out the utilities, don't worry I knew it wouldn't be competitive and someone would be making off it, my point about it was that they don't get given the go-ahead to ring me until someone (landlord, EA??) has agreed to me being the tenant of which was a bit presumptuous as it turns out given the guarantor situation.

It's definitely because of my previous credit history, even though it's all satisfied from 6 years ago it seems it's still following me around, my wages easily clears their affordability figure of £18k p/a.

The only guarantor I could possibly get is my Dad who is retired and currently out of the country anyway, so I'd already done what you mention and offered 3-6 months rent in advance as can easily cover it, but as you say it wouldn't be as a deposit I'd want it as rent down up front.
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Good good, sounds like you have it under control. Sorry from the OP you sounded a bit naive to renting (no offence :p) but as with estate agents just expect a letting agent to do whatever they can to squeeze more money out of you. :o

I'm surprised that they think £600 a month rent is affordable on £18k PA, that would leave you with hardly anything to live on after bills.
 
Yes I thought it a bit low as well, I am comfortably over that threshold and £600 is my top limit really, I wouldn't want to be earning less than I am now and paying that sort of rent.

Oh and I am naive to renting! I can just smell when someone is on the make and I like to sort things myself when it comes to bills and utilities anyway.
 
if it is a new flat, are the utilities call's to sort out the initial suppliers ?
if so it might be in your interest to tell them who you want otherwise it will be some arbitrary supplier, which you may then wan to change.
which will then mean dealing with the handover readings - in my experience it can take 6 months for some of the utility suppliers eg scottish power to send you a final bill when you leave them.
 
Surely the landlord would have had to sort the utilities out when they took possession of the property from the developer?

Also I thought developers usually have their preferred supplier who they put all the properties on the development onto once the meters are connected.
 
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