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Tenants legal help – how to protect yourself against rogue landlords
An interesting article in the Cash section of the Observer today looks at the increasing tendency of tenants to check up on their landlords before signing a tenancy agreement. And quite right too! As...
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Tenants legal help – is that rent increase valid?
Tenants legal help As the value of money keeps going down and the cost of things keeps going up, your landlord is at some stage going to want to increase your rent. That’s understandable, but if you...
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Tenants legal help – thinking of sharing with a friend?
Tenants sharing rented property Lots of people share rented property and often it works out. However sometimes it doesn’t. You need to be quite cautious about sharing a property with a friend, as if it...
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Tenants legal help – check the property before you sign the tenancy agreement
I advised a client recently who had an unusual problem. After signing the tenancy agreement for his rented property, he discovered there was a total stranger living in a studio flat above his garage!...
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Tenants legal help – checkin precautions
Tenants checkin meetings and inventories When you rent a property, you will often have a checkin or handover meeting before you move in. The landlord or agent will take you round and check the contents...
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Tenants legal help – if you can't afford to pay a deposit
Tenancy deposit problems You have found the perfect property to rent, it is in the right area, the rent is affordable, but you just cannot pay the deposit. What can you do? Local authority bond...
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Tenants legal help – vermin, who is responsible?
Liability for dealing with vermin Vermin infestation in your home can be very upsetting. I sometimes get emails from tenants afflicted with all kinds of infestation:- There’s a rat in the house...
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Tenants legal help – local authority re-housing
If your landlord is trying to evict you and you are finding it hard to find somewhere else to live, you may be entitled to be re-housed by your Local Authority. If so, the most important advice is...
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Tenants legal help – avoiding the scammers
Landlord scammers There is a big campaign on just now by Shelter (reported by the Observer) to make people aware of the scams and deceits practiced by some landlords. It should be said first that the...
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Tenants legal help – do you have to sign a new tenancy agreement?
A new tenancy agreement Usually a tenancy agreement will be for a term of six months or a year. At the end of that period, certainly if your landlord is using an agent, you will be asked to sign up...
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Tenants legal help: five things most tenants don't know about letting agents
Most tenants will rent their property via letting agents. But there are quite a few important points you should know about them . Here are five for starters. You will probably find some others if you...
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Tenants legal help – can landlords pass on inventory clerk fees?
Inventory clerk fees So you have found your dream property, have signed the tenancy agreement and are preparing to move in. The checkin meeting is to be done by an inventory clerk, which is good, but,...
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Tenants legal help – who is my landlord?
Your landlord’s identity Do you know who your landlord is? In most cases the name should be on your tenancy agreement. But is the name there really that of your landlord? For example if after the...
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Tenants legal help – condensation and damp
Damp can be a big problem in rented property. It is unpleasant and can cause health problems. What should you do about it? Probably the most important thing is to try to find out the cause of the...
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Tenants legal help – what to do about illegal eviction
Illegal eviction Most landlords are law abiding, and do things properly. Unfortunately, others aren’t. So while the good landlord will wait for the courts to get around to giving him his order for...
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Tenants legal help: five tips on your tenancy agreement
Before you sign your tenancy agreement: 1. Make sure you have one. It is important to have a tenancy agreement as a record of what was agreed, as memories fade. If you ever need to claim housing...
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Tenants legal help : my landlord is spying on me!
I had an email from a reader the other day, who had a strange tale to tell. He has recently moved into a shared house in Manchester. On the day he moved in, his landlord informed him that there were...
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Tenants legal help – five points on repair rights
Your landlord is obliged by law to keep your property in repair (the specific rules are discussed here), but the law is not always straightforward. Here are some points you may not have realised: 1....
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Tenants legal help – what to do if your Local Authority won't help
Often on this blog and elsewhere, if a tenant is experiencing problems with his or her landlord, one ‘answer’ is to speak to the Housing Officer at your Local Authority (LA). Local Authorities have a...
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Tenants legal help – smoking in rented properties
Tenants and smoking regulations Smokers are feeling more and more under threat nowadays. Although its all for their own good of course. Whats the situation with rented property? The Smoke-free...
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