#TuesdayTips - Top seven renting tips

Sharing a flat can be an enriching experience, cutting costs and forming friendships and great fun with the right people. It can also be excruciating if you share with people who don’t do their share of housework and cleaning or who don’t pay their way.

With more and more people having to rent through their 20’s and into their 30’s, learning the etiquette of sharing a home helps smooth the process and makes it more fun and rewarding.

1. Set a budget

When it comes to fix the rent you will be willing to pay for, make sure your forecast is realistic. The cost of living can dramatically vary depending on cities. To estimate their monthly budget, flatmates can use the budget calculator, an interactive tool created by EasyRoommate.

Millions of people in their 30s are unable to get a foot on the property ladder. So when living in a rented accommodation, it is important to learn how to stay on top of the monthly budget. Selecting an area according to your workplace will help you to see if it is more cost effective for you to live in zone 4 or 2.

It is likely that your roommates are in a similar financial boat as you are. So sharing your daily purchases with your roommates could minimise for example the stress that can come with having all your money lumped in one place.

2. Be aware of scammers

Scammers are the plague of the Internet. and real estate market is not spared from them. To avoid those fraudulent postings, use a specialised website when looking for accommodation. EasyRoommate has a moderation team who checks all ads before publication. Every month, 2,400 ads are blocked by the moderation team.

Always get clear information and do not make any financial commitments before seeing the room.

3. Choose flatmates carefully

When hunting for the best flatmate, choose carefully who to live with. If one day things get bad, flatmates are not allowed to force other tenants to move out.

Money is the most common dispute so make sure to set this up with your new flatmate before moving in. What about finding your flatmate in a face to face encounter in our next ‘How I Met My Roommates’ event on the 28th September?

4. Read carefully before you sign the lease

Check if the agreement includes all the relevant information. As tenants can be in a hurry when they are sealing the deal, it is substantial to take your time to understand everything written in the lease. Make sure that everything related to the deposit, the month rent and the inventory list are present in the documents.

If you don’t go through carefully, you might skip important information. Make sure you are aware of your rights as a tenant and the landlord’s obligation before signing anything.

5. Conduct a thorough inventory

The harder part when leaving a property is to get your deposit back in case there is a dispute between tenants and landlords. A proper inventory will help you to avoid this scenario.  Make sure you are provided with a list of everything that’s provided with the property (appliances, cutlery, furniture, carpets…).

6. Find out where the deposit will be held

When you put down a deposit, it literally pays off to know how to best protect it and deal with any disputes. To safeguard people’s cash, by law landlords must put your deposit into a government backed deposit protection scheme within 30 days of receiving it.

At the end of your tenancy, your landlord must return your deposit within 10 days. Make sure the landlord didn’t state a longer period in a clause of the contract.

7. Try to live with full time students

Full-time students are exempt from paying the council tax so living with them helps in that no council tax will need to be paid. Be careful since you will need at least two of them in the household. If the property isn’t exempt, you might still qualify for a discount.