House Hunting Guide A5_ Keele_ Hunting Guide _K digital single pages | Page 22

Key
information
Landlord
The owner of the property that is being rented.
HMO (Houses in Multiple
Occupation)
Properties that are occupied by a number of
people. The property must comply with further
legislation.
Joint Tenancy
A tenancy where there are two or more tenants
who all have equal rights and responsibilities
during a tenancy. As joint tenants of a tenancy, the
tenants have joint and several liability. This means
that the landlord can recover the whole debt (i.e.
rent arrears) from any of the Tenants named on
the tenancy agreement. The joint Tenant would
then have to recover these monies from the other
joint Tenants.
Assured Shorthold Tenancy
(known as AST)
A legal contract that allows you to live in the
property for a particular length of time, subject to
the terms of being kept to.
Contract
A document agreed between two parties
and which binds both parties to complete the
transaction.
Deposit
A sum of money (usually a minimum of one
month’s rent in advance) paid to the landlord (or
agent) of the property, which is returned at the
22
end of the tenancy, subject to the condition of the
property. There are 3 schemes that have been
officially appointed by the government and are the
only persons legally able to register and protect
a Tenant’s deposits.
Guarantor
Someone (usually a parent) who is prepared to
guarantee rental payments and other obligations
of a tenancy. The guarantor will be liable for rental
payments if a tenant is unable to pay them, so the
guarantor will need to have a regular income.
Covenants
Obligations made by either landlord or tenant.
When a landlord lets out their property, these
terms are usually “restrictive”. This means that you
cannot do such as keep pets or hang washing out
of windows.
Utility Bills
These are normally electricity, gas and water.
Some landlords include utilities in the rent so
check before you sign the contract.
Reference
Checking an applicant’s suitability as a proposed
Tenant, their ability to be able to pay the rent and
also the applicant’s track record in earlier rentals.
Landlords and agencies usually contact the
University for a reference if you have already lived
on campus.
Fire Safety Regulations
These are certain acts which must be undertaken
by a Landlord or a Tenant.