Finding Private Rented Accommodation

Rooms or Bed-sits - generally a basic room and sharing kitchens/toilets/bathrooms with other residents or the landlord. Possibly the cheapest type of accommodation to rent. House or flat share - your own room and sharing accommodation with other tenants or a landlord. Self-contained accommodation - your own house or flat that you live in exclusively by yourself or with your family or partner. This is the most expensive type of accommodation.

Renting your own self-contained accommodation will be expensive. You may have to consider less expensive accommodation such as a house or flat share on a temporary basis until you have saved enough money to move into self-contained accommodation.

There are several ways of finding accommodation by looking in the local newspapers, checking notice boards in shops or supermarkets or local colleges, contacting letting/accommodation agencies these can be found in local newspapers or the telephone directory.

Once you have found accommodation that you are interested in you will need to view it. When viewing accommodation it may be useful to take a pen and paper, references, an A-Z guide of the area and a friend or member of your family with you.

Private landlords or Letting Agents may require deposits and rent-in-advance. If you cannot provide a deposit a landlord may be willing to accept a responsible adult, who knows you, to act as a guarantor. A guarantor is someone who would, on your behalf, provide the landlord with money if you default on the rent or service bills or have caused any damage to the accommodation once you have terminated and left the tenancy.

Letting Agents may also charge administration fees for such things as taking up references, drawing up contracts or as a key holding deposit. You may not get administration fees returned if you fail to take the accommodation.

Always check what the administration fee covers and if it is returnable.