Study, work or travel in the UK. British
culture and life.
Life
/ Accommodation
/ Guide
Guide to renting accommodation in the UK
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Study, work or travel in the UK. British
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Life
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Guide to renting accommodation in the UK
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Sections:
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Introduction |
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| Vocabulary | ||
| Types of accommodation | ||
| Choosing a location | ||
| Costs of renting | ||
| Finding accommodation | ||
| Checking the property | ||
| Tenancy agreement | ||
| Change of address | ||
| Resolving problems | ||
| Council tax | ||
| Links | ||
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Related pages:
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Life/Accommodation/London (find somewhere to live in London) |
This page explains how to find somewhere to stay in the UK, and how to deal
with some of the problems which might occur.
To find a room in London, see also: Life/Accommodation/London
To find short-term accommodation (eg: staying less than a month), see: Travel/Accommodation
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Student
Housing Rights Guide |
What types of student accommodation are there?
Homestay
Accommodation living in someone's home with a "host family", often
arranged in co-operation with a school
Breakfast and evening meals are provided, usually eating together with the family
The bathroom is probably shared with other members of the family
Hostels
eg YMCA, YWCA
(see Appendix C,D,E in "Studying & living in the UK" by British
Council)
Bedsit / hall of residence
A single room in which you live and sleep; the room is both a bedroom and a
sitting room (living room)
The cooking area (if there is one) is usually shared
There is usually a wash basin in the room, but the bathroom may be shared
Services such as cleaning and changing of sheets are often provided
If the room is in a building belonging to a university, it is usually called
a 'hall of residence'
Studio flat
A small flat where the living room and bedroom are combined (a flat is known
as an "apartment" in American English).
Usually the room has its own entrance and you are free to come and go when you
want.
There is usually a small bathroom, but this may only contain a basin, toilet
and shower.
A 'maisonette' is similar, but is usually not all on one floor
Flatshare / shared house
A "flatshare" is when you share a flat with one or more other people.
You may have your own room, or alternatively you may share a twin-bedded or
double-bedded room with another person.
A "student house" usually refers to a private house which is occupied
by a group of students (sometimes called "student digs")
B&B ("bed and breakfast"), guest house
A room, usually part of someone's home, which the owners are renting out to
make some money
Breakfast is provided, but no evening meal
The bathroom is probably shared with other guests
Some of the factors to consider when choosing an area in which to live:
Transport: Availability of transport to and from your school, workplace or places to socialise with friends. Being near to a transport route can be convenient and could be safer. Note that buses may not run in the evenings or late at night in some areas.
Social life: You may want to live near where your friends live
Green areas: You can find street maps and aerial photographs from: http://www.streetmap.co.uk
or: http://www.multimap.com
Check if there are local facilities you need. You can use the Find My Nearest
tool at http://www.upmystreet.com
(based on the Thomson directories), or you can search Yellow Pages online at
http://www.yell.com
For a detailed guide about how to find accommodation in London, see: Life/Accommodation/London.
Calculate the maximum amount that you will be able to pay. Remember to consider
travel costs as well as the rent: you may be able to find somewhere with a lower
rent if it is far from your school or workplace, but travel costs could be higher.
Rents are often quoted as weekly amounts ("pw" or "per week"),
even though they are often paid monthly instead ("pcm" or "per
calendar month"). To calculate the monthly cost, multiply the weekly cost
by 52 and divide by 12 (or simply multiply by 4.33). You will underestimate
the cost if you simply multiply the weekly cost by 4, thinking that there are
about 4 weeks in a month.
If renting a private room, remember that at the start you may need to pay a
deposit (of perhaps one month's rent) as well as the first month's rent. You
may need to pay an agent's fee after you have signed the rental agreement (ask
for the cost including VAT - value added tax). Check whether you have to pay
bills for gas / electricity (for heating and lighting), telephone (for line
rental or installation, internet access or telephone calls), water (for water
delivery or sewage removal), laundry or council tax (for local services). You
will probably have to buy a TV licence if you use a television in your room
(see: Prepare/Arrival).
Make sure that you consider all of the costs when you are comparing different
rooms. For more information about the cost of living, see: Prepare/Cost.
If available, student accommodation (for example halls of residence) may be
one of the cheapest options you have because it may be subsidised by the school
or university and you may not need to pay council tax.
Once you have decided on which type of accommodation you want, a location, and a price range, there are many different ways to find accommodation:
Friend
Tell your friends that you are looking for somewhere to stay. Someone may be
about to move out of his/her room, and may be able to recommend you to the landlord
as the new tenant.
School / university
Ask your school or university if they help students to find somewhere to stay.
