Moving into a studio flat

ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

With the girlfriend...

There's a small studio flat in my area going for £310 / pcm. It's the cheapest option we've found for living together (we both want to move out of our respective houses). After a quick and rough budgeting session last night, we're quite confident that with my student loans and her part time job we'll be able to afford the flat for the forseeable future.

Only today I found out the total costs just for moving in.

They want...

First month's rent in advance (£310, fair enough)
Bond (£410... a lot of money... but should get it back eventually)
Agency fee (£150!!)

Now, I know I can't really argue, but I can't help thinking, why the hell should I pay £150 to an agency when they've literally done nothing more than give me a 5 minute showing of a flat? I thought that it was the landlords problem to pay the agency. I mean.... I can understand a small fee but paying 150 fucking quid to an agency just because my prospective landlord has chosen them seems like a piss-take to me. Are agency fee's usually this high?

Does anyone else have much experience or advice when it comes to paying for a small flat for the first time? This is a new experience for both me and my girlfriend, and whilst we've both gone through a rough budget for the next year... it's still a pretty scary situation. Especially with my bike, and unknown problems coming up with that... argh...
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MarJay · But it's British! Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Karma :

ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

Very helpful Paivi, thank you. Are you saying that I need to do an inventory myself, or should I be expecting the agency to do it?
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Yamaha YB100 | Yamaha TZR125 | Yamaha XJ600S | Suzuki GSF600
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
John Lennon

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

The agency should do it, in fact they should have done it between tenants, so you'd just have to look through it and sign to say you're in agreement.

Some agencies can't be bothered, and nor can tenants, and then when they want to move out, all of a sudden the landlord claims he's withholding all the deposit because the dinner set was 'missing' or the carpet was dirty, etc.

It's in your interests to have one, so if you don't get one with the contract, ask for one immediately, but as soon as you get in, go through the flat with fine toothcomb. No mark is too small to be mentioned, nor the general condition. The more faults you can spot as you move in, the better your position when it comes to your moving out, as you can prove they were there when you moved in.

Ours read something like this:

Sitting room
Beige carpet, quite worn in places (clear path from the door to the sofa), large stain (red wine?) on the right hand side of the sofa, clearly visible furniture marks on the carpet and on the walls.
Magnolia walls, some scuff marks where the sofa had been, dirty overall, signs that somebody had tried to wash them between the bay windows.
Small holes in various places on the wall for picture hooks.
Windows dirty from the outside, and insulation tape worn.
Dirty fingerprints on the wall near the windows, and around the light switch.
No lampshades, nor working bulbs.

That kind of stuff. Anal, I know, but when the agent tells you he's withholding the deposit because you hadn't cleaned the windows or there was a wine stain by the sofa, you'll be grateful for that one anal hour spent looking around, as you've got proof all that was there when you moved in.
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st3v3 · Super Spammer Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Karma :

So; who keeps this inventory? and what's to stop you doing a fresh one before you move out and dating it for then, or the agency/landlord saying it's "fake" etc?

Plus, great posts there paivi. Thumbs Up

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owdamer · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Karma :

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

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ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

Thanks for all the tips all, big help as always, keep the advice coming (it really takes a load off my mind having people to talk to about this).

Right... so when I move into the flat then I'll be taking an inventory of my own... dating it... and I suppose it would be a good idea to photocopy it and keep a copy myself before sending it off to the agency, so I'll do that too.

Once that's done I'll do what Paivi advised about the energy meters.. I'll get hold of each utility company and make sure they know when I've moved in... and take the readings from electricity and water meters....

Uhhmh... what else...

I need to get a hold of Sky and get the internet sorted (I won't last 2 days without my dosage of the internet)..

Errr....
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Yamaha YB100 | Yamaha TZR125 | Yamaha XJ600S | Suzuki GSF600
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
John Lennon

Glen · Spanner Monkey Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Karma :

Have to reinforce what's already been said before regarding a full and detailed inventory. Photos are highly recommended aswell. It's the best way to document the condition of the flat before you move in because (in my experience) land lords can be totally unscrupulous. One landlord tried to keep my bond because of dent in a partition wall but having photos helped, without them I'm quite certain my £600 bond would have been lost for good.

syl · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Karma :

Agree with the above - the inventory I got with the place I'm renting at the minute (renting somewhere in the new town whilst selling the place that I own where we used to live) ran to around 10 pages of A4 (plus pictures of the grounds). OK, it's a big house, but it is pretty anal stuff - especially as the house is pretty much near perfect at first glance.

£150 seems standard. That's what I paid despite the rent being far higher. My deposit was approximately 150% of the monthly rent.
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st3v3 · Super Spammer Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Karma :

pa_broon74 · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Karma :

Our agency fee was 25% of the monthly rent and as I recall the deposit was the monthly rent + £100.

The inventory was a bodge job, we'd been in for a few days before we got it and it wasn't accurate at all. I amended it, took photos and copied it before sending it back. (Also sent a letter complaining about some underwear left in a drawer, shower gel in one of the bathrooms and some vit c tabs. Some one from the agency had been using it, it hadn't been cleaned properly.)

Only thing I'd say is you might get under each others feet having only one room. We made sure to get a place with a seperate kitchen, that said, we're not married; just sharing... We can go to our seperate rooms if we get pissed off with each other...

Good luck with it though, beats living at home for sure.
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lozzypop1 · Certified MILF! Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Karma :

Another point to remember is that you will probably need to pay another fee to the agency every time your lease is up, whether that is six-monthly or annually etc. It would be worth your while finding out how much this additional fee will cost you.

The inventory (from personal experience) is copied and both the agency and yourselves will have a copy each.
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ColdInsomnia · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2006 Karma :

Just an update to let those of you that were perhaps interested know how it's going.

I've been on the phone to BT for 3 hours today waiting on hold. I'm sick of that fucking recording being looped over and over and over and over.

We've been here for 3/4 days now, and for the most part things are going well. Aside from being locked inside the flat for 30 minutes (utterly) thanks to a dodgy lock which we had to prise open with a knife, and aside from the complete bunch of tits at BT who seem to struggle to re-activate a stopped phoneline (I had to phone them 4 times just to get someone that could do it without passing me on to 'Customer Services'... otherwise known as 'KEEP YOU ON HOLD FOR 3 HOURS') things are going well.

Still waiting to get the internet. Phone line should be working on Wednesday, so hopefully should be getting the net some time next week. God I hope so, because I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms.
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Yamaha YB100 | Yamaha TZR125 | Yamaha XJ600S | Suzuki GSF600
"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it."
John Lennon