Renting Your First Student House: A Plain English Guide

Renting privately for the first time can feel like a lot of paperwork standing between you and a sofa of your own. It is more manageable than it looks. This guide covers what you will be asked for, what your landlord or agent must do for you, and how to spot a good house from a bad one.

Decide who you are living with before you fall in love with a house. Student houses are let in one of two ways, and it pays to know which you are being offered. With a joint tenancy, the whole group signs one agreement and everyone is responsible together, including for the rent, so if a housemate stops paying, the rest of you are liable. With an individual tenancy, each of you signs your own agreement, has sole right to your own lockable bedroom, and is responsible only for your own rent. Ask which applies before viewing seriously, because it changes what you and your guarantor are taking on. Either way, choose housemates you trust; you will still be sharing a kitchen with them in week thirty.

Agree your budget as a group, and look at the whole cost, not just the headline rent. Some lets are all inclusive, bundling gas, electricity, water and broadband into the weekly figure, sometimes with a fair use allowance for energy; ask what the allowance is and what happens if the house exceeds it. Where bills are not included, add them on top, along with contents insurance if it is not provided. Full time students are usually exempt from council tax, but everyone in the house normally needs to supply an exemption certificate from their university, and you must tell your landlord or agent promptly if your student status changes.

In England, most private tenancies are now periodic assured tenancies, which run month to month rather than being locked to a fixed end date, and tenants can end them by giving notice. Landlords letting shared student houses can use a specific legal ground to recover possession over the summer so the property can be re let to new students for the next academic year; if they intend to rely on it, they must tell you in writing before you sign. Read the agreement before signing, ask about anything unclear, and keep a copy. Your landlord must also give you a copy of the government’s How to Rent guide, a gas safety certificate, an energy performance certificate and details of your deposit protection. The law in this area has changed in recent years, so for the latest position always check gov.uk.

Your tenancy deposit is capped by law at five weeks’ rent for the vast majority of student lets, and the landlord must protect it in a government approved deposit protection scheme and tell you which one. At the end of the tenancy the deposit comes back to you, minus any properly evidenced deductions, and you can dispute unfair ones for free through the scheme. Most landlords also ask each student for a guarantor, usually a parent or guardian, who promises to cover the rent if you cannot. On an individual tenancy the guarantee normally covers only your own rent; on a joint tenancy it can extend to the whole household’s, so guarantors should read what they are signing carefully. If your guarantor paperwork has a return deadline, treat it seriously, as bookings can be cancelled and holding deposits lost if it is late.

A shared house occupied by several unrelated people counts as a house in multiple occupation, an HMO. Larger HMOs must be licensed by the council, which checks on safety and management standards, and you can search the council’s public register to see whether a property is licensed. Whatever the size of the house, your landlord is responsible for repairs to the structure, heating, water, gas and electrics, must have gas appliances checked annually, and must provide working smoke alarms. If repairs are not done, put requests in writing and keep copies; the council’s housing team can step in if a landlord will not act.

Take this list with you and do not be embarrassed to be thorough. Ten minutes of checking now saves months of irritation later.

• Damp and mould: look in corners, behind furniture, around windows and in bathrooms, and trust your nose.
• Heating and hot water: ask how the house is heated, when the boiler was last serviced, and, if bills are included, how the fair use allowance works in practice.
• Windows and doors: do they open, close and lock properly? Check for draughts and condensation between double glazing panes.
• Water pressure: run a tap and the shower.
• Safety kit: working smoke alarms, a carbon monoxide alarm near gas appliances, and a fire escape route you could actually use.
• Security: decent locks on external doors, and ask whether bedroom doors lock, which is standard with individual tenancies.
• Furniture and appliances: check what is included, that it works, and that its condition is recorded before you move in.
• Phone signal and broadband: check your phone works in the house and ask what internet the current tenants use.
• The current tenants: if they are in, ask them directly what the house and landlord are like. They have no reason to sugar coat it.
• The street: visit by day and in the evening, and check where you would park or lock a bike.

On day one, photograph every room, every appliance and anything already damaged, and check the inventory carefully, reporting anything it misses within the deadline your agent sets. If you are the first of your group to arrive, you may need to book a moving in appointment, so plan ahead. Take meter readings where bills are not included. These boring ten minutes are the single best thing you can do to protect your deposit.