Useful Tips

This page contains tips you should adopt to stay in the good book of your landlord or the law

Your home

• Keep your home properly ventilated so that you do not end up fighting dampness, which in turn could attract vermin.

Front door and windows

• Make sure that you do not leave dents, broken door handle or anything else on the front door for your landlord to notice. He will not be happy, and this will show that you do not respect the property you have been entrusted with.

How can this happen? May be for some reasons, justified or not, you lost your home key and cannot get inside the property. You have two problems: recognised you may not be able to call the landlord to help or you don’t have someone living with you, who can open the door. Before you kick the door in a rage or try to break in using excessive force, which will inevitably leave a trace, stop, and think?

• Will my action damage the door?

• How much it will cost me to repair it or replace it, if the damage is to great?

• Is there a better solution?

• Mind you, if your landlord lives near you and you have a good relationship, then you may be saved. But if you cannot for some reason get your landlord assistance then your only solution is to call the locksmith.

• In case your misfortune happens in an extremely late hours of the night, go to an hotel or look for someone who can house you for the night. This is where having a good relationship with your neighbours pays off. At the early hours, try to find a solution.

• Same with your windows. People tent to force their way in through a window when they lock themselves out. If you were brave enough to leave you windows open to potential burglars, then it is a risk you are taking. In the other hand, it is your lucky day if you could sneak in thought it.

Your kitchen

• I understand that when you are single it is tough. Your best mate is your microwave. You should clean it every time you use it. It can be tiring to do so each time, but it is the best way to stay away from food poisoning or other problems which may cause you to end up in hospital.
• Or if you are a family the kitchen may be the only room where you could see everybody at a same time all day. Dinner time can produce miracles. The kitchen is not only a place where you can produce your favourite meals, it is also the place where you can win back admiration and respect from family members you cook for.

A friendly advice, respect your kitchen, get it clean and free from decay food. Make sure that the cooker is clean after each cooking, especially when you cook meat with grease.

• Make sure that the surface and inside oven of your cooker are cleaned.

• Make sure that your bin is empty if it is full or close it properly if it is not.

• Make sure that there is no left over on the table or anywhere in the kitchen area

• Make sure that you do your dishes every day, do not leave dirty dishes in the sink.

• Make sure that you clean the table surfaces with anti-bacteria specially if you have children living with you.

• Make sure that you clean and get rid of all drops of food on the floor.

• Make sure that the fridge is closed at all time, if not it will lose its grip over time and you will not be able to store your food safely. The food will be open to the element and consequently build fungus and other bacteria s, which could be extremely dangerous to your health and those of your family.

• Clean your microwave. We all use the microwave more often than anything else in the kitchen. It is a valuable tool; you may not be able to live without. It is essential that you clean it after use.

• Keeping the kitchen clean will stop vermin moving in with you and became part of your family. Remember these vermin can destroy your home. They can multiply very quickly and in great numbers.
• They will not sit on the table with you, but surely, they will invite themselves to your left over and worse they will go and look for more. They will start in the kitchen initially and expend their search throughout the house. They will become permanent guess in your house, and extended family so to speak. They will occupy every room in the house. For your sake if you live alone or those of you and your family if you have a family do not compromise your health and those of your love ones

Your bath rooms

• If you have one or multiple bathrooms, you should keep them clean at all time. Your bathroom is another area where you spend a great amount of time. It should be well ventilated to avoid dampness and bad odour invading the rest of the property.

• Ideally the sink, bath tap, and toilet should be clean every day, and the surface decontaminated with anti-bacteria product.

• The wall tiles should be clean at least twice a week

• The floor should be clean every other day to stop a build-up of dust.

• Your toothbrush should be shielded or the brush at the end rinsed with boiling water to get rid of any build up bacteria before using it.

• Make sure that you ventilate your bathroom to avoid humidity to build up, it can leave an unpleasant other in your towel and any fabric stored in the bathroom.

Your bedrooms

• Your room is your small world where you stock every valuable you have, fare from the rest of your friend, family, or flat mate. Unfortunately, sometimes we tent to store so much that it is difficult to see the furniture’s inside. 
• We are all victims of bad space management in our bedroom. The landlord is not concern with how you display your belongings in your room. He is more worried about the furniture’s if the property was rented furnished. 
• An overload furniture can give up under heavy load. So, you must be very careful not to put too much strain on the furniture.
• If you rented the property with carpet on the rooms, you should make sure that you often hover the carpet. If you leave it too long to clean it, you could expose yourself to dust and moth. Moth can attack the carpet. Avoid damaging the carpet by dropping unwastable or chemical which will damage it beyond repair. 
• If you rented the property with laminated floor, you should make sure that you do not damage the floor by denting the floor or dragging heavy or pointed object on the floor surface and use appropriate flooring product to maintain the texture of the floor. 
• If you rented the property with tiles on the floor, you should make sure to clean it every other day. Make sure not you walk on the tiles while still wet.
• Your bed, it a contort zone for your body. Your bed should be clean 24/7. A clean bed gives you a good sleep and a place where you find peace and quiet. You do not want this piece to be disturbed by bed bugs or any kind of bugs that will be a health hazard for you and your family

The walls

• The walls in the property should not be use as school black boards to write or graffiti over. If you have children, they tent to use the wall as practice for all sort of design or writing. It is a nightmare for every parent, so be careful. The landlord will not foot the bill to repaint the property if you have allowed your children to user it as a school black board

The living room

• The most used room in the house. It can be messy when you have children wondering around. Your living room is the heart of the house, where you share loving moments with love ones. It is advisable not to eat in your living.
• You may unintentionally invite vermin in your living room, which can be unhealthy. We sometime have tendencies to sleep in the sofa while watching tv sometimes. You do not want to have mice around looking for food crawling around you or on top of you because a piece of pizza is lying near your hand or any part on the sofa! There is a chance that you can have a bite from these vermin which could lead to a health risk.

