We moved into a rented apartment in the North West about 6 years ago. It was a fancy 2 bed flat, in a very lovely area in Cheshire, and I loved it. It felt like our first real home. We lived there for 3 years, and I enjoyed the best part of our time there. During our time at the flat, We realised the rent we were paying was a lot higher than other flats in the area, but I didn’t want to move. I hate moving, the amount of time and stress it takes to move houses puts me off, I rather pay a high rent, than move, which was what we did for 3 years, until we bought our own place.
I have rented quite a few properties in my life, and in the North West, that I feel I am in the position to dish out some advice to anyone thinking of renting a place. However If I was asked to dish out just 1 advice, it would be;
Go Through a Lettings Agency
I have nothing against private landlords. I am sure there would be some few good ones around, but majority of them have the tendency to behave out-of-order, and that is where the Letting Agencies come in to make sure everything is in order. I have rented apartments through private landlords and through Lettings Agencies, and the level of service I got from renting from a Letting Agency was over and beyond what I expected. Even after the contracts have been signed, and the move has taken place, some of these Letting Agents still manage the apartment, which usually makes the tenancy run smoothly. For my North West tenancy, the Letting Agency handled every repair and breakdown enquiry, and usually had most issues sorted on the same day, which was fab.
However once the landlord decided to start managing the property herself, everything went downhill. She never picked up her phone, never returned calls until she was chased multiple times, repairs and breakdown enquiries were ignored, it became a joke really. It became so annoying that we couldn’t wait to move out of the over priced flat, and move out we did.
I could be here all day moaning about my days of being a tenant of private landlord, but I won’t want to bore you with the details. You can get more rental information off Homelet’s soon to be launched eBook, titled – “Landlords Advice with Regional Relevance”, which I am part of, so keep an eye out for that. I should be tweeting about the eBook as soon as it is released, so look out for my tweets.
Do you have any tenancy advice or horror story to share?
*This is a collaborative post.
Great post for anyone looking at renting, I would always advice to go through an agent but one other tip I would give is, make sure the landlord does not live in the same road as you. When we rented our land lord lived a few houses away, which was fine and then he became a complete nightmare
Ah I can imagine. I won’t want to live on the same street with my landlord.
This is a really interesting read, I’m currently in the process of looking somewhere to rent so very helpful! Xo
Ah nice. Glad you found this helpful x
It can be hard when you have a bad landlord. I would also suggest doing some research on letting agents before signing.
Great post. I would also suggest doing some research on letting agents prior to signing any contracts.
Yea true that. Some of them could be worst than the cowboy landlords..
I totally agree that it’s better to rent through an agency. They have professional standards to meet and you are less likely to get mess around by your landlord. Tx
Exactly. Thans Tracey x
Nice post!
Thanks Rebecca x
I think it’s always safer to go with a letting agent as you have more backup if something goes wrong than with a private landlord x
Exactly.
I am glad that I don’t have to rent and it dose sound like the right way is to rent thought a Letting Agent
Yea if you have to rent best to have a middle man. Better for everyone x
My parents went through a lot of difficulty with housing but they were the landlords and the tenant was a nightmare! Ended up owing us month’s worth of rent, refused to leave the house and we ended up getting the bailiffs in to throw them out!
Yea it works both ways Laura. Some tenants are horrible. Good you got them out in the end x
Great post Stella.
Owning a home will and will still be the best.
As for some land lords, it can be a night mare.
XO
Yes it can be x
And always register with the deposit protection scheme. Saves the landlord snatching money from your deposit at the end of the tenancy.
Great point Vai. Mmany landlords try to take away your deposit for the funniest reasons x
Only did private rent once when we moved to the city we have been in now for 24 years. It was through a letting agency. I wouldn’t recommend anyone not doing it through a letting agency.The boiler was on the blink when we moved in. The wiring was so old it was the old curly leads on the ceiling. Still had to get the council involved to get it sorted.
