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Rewind back *almost* four years and I was moving into my first student house, I was nervous to move out of the home but the excitement took over. I felt like a real adult, my mum wasn’t going tell me to clean up anymore or to turn my music down. I would be in control and I could do whatever I wanted. Living in a student house is fun, but it’s also nowhere near as difficult as moving into a place on your own or with my ex in my case. So rewind back again but this time to July 2016, I had moved into a new house, a bigger house and it was all mine. By this point I was ready to never live with another person again, moving is hard and getting settled with anxiety is even harder. However, I am still in that property and I am super lucky as my landlord is lovely. So I am here to share my top tips for first-time renters in collaboration with Homelet. Let me know in the comments your tips for first-time renters.
Look around until you’re sure:
Renting a property in my opinion is never going to be your perfect house, as you are not allowed in most cases to make the changes you want to make, however, it’s worth finding a place you at least want to live, if you’re completely picking apart the place it probably isn’t the one for you. Although it doesn’t have to be a place you love for years at least make sure it is somewhere you enjoy being.
Make sure you can afford it:
I remember when I was going flat viewing any of the ones I liked were out of my price range slightly, and even though it was only slightly that would leave me short every month. Even though the flat was nice and somewhere I could imagine myself living, the idea of worrying about money just made it not worth it. Half of the battle is finding somewhere nice within budget, but it’s possible. I’d advising get all of the apps you can think of letting agencies and check them multiple times a day, something is eventually going to come up.
Work out your bills beforehand:
So you can afford the rent on the property, but how much are the bills. There are so many bills I didn’t even think to consider when I moved in, but dependant on where you live and the factors of your living conditions these will vary for each person. But it’s definitely worth working out council tax along with a rough estimate based on your previous home how much gas and electric you will use. Just to see if you can afford it. For example, heating a house is expensive and the bigger the house the more heat you’ll need, it’s things like that. It’s worth checking how much your council tax will be prior also. Living on your own and being a student gets you a 25% discount. Which can be quite handy, make sure you advise the council of this and they will take it into account. OH and Tv license is another which nearly caught me out, I completely forgot they existed due to just watching Netflix in my student house, it’s worth setting up a monthly direct debit for this so it’s small chunks rather than all at once.
Listen to advice: When I moved out and people tried to give me advice I felt like they were trying to take over my experience of moving out, however now I realise they were just trying to help. If someone tells you pieces of advice most of the time it’s worth listening to. You think you know everything but really you often don’t. It’s great to hear other peoples experiences of moving out and their struggles so you can learn from them!
