Most people are interested in getting affordable rental places in the UK. For beginners and experts alike, everything you need to know about how you can secure an apartment in the UK and much more information is covered in this article. How to rent an apartment in the UK? europa.jobs will tell you!
Renting an apartment in the UK – basic informations
Below is a guide for tenants who are looking to find a rented sector in the UK to help them understand their rights and responsibilities. It provides a checklist and more detailed information on each stage of the process, including:
- what to look out for before renting
- living in a rented home
- what happens at the end of a tenancy
- what to do, if things go wrong.
How to rent? Checklist for renting
This guide is for people who are renting a home privately under an assured shorthold tenancy, either direct from a landlord or through a letting agency. Let’s find out more on what happens when one wants to rent an apartment in the UK.
1. Assured shorthold tenancies
When you enter an assured shorthold tenancy, the most common type – you are entering into a contractual arrangement. This gives you some important rights as well as some responsibilities.This guide will help you to understand what your rights are, what responsibilities you have and what questions to ask.
2. Before you start – Key questions
- Is the landlord or letting agent trying to charge any fees?
- How much is the deposit?
- Bills
- Do you have your documents ready?
- Safety.
3. Your responsibilities as a tenant
- Pay the rent on time. If your rent is more than 14 days late, you could be liable for a default fee. A default fee for late payment of rent is limited by the Tenant Fees Act to interest on the outstanding amount, capped at 3% above Bank of England base rates. Further, you could lose your home because you have breached your tenancy agreement.
- Pay any other bills that you are responsible for on time, such as council tax, gas, electricity and water bills.
- Be considerate to the neighbours. Anti-social behaviour may be a reason for your landlord to evict you.
How to rent an apartment in the UK – where to look?
Moving to the United Kingdom? Many expats prefer to rent when they first relocate to a new country, but how much do you know about renting in the UK? Here are some basic informations.
Popular places to rent in the UK. You can find rental accommodation almost anywhere in the UK, from busy cities to small rural villages. If you want to research what to expect in different parts of the UK, you can use Find A Hood to gain insight into neighbourhood characteristics.
Where you can find the best apartments to rent in the UK?
Apartment rental websites in the UK
We have listed the 7 best websites for renting in the UK. Finding the perfect accommodation to rent can be exhausting. Browsing hundreds of houses, looking for the right lights or the right size, arranging visits (and keeping up with them), bidding offers to unresponsive landlords.
Here’s a list with the websites you can’t miss when looking for a property to rent in the UK:
Rent an apartment in the UK – necessary documents
Everybody knows that looking for accommodation or a place to stay in the UK can be a difficult task. After Brexit, it has become tricky for immigrants to rent a flat in the UK.
So you may have a lot of questions: what documents do I need to rent in the UK? What kind of reference do I need? Are there any special forms I need to fill out before making an application?
Whether you are looking to rent a house or a flat, below we’ve highlighted a few topics to help you learn about how to rent in the UK.
| Passport and personal data | You will need to provide paperwork that confirms your identity and the address you currently reside in. For most people, the easiest way to provide this is by showing your passport and visa (the latter only if applicable) if you are moving to the UK from overseas, a copy of your visa will be accepted. Documents will be a passport, a national identity card or some form of immigration status document. |
| Employment contract | If you’re an employee, there are several documents you can provide to prove your income and employment. This is most commonly three to six of your most recent payslips from work. Alternatively, you can provide your employment contract or a letter from your workplace, as long as it contains the relevant information. |
| Proof of income | If you’re self-employed, you may need to prove your earnings over a longer period – often between one and three years. This could be in the form of bank statements, trading records or your tax returns. |
| Credit references | When you apply to rent a property, the landlord or letting agency will run a credit check to assess your credit score. This gives them insight into your credit history so they have an idea of how reliable you may be with rent payments. |
| Standard references | Alongside credit references, you may also have to compile some standard letters of recommendation from employers, former landlords and other notable official figures in your life. |
Apartments in the UK – prices
What is the average cost to rent an apartment in the UK?
The average cost to rent an apartment depends on the city and the size of the apartment.
A one-bedroom apartment averages around 878 EUR and it costs around 700 EUR if you live out of the city. For a three-room apartment in the city, it can be over 2888 EUR and it is around 1733 EUR outside the city.
The average rental cost in the UK is 1000 EUR a month per household for private renters and 510 EUR for social renters (that is, local authority and housing association accommodation).
Average Rent per Month
While the average rent per month in England is 510 EUR pcm for social renters and 1000 EUR pcm, rent prices vary by a number of factors. Monthly rents across different types of households (e.g., single, couple, family, etc.)
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