Renting a House

[hayley2956]

Hi all,
I moving to Nottingham in a few weeks and am going to rent a flat or a house. I have no idea about the whole process, apart from u book an appointment to go and see the property. Then what happens???

Could someone talk me through the process with applications and references etc and anything else they think appropriate??

Thanks in advance x

[Pirate1]

If you rent through a property rental agency its all quite straight forward. They show you round the property. If you like it you say yes! They ask you for a reference or references. You provide them. They say yes (or no!). You provide the bond plus first months rental (or whatever the agreement is). A date is given for you to move in. You move in. OK?

[hayley2956]

thanks pirate1, I kinda got that bit! hehe although my question was kind of stupid!

I mean more like the money side....
Will my rent start on the day I move in or the day I say yes to renting the property?
Iv heard terms like 'holding fee' and a fee to process applications etc.... what are these?? do all companies charge them??

x

[Pirate1]

Sorry! Misunderstood! All I can tell you is that my rent started the day I moved in and I only had to pay a bond. Nothing for processing application. Maybe the holding fee is the same as a bond. Hope this helps.

[CheekyChops]

Last time I reted, I had to pay �60 upfront for an aplication processing fee, then I paid one months rent in advance and one months rent as a deposit, both on the day I got the keys.

[hayley2956]

Thanks for your answers pirate1 Im sure I'll find out soon enough!!

[hayley2956]

cheekychops<b/> I've seen an agency that states �117 for 'application' fees!!! �60 sounds good lol!
gggrrrr they find so many ways to take money of you!!!

[Pirate1]

ooooh, ooooh, sorry I've just remembered. I did pay a holding fee. As soon as you say yes you want it, you pay �50 (in my case) to hold it whilst you provide everything. This is then deducted from your rent at some point. If you don't move in its non refundable.

[CheekyChops]

Mine was purely an application fee. Apparently it was to cover the cost of doing credit checks etc and was non refundable under any circumstances. Mind you, that was 1998 so it might have gone up by now.

[~max~]

I have just found a flat to rent, and didn't have to pay a fee, but that's because they are not doing a credit check. They simply needed a guarantor instead (home owner who can guarantee the rent). I gave a deposit equivalent to one month rent on the day I said I was taking it, to make sure they kept it for me and didn't do any more visits. I will then pay a month rent on the day I sign the lease, which will also be my moving in day.

Another agency I went to required a �30 credit check fee/ application fee.