There may be a student welfare officer who can assist you, or a student
accommodation office. Many language schools will offer to find you accommodation
with a host family, but they may not be able to tell you how close your room
will be to the school.
If you go to see a room or flat, you will need to make an appointment first.
If you are using an agent, it may be possible to view the property during the
day, if the owner has given a copy of the keys to the agent. If you are finding
a room independently, you may need to see it during an evening or at a weekend,
because in most cases the landlords will be at work during the day (even if
you have already made an appointment, you may want to phone just before going
to visit, to make sure that the person will be there). If you can, go with a
friend when you visit a property. If you are a woman and will be going by yourself,
think about carrying a mobile phone (see: Life/Telephone)
and a personal alarm (see Personal/Safety)
for your safety. If you are seeing many rooms, you may want to take a digital
camera to take a photo of each one, so that you can remember them later (always
ask for permission before taking a photo, and do not photograph private areas).
Always take a notebook and pen with you, and make notes as you make the visits
(you will quickly forget the details).
These are some of the things you may want to check when you see the property:
Money / contract
Do you have to pay a deposit, and when do you have to pay rent?
Which bills are not included in the rent? Water / gas / electricity / council
tax / telephone line rental
If you want to move out of the accommodation, how much notice do you need to
give the landlord?
If your school is arranging accommodation, will it find you a new room if you
are unhappy with the room or family where they first place you?
Do you feel you can trust the owner?
If you are staying in a university's hall of residence, will you be able to
stay there during holidays?
If you are with a host family, what is their main reason for wanting to accept
a student into their home? If the main reason is to make money, in some cases
the family may not speak to you often, may provide very cheap meals, or may
argue about small matters such as the amount of toilet paper that is being used.
Problems are more likely to occur in popular student locations at time when
there are many students in the town (for example, in a town on the south coast
of England in the summer) - there may be a lot of demand, and too little supply
of quality host families
House rules
Can you wash yourself every day if you want to (some houses have a small hot
water tank)?
Can you use the telephone? Is there a separate line for your computer (if you
have one) for internet connections?
Can you bring your friends back? Can you have a friend stay overnight; if so,
is there a charge?
Which rooms can you use?
Can you smoke cigarettes?
Services
Are there any laundry or cleaning services provided? How can you clean your
room, and wash/dry your clothes? If there is a washing machine, are there any
charges for using it?
Are meals provided? If you do not want to take the meals that are offered, can
you pay a lower rent? If meals are provided, what type of meals are they? If
you cannot eat some types of food, check that you can be offered something else
Facilities
Can you use equipment such as a cooker/microwave oven, washing machine, fridge
or dishwasher?
Is there a shower or a bath, or both (many studio flats only have a shower)?
How many people share these?
How many toilets are there?
Is there a telephone line you can use, and if so are there any restrictions
about when you can use it? If you do not have your own telephone line in your
room, will the landlord allow you to install a new line? This may be important
if you need personal access to the internet.
Location
Will you feel safe walking back to the accommodation at night? Are the roads
well lit? Is it a safe area?
How near is the accommodation to your school?
Is there a park nearby?
House
How many other people share the property? Can they speak English? Will you have
any social contact with them; how much common space is there?
Are there other people of your own nationality? If so, it may make you feel
less lonely, but you may not speak English as much.
Are the other occupants all men, all women, or a mixture of men and women?
Are there smoke detectors, and is there a safe way to leave if there is a fire?
Room
How much noise is there from the road or from neighbours? Is there a shared
telephone near your room?
How much privacy do you have?
Is your room secure? Are there locks on the doors and windows?
How much space do you have?
What is the quality of the mattress and sheets?
How clean is the room? Note that British people usually wear shoes inside rooms
Will the room be warm enough in winter? Is there central heating, and are the
windows "double glazed"?
Will the room be cool enough on a hot summer's day? Can you open the windows?
Are there any signs of damp on the walls?
Are there any unpleasant smells, for example from the kitchen or toilet, or
from cigarettes?
If you are sharing a room with someone, do you think you can get on well with
that person?
Is there enough storage space for your clothes, books and other belongings?
Is there a desk, light and chair for studying in your room?
Gas safety certificate
Each year about 30 people in the UK die from carbon monoxide poisoning from
old gas boilers. Carbon monoxide is invisible and has no smell. Ask to see your
landlord's gas safety certificate (your landlord is not allowed to rent a room
if he/she does not have a certificate). Make sure that any gas appliances (gas
boiler, gas fire, gas cooker) have been fitted safely and are properly ventilated,
and ask when the boiler was serviced (this should be done each year).
