renting a flat

[jasmin26]

a friend of mine is thinking of renting a flat from a friend of a friend. He has asked for a months rent in advance and the equvilant amount as a deposit. As this is would all be done privately , what would happen to the deposit ? Is it right that it has to be put in to a certain fund ? thanks in advance

[Buenchico]

The deposit either has to be paid into Deposit Protection Service (which is free) or the landlord can retain the deposit but pay an insurance premium (through MyDeposits,which also charges a membership fee) to protect the tenant's interests:
http://www.direct.gov...g/Tenancies/DG_189120

Chris

[Twenty20]

My advice would be to tell your friend not to do it. It rarely works out well renting, or doing any sort of business, with friends or family.

I don't know what you mean by doing this 'privately'? I assume you mean not through an Agent? No problem with that. Dealing directly with the landlord, if your friend goes ahead with this, is usually better than having to go through an Agent.

Yes, as Chris say, in most cases the deposit needs to be protected. There are a few cases where it doesn't but they are few and far between these days. It would be worth asking upfront which scheme the landlord would be using.

Your friend should make sure he reads the terms of the AST thoroughly before signing. Personally, I wouldn't sign initially for more than 6 months (as a landlord or as a tenant).

But, as I said, be very wary of doing business with friends or family.

[jasmin26]

Thanks for the advice ,very helpful. He isnt someone she knows personally its all through a mutual friend but she is still unsure about it because its not been done via an estate agent and he has never rented out the flat before.

[carmalee]

no problems if done as per the above advice - would just add - make certain it is absolutely clear as to who is responsible for what. Make sure a detailed inventory is taken and record the state of the property, particularly any existing damage.

[jasmin26]

Thanks Carmalee i will pass that on to her .

[jasmin26]

sorry another question for her ! How can he do a credit check on her ?

[Buenchico]

A landlord can search for CCJs against a prospective tenant, for a fee of £8, here:
http://www.trustonline.org.uk/

He can also check for Magistrates Courts fine defaults, High Court Judgements and Tribunal awards (at additional cost) on the same site.

He can check whether someone is currently registered as bankrupt, free of charge, here:
http://www.insolvency...IRNameSearchMapIE.asp

Chris

[jasmin26]

thanks Chris . We were just wondering how you could do that if you werent a business. All makes sense now . Jasmin

[sherrardk]

We rent privately (a friend rented the house while she had building work done on hers and she gave us his phone number). Personally I think our landlord is probably losing out as I think he could get more rent for this house than he charges us. Also, he doesn't actually know us from Adam and hasn't done any credit checks or asked for any references. He pops by every now and then (never crosses the doorstep though) to check everything is OK and that the parking nutter next door isn't causing us any trouble.