Your Garden

• Do not live your garden grow to look like Jurassic park. It is lovely to have a garden where you can spend time with family and friends. It is the most desirable place where you entertain your guest during summertime. But having a garden comes with big responsibilities.
• Your barbecues and teatime can attract unwanted pets and wildlife. Neighbour cats, badgers, fox, crow, squirrel, just a few on the list of many. In a long period of time if you keep having barbecues after barbecues and do not clean up then be prepared to have visitors now then.

Your Conservatory or other extensions to your house

• Any extension to your property should be subject to the same cleaning and maintenance standard as the rest of your property.

Remainder

• As long as you, the tenant maintain the property which has been untrusted to you, to look after and making sure that the standard or all agreement in the tenancy agreement is respected, you can be certain that you will remain in the good book of your landlord. And most of all, you will be able to get the totality of your deposit if you decide to move out.

When looking for a property

• When meeting with the rental agent or landlord, make sure that you bring all documents required to secure the property. You may not be alone wanting to rent “this particular property”, so preparation is a key. 
• You should be aware that landlord and rental agent will be going through a credit check to see if you can be trusted to pay your rent. This check will be a deep search on your personal and financial status. They will be contacting various agencies to obtain your credit report.
• Make sure that when agreeing or signing a contract, you read every page including the small prints Specially the small print, because this is where the loopholes is in your contract are hidden. If reading the agreements takes hours, doing it, it may be the most important reading you will have to do in a long time. If you do not you may miss some vital clauses that you may not have agreed with at the start of your tenancy agreement. 
• It is vital and advisable to have everything said in writing. You need to keep a record of what was said and agreed upon while signing any document related to your tenancy. 
• It is advisable to your tenant rights. How to do that! First read your tenancy agreement to learn what you and your landlord responsibilities are. You should contact or familiarised yourself with your right as a tenant. Tenancysolved has a resourceful information on this subject. You can read and ask questions. We are not lawyers, but a group of landlords and tenants who have been there and done it. We do gather information all over the internet and use our own experiences to make it easier for you to find information in one place. 
• Your landlord cannot just receive your rent and neglect the property. If there is a provision in your tenancy agreement for your landlord to do his part of the repairs in the property, then make sure that he does the repairs when needed. 
• A good way to have something done in the property is to have a good relationship with your landlord. We are not asking you to be his best friend but keeping yourself in his good book can go a long way. A friendly relationship will be crucial if you are struggling to pay your rent. 
• Most tenant think that the building insurance taken by the landlord also covers the content insurance. I can assure you; this is not the case. Your belonging should be your responsibilities. You should make sure that they are secured and protected. There are several house content insurances providers which have several packages designed to suit your needs. 
• Your deposit is a guaranty against any damage done to the property by you or your family. The deposit will allow the landlord to have a hold on you if you refuse to pay your rent or make an irreparable damage to the property. Nevertheless, this deposit is not at the landlord merci to use it as he/her pleases. It is a requirement by the law of this country to have your deposit protected. The landlord should be able to give this back to you after you have moved out. You should be entitled to the full amount unless, there are justified outstanding unpaid rent and bills related to the property. 
• When you have been given the keys of your new home, you should start paying your rent. Yes, it is not a free service. The landlord is expecting a monthly or weekly rent, as per your tenancy agreement. It is your responsibility to honour this part of the agreement. Most landlord have secured a mortgage on the property and it will be inconsiderate even cruel to let them down with your rent. If you are struggling to pay your rent, then you should seek advice immediately. Your local authority may be able to help, your local legal and law agency can also help. Please see contacts of these agencies under the heading “legal advice link “on this website.

Remember you may be a tenant in a block of flats, so respect your neighbours. Be considerate and respectful

• You will not be well liked if you keep throwing parties every weekend or make loud noises

• You will not be popular if you keep your neighbour awake all night.

• You will not be popular if you keep pet in your property without the landlord consent.

• You will not be popular if your dog(s) are barking all day and night (even if there are permitted in the property). One more thing, if you own a pet(s) make sure that you clean after the pet(s).

• When things goes wrong, landlords are quick to seek legal advice and will not hesitate to use the law to their advantage. They are also good at keeping records to back up any claim against their tenants.
• So, it is advisable to keep record of every transaction related to the property, I mean all. Records such as, recipe of payments of rent, utilities bills, repairs and so on. Never assume that it is not important. If necessary, buy a folder and keep all document in one place. They may not be in order, but they will be in one place when needed. 
• If you need to request something from your landlord, you may do it by phone for a quick reaction or solution, but it is advisable to also make your request of demand in writing. Make sure that all written communication is posted “in sign for or recorded mail.” It will solidify your claim against your landlord if at a later date your landlord claims not to have receive your note or request. 
• Although the landlord owns the property, it does not have the right to barge into the property without your permission. They are a 24/48 hours’ notice he should give you. If you are not able to agree on when the landlord can enter the property, then you should negotiate. You may be busy or away, you should let the landlord know or agree on a date to enter the property. 
• If you are facing eviction, it means that something when terribly wrong. Whatever trigger the eviction, it should be taken seriously. You should seek advice immediately. If you have been put in a situation where you will be soon homeless it is vital that you get all the help you need. The landlord must have gone thought a legal process to get you to this point. You should also get the law in your side by seeking the right help necessary.
• When moving out of your rental property, make sure that you respect the term of your tenancy agreement under this close regardless the motif. If you move out because you have been evicted, do not trash the property. It may be that you have put yourself in the situation where you are now, but trashing, vandalising, or destroying the property will not get you back instead, it could lead to a criminal offence claim against you.