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Renting in London: What to Check
Renting in London: What to Check
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Renting in London: What to Check
Deposits and protection, the paperwork you must receive, viewings and your rights
Renting in a competitive city means making decisions quickly, which is exactly when checks get skipped. A few of them are legal protections rather than preferences.
Your deposit must be protected
In England and Wales a tenancy deposit must be placed in an approved scheme within thirty days, and prescribed information given to you. Check it yourself on the scheme's website rather than taking it on trust.
There is also a cap on the deposit amount and a ban on most letting fees charged to tenants. Holding deposits are capped at one week's rent.
The paperwork you should receive
A gas safety record where there are gas appliances, an electrical installation condition report, an energy performance certificate, and the government's how-to-rent guide.
These are not formalities. If they have not been served, a landlord's no-fault possession notice can be invalid, which matters considerably later.
Check the landlord and the agent
Agents must belong to a redress scheme and hold client money protection. Some boroughs require landlord licensing, which you can check with the council.
At the viewing
Look for damp and mould, particularly in corners and behind furniture, check the water pressure and the boiler, and ask how the heating is metered in a shared property.
Ask what the bills typically cost rather than what they might.
The inventory
Photograph everything on the day you move in, with a timestamp, and return a signed inventory with your own comments. Most deposit disputes turn on this.
Sharing a flat
Understand whether you are on a joint tenancy, where everyone is liable for the whole rent, or individual agreements. Joint liability means one person leaving can become everyone's problem.
Agree bills, cleaning and guests in writing at the start, however awkward it feels.
Before you sign
Read the whole agreement, ask about break clauses and rent review, and never pay money before seeing the property and verifying who you are paying.
Rental fraud is common in competitive markets, and a property advertised well below the going rate is almost always the signal.
Moving in
Take meter readings and photograph them on the day, register with the utility suppliers in your own name, and set up council tax. Sorting this in the first week avoids inherited bills.
Check you have contents insurance, since a landlord's policy covers the building itself rather than any of your belongings.
Repairs
Report in writing and keep copies. Landlords are responsible for the structure, heating, hot water and installations, and councils can act where they do not.
Free advice is available from housing charities and council housing teams.
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