The UK Real Estate Market

The UK Lettings Market

Even though deep in recession, the UK property rental market is still a thriving sector to be involved in. There could be many reasons for this, after all we all need a roof over our ahead. Repossessions are still high, the banks have a tough criteria to be eligible for lending. To purchase a property you need a minimum 20% deposit, some banks want 30% to offer a low interest rate. On a £300k property this is £60k plus all the added fees such as estate agent fees, legal costs, stamp duty and removal fees. By renting it seems to be more of an inexpensive option whilst waiting to see how the volatile property market turns out.

Renting a property couldn’t be easier, during the years early in 2000 developers and builders couldn’t build apartments quick enough. As soon as the first brick was laid, investors were lining up up to place their deposit on off plan builds. Now in 2009 there are huge numbers of rental properties to chose from that are available to let. across the UK.

So you have found your rental property, now it comes to the agreement. After you enter into a lettings contract, you need to think about property inventories and end of tenancy clean during the whole lettings period to guarantee your deposit is returned. An Inventory Clerk will carry out a check in at the beginning, an interim report mid term and then a final checkout after your tenancy contract ends. Your initial deposit will be held in the tenancy deposit protection scheme, this will guarantee you receive the whole or part of your deposit back and shelter you from greedy landlords. You also must carry out an end of tenancy cleaning if you want a chance of receiving 100% of the deposit. The safest option would be to employ an experienced domestic cleaning company who specialises in end of tenancy cleaning. They know the market and what’s expected to comply with an Inventory Report. There are many end of tenancy cleaning firms, shop established for a good price but do not always settle for the cheapest option. This could cost you in the long run. In my opinion, the best source
would be Google, the top 20 firms would have been established for a long time.

A final word of advice, if the landlord does not place your deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme then they will be breaking the law. If they do this, you the tenant could receive 3 times your initial deposit. Make sure you leave the property as you found it, follow the detail in the Inventory Report and you should be ok. Where possible, see if you can instruct both the Inventory Clerk and Cleaning Company this way to may be able to negotiate a cheaper price.