For further information, see the Health and Safety Executive website: http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/co.htm
Once you have found new accommodation, you need to inform people about your
change of address:
Take your existing TV licence to the post office and ask for the address
to be changed.
Tell your doctor your new address in case he/she needs to write to you
or visit you at home. You will probably need to change your doctor if you have
moved to a new area; take your medical card to your new doctor.
Tell your school and/or workplace.
If you have a national insurance number, you should tell your local office of
the DHSS (the Department of Health and Social Security - you can find
the address at your local post office).
You may want to change your bank branch, or make sure that your existing
branch sends statements to the correct address.
Ask your previous landlord to forward any mail to your new address.
Tell your own family as soon as you have moved, in case they need to
contact you.
If you needed to register with the police when you arrived in the UK,
you must tell them your new address.
You may want to tell your country's embassy in the UK.
These are some of the problems students sometimes have, and some ideas about ways of resolving them.
Landlord problems
Remember that often the main reason a person rents rooms in their house is
to make money. The landlord / landlady may not be interested in speaking to
you, may not provide good quality food, and may complain about expenses, for
example if you use a lot of hot water / electricity / toilet paper.
Get permission from your landlord before making any significant changes to your
room: for example: moving furniture, installing a new phone line, buying a heater
or fridge, or putting things up on the walls.
Make sure that you know the landlord's address and phone number in case there
is a problem.
Ask for proof of the landlord's identity before giving any money (for example,
a bill for the property), and ask for a receipt to make sure there is no argument
about whether you have paid.
Loss of deposit
When you rent a flat or house, it is common to have to pay a month's rent in advance and a deposit, which will be returned to you when you leave except for the cost of any damage. If you have to pay a deposit, make sure that you are given a full "inventory" (a list of all the items in the house, including detail about their condition) before you move in; this may avoid arguments when you leave. Sometimes a bad landlord may try to keep the deposit unfairly, knowing that you may be leaving the UK shortly (this is less likely if you have obtained your accommodation through your school or using an agent).
Kitchen thief
In shared accommodation, other tenants (or occasionally their friends or other people who can enter the property) may sometimes take your food or drink from the kitchen without asking you. If you know who is doing this, ask him/her to replace what has been taken, or at least to ask for your permission before doing it again. If you don't know who it is, put up a sign in the kitchen, so that the person knows you are unhappy about it. If you have your own cupboard, you may be able to buy a lock for this. If it is a big problem, you may want to discuss it with the other tenants.
Kitchen smells
One of the tenants may like to cook food that smells, for example fish or curry. Ask them to close the kitchen door and open the window while cooking, and to store any of these ingredients properly. If milk or any other fresh food has gone bad, ask the person to throw them away.
Messy tenants
Tenants may leave unwashed dishes in the kitchen for a long time, or leave clothes or books lying around in the shared areas.
Sexual harrassment
Some people receive unwanted sexual attention from the landlord or from another tenant. If this happens to you, tell that person clearly how you feel about it. If you feel in danger, move to another place immediately. You may want to warn the other tenants, landlord, school or agency about what has happened.
Noise
The other tenants may come and go at different times to you. Slamming doors, music, telephone calls, loud voices and other noises may wake you up or affect your concentration while you are studying. Let the other people know when you need peace, and ask them to keep as quiet as possible during these times. You may want to buy ear plugs from your local pharmacy.
Council tax is a local tax in Britain. It is used to pay for local services
such as libraries, the police, the fire brigade, and rubbish collection.
When you rent a new room, ask whether the council tax is included in the rent.
In some types of accommodation, there is no council tax to pay. You do not have
to pay council tax if all the adults in your accommodation are 'full-time students'
(usually this means people on a course lasting at least 1 year who study at
least 21 hours per week and at least 24 weeks per year). You also do not have
to pay if you live in student accommodation owned or managed by a recognised
school or university.
The amount of tax depends on which local authority or borough you live in, and
the value of the property.
A typical level of council tax in London is about £30 per week for each
property (a place with its own entrance), but this can vary a lot between boroughs.
A single person who lives on his/her own in a property may have to pay than
the full standard charge (perhaps 25% less).
If you live in a block of bedsits, the owner pays the tax but may ask each of
the residents to pay a share of it.
You can find out the council tax bands for your borough or local authority using
UpMyStreet: http://www.upmystreet.com.
Enter a postcode, select Home review then Council tax.
UKCISA produce guidance notes for students on "Council Tax and international
students" at: http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/information_sheets.php.
UKCISA produce guidance notes for international students on "Accommodation":
http://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student/information_sheets.php.
Finding a room in London: Life/Accommodation/London
Home page: Home
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