A4.2 Renting Tips¶
1. Letting Agents, Private Landlords, and Sub-landlords
Whether dealing with a letting agent or a private landlord, the main risk is encountering unethical ones. Common issues include: not returning the deposit, renting out unfinished properties (e.g., still under renovation), renting properties with problems like leaks or other various faults, refusing to repair or maintain broken facilities, withholding the deposit entirely or partially, previous bills for the property being unpaid, and demanding Council Tax payment incorrectly.
Sub-landlords are extremely common in the UK, and Chinese students are very likely to encounter them. A significant portion of these sub-landlords are local Chinese nationals or Chinese students themselves, and they are most active on major Chinese social media platforms.
For example:
Platform A (a high-risk area, not trustworthy): Many people on there impersonate new students or senior students. Based on personal experience, the moderators are often problematic. Even if you purchase a super VIP membership on Platform A, complaining about these moderators is useless.
Platform B (mostly inactive, ad-filled): Essentially just a place for advertisements with little real communication.
Platform C (formerly better, now requires caution): It has largely become a new base for those previously active on Platform A. For instance, since 2018, I have been aware of an unscrupulous Chinese agency. This agency registered a company in China, complete with a website and even plans for an app. However, they actually have no real connections or legitimate business in the UK. They enter the UK on tourist visas to conduct rental scams, staying only during peak rental seasons each year before disappearing until the next season.
Currently, their primary methods involve building trust by extensively posting answers and articles on Platforms C, D, and E, pretending to be helpful seniors or students. Their secondary method involves using Public Accounts on Platform E, allowing them to post directly into various chat groups they've infiltrated, pretending to be seniors recommending rentals or looking for flatmates.
This agency has been exposed by many students on Platform D due to continuous scams, particularly between 2017-2019. Why is there less information about them now? A friend experienced this firsthand: after posting exposure threads on Platforms A, D, and C, the Platform A moderators deleted the posts and banned my friend's account. Using a new account to repost led to further deletions and bans. Multiple complaints to the official platform about the moderators were futile – Platform A may have been compromised by these actors.
Subsequently, on Platforms D and C, this agency used their company name to have lawyers send legal letters and issue private threats to my friend. They explicitly stated they possessed my friend's passport, BRP, and other private details, threatening to prevent my friend from graduating in the UK and misuse their documents if the posts weren't removed – an extremely brazen attitude.
Then, in 2020, this scam agency decided that merely withholding deposits and charging double rent was too slow. They started collecting over 100,000 RMB per tenancy annually upfront. Several households are known to have been affected, resulting in hundreds of thousands of RMB stolen before the perpetrators vanished. The point here is that such fraudulent Chinese agencies and individual sub-landlords are very, very numerous in the UK. Remember, it's safer to trust your university's accommodation services than to readily believe these Chinese rental agents.
While I dislike being so negative, the reality is that many Chinese people abroad specifically target and scam fellow Chinese.
Platform E Chat Groups & Platform F Groups (a scammer's paradise): These are hotbeds for activities skirting the law. In almost every group (except those with strict entry requirements and enforced rules), you will constantly receive friend requests from people pretending to be new students wanting to connect, or seniors offering 'new student groups', 'course groups', or 'flight groups'. Others will pretend to want to buy second-hand items or rent, only to ask if you have any chat groups they can join. You'll encounter many fake profiles with pictures of beautiful women and curated high-end social media histories – do not accept these. 99.9% are advertisers, scammers, or people gathering your information and photos to clone your account.
Platform D (many fake accounts): A classmate had her Platform D account cloned – the name differed only by a punctuation mark. At first glance, she thought it was a side account she had created. The fake account followed all her followers and proceeded to message them impersonating her. One person almost transferred money, fortunately entering the password incorrectly initially, which delayed the transfer until the next day. Due to the time difference, the scam was exposed that evening.
Unscrupulous sub-landlords exhibit various behaviours: Some are primarily profit-driven, charging high rent (perhaps a few hundred pounds more annually than the local average) but still providing the property and occasionally managing issues, eventually returning the deposit. These are considered the 'better' sub-landlords – you just pay a premium for a standard room. Worse are those who disappear after taking a holding deposit, or even more despicably, abscond with rent payments after collecting them. They might have only paid the actual landlord a portion of the rent, or none at all. If the tenancy with the actual landlord expires, the real landlord has the right to evict you, or you may have to pay rent and a new deposit directly to the real landlord to stay.
