UK Easy Rental Advice
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A house is a self contained unit that usually does not share any space or facilitites with any neighbouring property.
There are basically three types of house -
Detached house - a totally self contained building not joined to any neighbouring property.
Semi-detached house - a self contained unit joined to a similar property, on one side only, by a dividing wall.
Terraced house - a self contained unit joined to two similar properties, one on each side, by dividing walls.
Most houses have two floors.
Those that have only one floor are called bungalows.
A house will consist of two or more bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen, one or more bathroom/shower rooms, one or more W.Cs and possibly some other rooms.
These other rooms might include a dining room, utility room, a store room, an office, etc.
If you live in a house you will have your own secure front door with its own key.
There may be a parking space for cars or even a garage, but not always.
Sometimes there may be no off the road parking, so will have to find a suitable space in the street outside.
It is very likely that there will be a garden at the back and at the front.
Is a house the right choice for me?
If you rent a house you will almost certainly have to sign a tenancy agreement for a minimum period of 6 months. If you intend to stay in the same location for less than 6 months, or if you want the freedom to move around during your stay, renting a house could be the wrong choice. A better choice might be to rent a room.
If you rent a house you will normally not only have to pay rent, but also utility bills such as gas, electricity, telephone, internet and council tax. When you calculate your monthly expenditure you should take thse additional expenses into account. A cheaper choice would be to rent a flat, to rent a studio or to rent a room.
There are however major advantages to renting a house as compared with the other alternative types of accomodation.
You can feel secure in the knowledge that for the duration of the tenancy the landlord cannot ask you to leave unless you have misbehaved thereby breaking one of the conditions of your tenancy agreement.
The house is yours to enjoy without any interference of any kind from the landlord.
And as you can see from the description above a house will probably have rooms and facilities that you will never find in a flat or studio.
A garden can be a great asset and a useful place to dry your washing.
Rooms such as offices and dining rooms can sometimes be used as extra bedrooms in a situation where three, four or five people are sharing the house.
But before deciding to rent a house you must ask yourself, "Can I afford to pay the rent and utility bills by myself?" If not, you might consider sharing with friends and sharing the cost. It is possible for two or more people to jointly sign the tenancy agreement, in which case you are all jointly responsible for paying the rent and complying with the conditions of the tenancy agreement. For this reason it is strongly advised that you only share with friends who you know well and trust. Remember, if one of your housemates "disappears" for whatever reason, before the end of the tenancy, you alone will become responsible for paying all monies owed. This would include rent, bills and the cost of any damages or losses incurred during the tenancy.
If you have found a house but you feel that you are unable to afford the cost of the rent plus utilities by yourself, there is another solution to this problem. You, alone could sign the tenancy agreement and then informally ask one or more friends to share the house with you. You are then free to make an arrangement with your friends to ensure that they contribute to the costs. For example, you could ask your friends to pay a weekly or monthly "rent" for the use of one bedroom each, plus the shared use of the lounge, kitchen, bathroom/shower room, etc. You could also ask your friends to contribute to the cost of utility bill.
But there are severe disadvantages to using this method. There will not be a legally binding agreement between you and your housemates. For this reason if one of your housemates falls behind with his payments, or worse, refuses to pay for whatever reason, you are in a weak position. Futhermore, renting out individual rooms to your friends could be classed as "taking in paying guests" or "taking in lodgers". There may well be a clause in your tenancy agreement prohibiting this practice. So you, as the only person to sign the tenancy agreement, will be breaking your contract with the landlord of the property.
So you can now see that for many reasons it is very advisable that you only share with friends who you know well and trust.
If you cannot find any friends to share with and you plan to advertise on the Internet, or elsewhere, to find housemates, take extreme care. This practice can be extremely risky so I recommend that you read the section, Advertising for Housemates", before you start.
If you think that renting a house would be the right choice for you,
go to the section - Search
If you think that renting a house would be the wrong choice for you,
go back to - Start
IS A HOUSE THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR ME?
SHARING A HOUSE
Help & Advice for
Foreign Students
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