How to rent a house in the UK with short-term rental recommendations

Perhaps you don’t know the most convenient or best way to rent a house in the UK, or maybe you are worried that short-term rental rooms in the UK will have to be rented for at least three months and have to sign a contract. In this case, you can consider serviced apartments in the United Kingdom. Not only are they flexible, the rental period can be long or short until you find a medium- and long-term rental place, and the equipment is the same as that of short-term rentals. There are free cleaning services and the price is now very economical.

Using UK rental websites to rent a house in the UK does not need to pay a brokerage fee, but requires to pay a 5 weeks' rent as deposit and a work certificate. RightMove, Zoopla, Spare Room, Openrent and Movebubble are all common rental websites in the UK. Among them, Openrent can complete the whole process from renting an apartment to signing a contract without showing up.

To avoid encountering rental fraud or illegal subletting, some may reach letting agent to quickly find housing that meets their budget and preferences. Foxton, Connells, Winkworth, Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, Hamptons are commonly used letting agents in the UK.

1. Propose to the landlord or letting agent that you are interested in renting a house.

2. If the landlord is willing to rent a house, first pay a holding fee for about one week to make an appointment for viewing so the property will also be removed from the property website. The reservation fee can be deducted from the rent, but it is not refundable.

3. Complete a reference check conducted by a third-party organization, such as proof of work, proof of former owner, personal identity verification, etc.

4. After passing the background check, the letting agent will prepare a lease and negotiate the details of the lease contract.

5. If there is no problem with the lease, the letting agent will ask for a deposit plus rent. The deposit is about five to six weeks.

6. The deposit is used to participate in the Tenancy deposit scheme launched by the United Kingdom to ensure that the tenant can get back the deposit after the end of the tenancy period.

7. Sign the contract, take the key and the inventory report.

8. Check the house before moving in, compare the inventory report, and record the house conditions at the time of delivery, such as wall stains, damage to anything, meter readings, etc. If the house inspection report is not listed, you can take a photo and contact the letting agent.

Starting from June 2019, it only needs to pay a deposit and rent for renting a house in the UK. The rental deposit can be charged at most 5 weeks of housing rent, If the housing rent is less than £50,000 per year. If the housing rent exceeds £50,000 per year, a maximum of 6 weeks of housing rent can be charged as a deposit.

The price of renting a house in the UK varies from place to place. According to Homelet's August 2020 Rent Index, the average monthly rent in London is as high as £1,653. Areas outside London are relatively cheap. For example, the monthly rent in Manchester is generally about 700 pounds for a one-bedroom apartment, and 900 to 1,200 pounds for a two to three bedroom apartment. In addition, British terraced houses are prone to theft, water seepage, aging, and mold due to their short and old architectural design, and their rents are relatively low. On the contrary, apartments are relatively new and clean, with high buildings, and there are fewer public security problems.

Try to choose house with hydroelectric media, because houses without media are relatively expensive. In addition, the British hydropower media is operated by a private organization, so the products, prices and services are very different. It is necessary to carefully check the prices. For example, some organizations will use meters to calculate the water and electricity costs; some will charge in advance, while the former the calculation method is more reasonable.

Only 30-40% of landlords in the UK allow tenants to keep pets! Even if pets are allowed, the rent is generally higher than that of other similar properties, because they are worried that pets will damage the furniture in the house.

The UK network is slightly more expensive than Hong Kong, and the speed of the network is relatively unstable. It is easily affected by the weather. Rain, thunder and lightning will affect the network.

Rental documents must have personal identification (such as passport/license plate/BRP), work certification documents (many owners do not accept self-employment and part-time work), bank certification documents, and credit reports.

All properties in the UK are required to pay municipal tax to the local government each year to pay for the local government's public service facilities. In the United Kingdom, this fee will be paid by the tenant. Generally, the tax rate is more expensive in the urban area and lower in the suburbs. The UK municipal tax is very transparent and can be viewed directly on the government website. When renting a house, it is recommended to check with the landlord whether the cleaning rent includes water, electricity, media and municipal taxes.