You’ve been searching the “room to rent” ads for days, and you’ve finally found what seems like the perfect place. But something doesn’t seem quite right about the whole deal. Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar for the place you’re currently considering? If so, you should approach with caution.
The pictures are small and low quality
Small and low quality images could be an indication that the images have been stolen from elsewhere on the web, and that the poster is running some sort of scam. For instance, advertising a property that doesn’t exist or that they don’t own and asking for money to secure viewings. Run the images through a reverse image search engine to check if they’re genuine.
If it turns out to be nothing malicious after all, you should still thread carefully. Do you trust a landlord who can’t put together a basic advertisement (or won’t pay someone who can to do it for them) to take the rest of their business seriously? For instance, how are they going to approach maintenance tasks at the house?
Landlord demands money to view the property, or ups the price before or after viewing
You should never have to pay money up front just to view a room, so if this is ever demanded then just walk away. On that note, all fees should be declared up front by the landlord or their agent, for example the cost of referencing or running a credit check.
If when you go to view the room the landlord claims there is a lot of interest in the property and they expect it to go quickly, you should approach with caution. In some competitive housing markets such as London this might actually be true, but elsewhere this rarely turns out to be the case and the landlord is trying to push you into making a decision quickly. Take your time to make your decision and ignore pushy behaviour from landlords or agents (and perhaps consider that if they’re behaving like that before you’re even a tenant, what would they be like if you actually were their tenant?). If the rent is suddenly increased from what was advertised due to “massive interest” or another similar excuse, then decline and look elsewhere.
Rent amount doesn’t match similar properties in the area
You should have a general idea of what the going rate for a room is in the areas that you are considering. It’s tempting to keep an eye out for properties that are being advertised below average prices, but you should find out why such a property is going cheap first. While it could be something innocent such as a much smaller than average bedroom or the property reaching the point where it needs redecorating, it could also be an indication of problematic neighbours, housemates or major issues with the property itself (e.g. heating doesn’t work, mould, etc).
Check the latest crime figures on police.uk for the street and surrounding areas for any red flags and also Google the address to make sure it hasn’t ended up on the news for all the wrong reasons. If that’s all clear, then keep an eye out during the viewing for issues with the property (e.g. damp, hearing the neighbours through the walls).
Claims in the ad turn out to be false
Most claims about the property the advertisement makes are fair game to test out, and you should check the claims are true rather than just taking the landlord’s word for it where possible. 5 minutes walk from the nearest train station? Walk the route and find out. Good signal and 3G/4G on all mobile phone networks? Take your phone out during the viewing and test it out.
For instance, if the property is described as “kept clean and tidy” but it looks like a tornado has been through when you view it, you might want to scrutinise any other claims about the property further before taking the renting process any further.
The landlord has one of their relatives living there
If one of the housemates happens to be a close relative of the landlord (e.g. their kid, sibling or cousin) then think carefully before agreeing to rent the property. If there’s a housemate dispute involving the relative, who do you think the landlord is going to side with?
The landlord doesn’t seem to know the local area
This is only really an issue if the landlord is managing the property themselves and not through an agent. But this also applies if the managing agent doesn’t seem to know the local area well either.
The landlord should know roughly how easy or difficult it is to travel to the property either by car or public transport from whichever location they are based in (in the event that you call them to the property in an emergency). They should also know how quickly they can find and get tradespeople such as plumbers or electricians over in an emergency. For example, it’s likely to be quicker to find and get someone to the property in South East England than in South West England, due to the differences in road networks and available public transport offerings.
None of the housemates are present at the viewing
You should try and view the property at a time of day that it’s likely that there will be at least one of the potential housemates home, for instance during the early evening. Be suspicious if the landlord tries to book the viewing for a time then they know none of the housemates will be around. You want to check that they seem like people you could live with, and they should want to do the same with you.
