Your tenancy agreement is much more than just a piece of paper. It’s a legally binding contract that you and the landlord have to adhere to for the duration of your tenancy. That’s why you should make sure that everything is in order before putting pen to paper.
To help make sure that you know everything’s good to go, here are five questions you should check before signing your tenancy agreement.
Read it from top to bottom
A lot of people presume that all is in order and skim read their agreement. Some don’t even bother to read it at all. We recommend reading through your agreement from top to bottom. More than once if necessary.
This will ensure that you can catch out any clauses you don’t agree with that the landlord as slipped in there before signing. Know every last detail on that slip of paper before agreeing to it.
Bills, bills, bills
The bane of everyone’s life: bills. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to pay them. The question is, who are you the bills paying to? Who’s paying what?
Read carefully over who will be paying for the various bills throughout the property and make sure both you and the landlord are in agreement.
Maintenance
Things are bound to go wrong in the property at some point. The boiler might spring a leak or your dish washer might pack in (and you don’t want to do them by hand, obviously). You should make sure you understand the procedure for getting problems like these resolved. Under what circumstances will the repair be your responsibility? Will the landlord deal with all these issues?
Right of entry
Privacy is of the utmost importance to all tenants, so check to see under what circumstances your landlord can turn up and enter the property unannounced. In most cases, the landlord will need to provide 24 hours notice to the tenant and even then, the tenant needs to agree.
Landlord’s personal items
Some landlords keep personal items like tools within a property. These usually are kept in the loft or shed, tucked out of the way. If however, the landlord is storing a significant amount it may be worth discussing its removals.
Plus, you don’t want to forget who owns it and sell it on eBay three months down the line.
So remember: read very carefully through the agreement. See anything untoward? Talk to the landlord about it.