In This Guide
Choosing an area
Getting in
Leaving
Lettings agents
Living
Looking for property
Renting introduction
1. Who rents these days anyway?
2. Types of UK accommodation
3. Renting with your partner
4. Renting with your friends
5. Renting from your friends
6. Renting on your own
Tenancy agreements
Viewing property
Renting introduction
Types of UK accommodation
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If you're considering renting in the UK for the first time, then it might be worth your while knowing a little bit about some of the options that are open to you in terms of the types of accommodation that are available for you to live in. This list is by no means exhaustive, as virtually any type of residential building can be found inhabited by rent paying tenants. Keep an eye on our features section over the coming months for an ongoing series about the many housing types it is possible to find in the UK.
University students and medical workers often have the option
of living in a purpose built building that is occupied by other
people from their academic or professional establishment. The
exact nature of the living space can vary, but the most common
scenario is to find 4 to 6 individual lockable rooms in a flat
with a shared kitchen and bathroom. There is sometimes a lounge
in the flat, though it is equally likely that there will be a
shared common area for each floor of the building or each separate
block. Many hostels work in much the same way, but allow people
to stay for nightly, weekly or monthly durations.
Council owned accommodation can take many shapes and forms. When
most people conjure up a mental image of a council owned property,
they probably think of large blocks of flats on a sprawling estate,
or a terraced house on a street with hundreds of other identical
properties. Many council properties are like this, but not all
of them. Cumulatively, local authorities are one of the largest
landowners in Britain, and so the type and range of properties
they own is as diverse as you might expect. The quality and condition
of the place you end up with is very much down to chance and the
overall standard of the area you live in.
It is still quite common for people to take in a lodger. The landlord
may be renting a room out for one of a number of reasons: they
may be an 'empty nester' (someone whose children have left home)
with rooms to spare; they may simply be in need of some company
or extra money; it could be a couple that have bought a bigger
flat than they should have, and have found themselves financially
overstretched, or it could be a family taking on a student or
worker.
For many people, living in a bedsit is the first foray into the
private rental sector. As with everything, standards vary, but
all bedsits are much the same in concept. Essentially, you have
one main self-contained small unit to live in. This will come
with a living area which doubles as a bedroom and a mini kitchen
area that is also part of the same room. You should also get a
basic (and small) bathroom, but it is not uncommon to find a communal
bathroom and kitchen shared between two or more bedsits in a building.
There is fine line between a studio and a bedsit. In fact, many
people who apply to view a rental property that is advertised
as a studio really find that it is a bedsit they are going to
view. Essentially, a studio flat should always have bathroom and
kitchen facilities. The kitchen may or may not be in a separate
room to the main living area, but often will be. There should
be no shared facilities with a studio flat and you should have
your own lockable entrance door. Studio flats are more expensive
than bedsits and often more spacious.
A flat or house share is where people live together in a private
residence and share all the facilities - the kitchen, living room,
bathroom and any garden there may be. People living in such arrangements
will normally share responsibility for payment of bills and council
tax for the property. Flat or house shares are often arrangements
favoured by groups of friends, though it is not uncommon for people
that don't know each other to live in a shared house. You can
even find many situations where some people know each other and
some don't. The property itself can be anything from a two bedroom
flat to an eight-bedroom house. As a rule of thumb, the more people,
the better value.
This is exactly like a flat or house share, but without the other
residents! There are a large number of individuals, couples and
families that rent a property without sharing the responsibilities,
costs or facilities with anyone else.
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