2. Housemates
It's best to find your own friends to rent with beforehand. If you end up with incompatible or difficult housemates, it can significantly affect your mood and, in severe cases, even lead to safety issues. Common shared house problems include disputes over utility bills (water, gas, electricity, internet), taking out the bins, cleaning rotas, differing lifestyles, and many others.
In the UK, I rented a two-storey house with three others. It had three bathrooms; the two upstairs rooms with en-suites were occupied by females, and the downstairs room by a male. It's generally advisable for males to occupy ground-floor rooms. Always remember to lock windows and doors. Once, police officers visited for community engagement and safety awareness, offering to install tracking software on our computers and free alarms on doors and windows (these alarms can also be bought on eBay).
3. Tenancy Agreement
Ask the other party to provide the contract in advance. Take it home and read it carefully yourself. Scrutinise all clauses, including the start and end dates. Ask beforehand about possibilities for moving in a few days early or moving out later to give yourself flexibility. Note the deposit amount, whether it will be protected in a government-approved scheme in your name, and the timeframe for its return. Look for any hidden clauses or unexpected charges. Mark anything you don't understand and ask about them all together later. Ensure the contract is in one language only – avoid mixed Chinese-English contracts or those with hidden clauses.
Regarding whether a tenancy agreement can be in Chinese, please see the directory section: 'Do UK letting agents charge agency fees? Can you sign a rental contract in Chinese in the UK?'
4. Council Tax
Full-time students are exempt from paying Council Tax. 'Full-time' typically means studying for more than 21 hours per week for a period exceeding one year. If you receive a Council Tax bill, don't panic. Take the letter to your student centre first to get a letter confirming your student status, then take it to your local council office, or ask university staff to post it for you. However, if you are a student but share with someone who is not a student, that person is liable for Council Tax. If two or more non-students rent a property together, Council Tax is payable.
For other guides related to UK Council Tax, please check the directory.
5. Moving In & Moving Out
Before moving in, inspect the property thoroughly for any issues. Check walls for marks, carpets for stains or damage, door handles, windows, glass, toilets, showers, lights, kitchen cabinet doors, fridge, etc. Make a checklist, take dated photos, and keep them as evidence. When moving out, you generally need to give notice – typically 2 months, but check your contract or ask your landlord/agent. Some agents require 1 month's notice, others 3 months.
Upon moving out, there will be a final inspection. Ensure the property is clean, including carpets, extractor hood filters, the garden (e.g., remove weeds). Consider hiring a professional cleaning company, as some agents might unfairly criticise your cleaning to withhold deposit money. Professional cleaning isn't excessively expensive – typically around £200 for a 4-bed, two-storey house (ours was £200). Ensure all utility bills (water, gas, electricity, internet) are settled. When moving out, definitely take final meter readings (photos are good evidence) and ensure all keys are returned to the landlord or agent.
For guides on paying water, electricity, and gas bills in the UK, see the directory: 'How to pay water, electricity, and gas bills in the UK?'
7. Agency Fees & Unreasonable Charges
By law, UK letting agents or landlords cannot charge tenants agency fees. Please see the guide in the directory: 'Do UK letting agents charge agency fees? Can you sign a rental contract in Chinese in the UK?'
8. Property Health and Safety
All rented properties in the UK must meet the Health and Safety Standards for Rented Homes (HHSRS). Landlords are legally responsible for ensuring the property meets these standards, which cover both physical safety and health/wellbeing. Properties not meeting these standards are illegal to rent out.
9. Tenant Rights, Deposits, Rent
How to assert your rights regarding UK rentals? Dispute resolution for international students renting in the UK – please see the directory.
10. UK Property Rental Websites
See the directory for UK rental websites.
11. Property Repairs
If your rented property has issues like leaks or other faults, you need to contact the landlord or agent. UK law states that landlords are responsible for repairing the property's structure and exterior, plus installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating, and water heating (e.g., roofs, pipes, windows, doors, walls, stairs, bathrooms, heating systems). For appliances like fridges, microwoves, TVs, washing machines, extractor hoods, etc., you must check with your landlord/agent – this should be in the contract. Normally, these are also included and maintained by the landlord, provided the damage isn't caused by tenant misuse.
12. Tenant Privacy
Once you rent a property, you have a right to privacy. If the landlord frequently shows up unannounced to 'inspect', enters the property without anyone present, requests inspections late at night, or enters without prior notice (except for genuine emergencies), this is generally illegal. Typically, landlords must give at least 24 hours' notice and must obtain the tenant's consent before entering to inspect or view the property.