Renters Rights 2.01

Renting from a private landlord can often be a bit of a minefield. Prospective tenants are required to pass a number of checks, including reference and credit checks. These checks are often costly; with additional administration fees seemingly being the order of the day. These fees may cover things like the cost of preparing the tenancy agreement, making up the inventory, checking references and any other costs deemed necessary as part of setting up the tenancy. Some landlords will also charge you for renewing your tenancy agreement once it expires. This can prove very expensive if, for example, you are on a six month contract which you wish to renew on a regular basis.

It is the landlord’s responsibility to maintain your property to a safe and secure standard. Unfortunately, this is often not the case, with tenants encountering a number of problems ranging from landlords who refuse to carry out essential repairs, to those who insist on gaining entry without prior arrangement, and at inconvenient times.

We believe that tenants should be treated as customers. After all, it’s you, the tenant who pays your landlord a considerable sum of money each month. Of course, there are some great landlords out there, landlords with a genuine regard for your health and safety, and a fair pricing structure. However, unfortunately some landlords have an almost derogatory attitude towards their tenants; seemingly being of the opinion that they are doing their tenants a favour by allowing them to live in their property.

Renters Rights is a new service which provides you, the prospective tenant, with up to date references of the landlords themselves. These references can be obtained before the tenancy agreement is signed, and ideally before you are asked to go through the referencing procedure.

Renters Rights will contact up to 3 previous tenants of the landlord you have in mind. These tenants will be asked to comment on areas such as: was an Assured Shorthold Tenancy provided, was their security deposit registered with a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme, did the landlord respond to queries within an appropriate timescale, and did the landlord give suitable notice when wanting to access the property.

This gives you, ‘the customer’ information that will allow you to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to proceed with moving into your intended property.