Mel's top tips for housing

We've all been there, moving into a new house at the beginning of a new uni year. It's exciting, you can't wait to throw Skins-like parties with all your new housemates and make first year freshers look like a church tea party. 

HOWEVER. 

Have you thought about the important things that may affect you come nine months' time when you have to leave?

Boring as it may sound; this blog of top tips will help you avoid a serious headache – and possibly a few quid in your pocket too. 

WHEN YOU'RE IN TALKS WITH YOUR LANDLORD:

•When you initially view the house, usually one of the current tenants will be there – mainly to keep an eye on you. Utilise this opportunity. Get friendly with them and ask them all about the house. What's the area like? What problems are there? What are the bills like? Is it energy efficient? Etc.

•Read the contract. This might sound a bit obvious, but there might be a little something in there that you weren't expecting. For example, you might expect that you'll stop paying rent around June/July when you go home for summer? Well, sometimes these “standard contracts” will ask you for rent up until next September. AVOID. Unless you fancy staying over summer.

•If you aren't provided with a contract – AVOID. This means you have no rights whatsoever. The landlord could effectively ask you to leave after a month in the property, and you would have to. I've actually heard of a landlady moving in with two of my friends after three months of their tenancy. Bit awkward. 

•Remember that these tenancy agreements are a legal contract. Once you've signed, that's it. This is the real world now, love. 

•If they promise to fix something before you move in, get it in writing. Otherwise that broken window will be irritating you all year. 

•Be wary of BILLS INCLUDED RENT. Ok, these take away the inconvenience of having to sort it out yourself or chasing up housemates for their share – but it comes at a cost. Landlords will charge a huge premium to cover all the energy/internet/water you could ever possibly use. They make a mint off you. It's better to sort it yourself. 

WHEN YOU MOVE IN:

•Take pictures of anything that's broken (drawers, locks etc) and tell your landlord about them. Do this via email preferably, then you have written proof that the damage was there BEFORE you were. This means you can't get the blame, and have your deposit docked because of someone else's mistake.

•Take a note of your gas and electricity meter, and ring up the energy provider and tell them this number. 

It should look a bit like this…

• Do this as soon as possible, otherwise you might end up getting charged for other people's energy usage, or the landlords over the summer break. 

• While you're on the phone, make sure that you tell the energy provider the names of EVERYONE who is living with you. Otherwise, at the end of the year if you have a big bill to pay, your “best mates” could suddenly turn sour and refuse to pay the bill. If it's just in your name, guess who ends up paying for it all?

So yeah, these are my TOP TIPS. Hope I haven't bored you too much.  Just remember, if something doesn't feel right about a house or a landlord, you can go somewhere else. Landlords are selling you a service; they're desperate for you to sign along the dotted line. Make them work for it. 

Byeeeeeee!