We eventually got rehoused to social housing which I have remained in since. I wouldn’t advocate private renting, unless for short term. Buying is the best way forward. Not been in a position too buy since the 90’s for many reasons. ”Fortunate” (note the inverted comma’s) to beable to be rehoused in social housing. If you aren’t in social housing then it has to buy
Yea I agree. Buying is the best way but many can’t afford the deposit and the costs of running a house. Good you got rehoused. Some landlords have no chill..
Yes that is a major problem for many. Unfortunately owning property has become about making money on it. Something that came in with the 80’s and the selling off of the council housing. My eldest and his fiancée have just bought there first place this year. Fortunately some inheritance sorted out the deposit however not everyone is in that position.
The problem is mortgages are cheaper than private rents to pay. However as you say it is raising the deposit in the first place that is in the problem. So many have been priced out of the housing market because of and it is grossly unfair.
A home used to be about stability and no rental income to pay once older and on pension. The years have changed that. I know a few people who have lived in their homes for 40 years. They have wanted to down size as they got older. The whole process of how much it has all changed has made them quite poorly.
Oh my, what a shame. I hope it gets better for us all x
I guite agree, it is best to rent through agency. In so doing you will have your peace. It is a good post with useful advice. Thanks for sharing. Love your pics especially the first one
Thanks for reading Osime x
Apart from a horrific student landlord (seriously, the worst!), I’ve been pretty lucky with landlords. I can’t complain at the moment because my landlords are my partners parents! haha. I’m looking forward to reading the book though! x
Ah you are lucky x
We are looking to move at the moment and it’s a nightmare so many things to do – will be interesting to read the ebook see if we can gain some more tips. x
Oh great. The book should be available soon x
My eldest daughter rents her home as she is in Uni and the landlords are a professional agency but they are horrendous. They have treated her terribly. Great post 🙂 Kaz x
Oh my. That sounds bad.
I had bad experiences with lettings agencies when I was a student, but the one I’m with now are pretty good to be fair. I’ve had a good experience with a private landlord too, but I’ve only ever had one private landlord so it’s difficult to judge :/
Yea it is tricky and we all have different experiences x
I’ve never rented from a private landlord but I can see that being potentially problematic. I like being able to call for a repair or complaint and have it dealt with.
Yea. It sucks when you have to chase your landlord or agency to get things done x
Some really good tips here hun. I am thankful I don’t rent now as it is such a minefield of things you need to know and is expensive from the onset, especially here in London x
Yea renting in London is so freaking expensive x
Thanks for the insight- I’ve never rented a property myself before so its interesting for me to find out how it works! xxx
Thanks for reading Laura x
I have never rented from a private landlord as I have always rented from my local authority but as I live in the largest borough in London right next to central my rent is exceptionally high and repairs never get done as they just cover too many homes. I often wonder if I should try and rent privately but then I couldn’t live in the location I do and I probably wouldn’t have the home security I do either… It’s so interesting to read your post though as I wouldn’t have known any of this as I have never needed to xx
Thanks for reading Charli. Glad you found the post interesting x
I think ‘Good’ letting agencies are great and that comes from someone who’s been a landladiy (I was one of the good ones). They work well for both parties. Unfortunately you still need to check out the agency as some of them also mistreat people. As with all things doing your homework is always worth while
Yea some agencies are shockingly bad.
There are loads of nighmare landlords out there but then the same can be said about many tenants. It can help to have an agency overseeing things.
Yea I think I middle man is handy x
My advice is to take photos of all the flaws in the property before you move anything in. When we moved in the carpets were gross (but it was a while before we could replace them and we never replaced the stairs). The landlord kept our deposit despite the fact we had replaced most the carpets. Also when anything went round he would always say “well it was brand new when I put it in” forgetting that that was 30 years ago! Just take photos, keep them safe, you may need them.
Yea that is a great tip Lynette. I did that all the time so there is no confusion x