Long time no blog, eep! I've got a very good reason for the elongated silence though, I've spent the entire month of June emailing, working out, and generally just arranging the rental agreement. Turns out it's ridiculously difficult and bureaucratic renting a flat in England, who'd have thought it?
I'll keep this short and sweet, since I covered a lot of the arrangements in my previous post, but these are the complicated ins-and-outs that I've dealt with after that:
- Guarantors: As my grandad so aptly put it, unless you're a millionaire, no pensioner has enough yearly income to act as guarantor. No begging, pleading, or weeping will help with this, if your guarantor doesn't make 30x your rent, they won't be accepted, and that's a fact. The thing is, agencies may not tell you this before you've already paid for the guarantor check, so to avoid that extra £50 fee for a guarantor that won't make the cut, make absolutely sure that they're making enough each year to cover it. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful family friend who stepped in and helped me out, so make sure to explore all avenues before giving up.
- Tentant's and Landlord's rights: This is really easy to overlook when you're renting for the first time by yourself, but for goodness sake make sure you've read all the legal papers - there can be some really nasty surprises in store if you don't! Especially when you've got a dog in tow, there can be some clauses in the drafted agreement that you need to be VERY aware of, or even re-negotiate depending on the situation. But don't worry too much, because it's all in legal-speak and often isn't quite as strict as it seems - for example I didn't know that basically every rental in the UK says you aren't allowed to run a business solely from the apartment, which scared me since I have my own online business, but as it turns out that only means you can't run, say, a brothel! :D
- Paperwork: Things I requested before signing the tenancy agreement included the following; landlord's insurance documents, gas and electric safety checks, lease documents, and the deed of guarantee. You'll also want to hold onto all the invoices you've been sent, just in case!
- Signing the agreement from overseas: It seems pretty obvious, but if you're based abroad like me, it works like this; the agent sends you the drafted tenancy agreement which you need to approve, then they get the landlord's and guarantor's approval. Then the agent sends you the final version of the agreement to print, sign (you also need a witness to sign it, and make sure to add your initials on each page - they do require this sometimes!), scan, and send back to them via email. They then fill it out at their end, email it back, and that's that. When you move in you'll exchange the original documents.
- Furniture: If you're buying any of the furniture left in the apartment by the landlord, make sure you have it on paper that you've paid - and invoice is good to keep for this, so you can avoid any confusion to the ownership of bits and bobs at the end of your tenancy.
- Visitors: I'm moving in with help from my mum and granddad, with our older dog (hopefully!) in tow. This may not be the case with all rentals, but my landlord does require me to inform them of visitors staying more than a few days, especially if there are pets involved. Since I already had approval for my own dog, negotiating about my mum's dog didn't prove too difficult - but definitely ask permission before booking any tickets!!
- Travel arrangements: This can be a bit of a nightmare - England is NOT an easy place to move to with pets, especially if you're not willing to fly with them in the hold, which we are most certainly not. It seems impossible, but with a bit of working out it's doable. I suggest flying to Brussels or Paris CDG airport, then making your way up to Calais (please note that Eurostar does not accept pets in any shape or form, so avoid them at all costs!) via train, bus, rental car, or taxi. We opted for taxi to avoid any additional panic in renting and returning cars and driving in Belgium - eep! Then get on the Eurotunnel shuttle with your taxi (you can't rent a car from the continent to drop off in the UK, it's all to do with driving on the wrong side etc.) to Folkestone, the price of which can vary from around £100 to over £1000 - do your research!! Once you're in the UK, getting to where you need to go is fairly easy, trains generally allow pets free of charge (South East trains do, and that's where you're setting off from), and if you can rent a car or have relatives in the area it's a piece of cake. :)
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