It can be confusing to know what your role as a tenant is. As a tenant, you have certain responsibilities that you have to meet. Ensuring that you take these responsibilities seriously will keep a good relationship between you and your landlord, and make your tenancy go as smoothly as possible.
Your role as a tenant
First and foremost, you should always pay your rent on time. Rent is always expected one month in advance. The best way to make sure that your rent is always paid on time is to set up a standing order with your bank. If you’ve never done this before, your bank can help you with the process. If there are any problems or delays with your rent, you must get in touch with us as soon as possible.
You should also make sure to pay other bills on time. Most tenancies don’t include bills, so you’ll also have to pay for council tax, gas, electricity, water, telephone, Internet and TV licence fees on top of your rent. Neglecting to pay these bills can negatively impact the relationship between you and your landlord.
You must respect your neighbours. This is particularly important in a block of flats, where there is often a code of etiquette to be adhered to. You need to make sure you leave your rubbish in the right place, and keep audio and tv levels at a respectable level.
As a tenant, the property has been entrusted to you. It is your responsibility to ensure that it isn’t damaged or disrespected in any significant way. You won’t have to actually do any maintenance on the building, but it’s expected that you make sure the property doesn’t come to any specific harm. You should also carry out basic tasks such as changing light bulbs and changing the batteries in your smoke alarms.
If there are any significant problems that need attended to, such as a leaking roof, you must get in touch with your landlord as soon as possible. This is to ensure that problems don’t get any worse if left unfixed.
If you are leaving the property for more than a couple of weeks you should let your landlord know. This is an insurance issue – it will affect your landlord’s insurance policy if the house is empty for a significant amount of time.
It’s the tenant’s responsibility to handle basic security. That means you should always make sure the doors and windows are locked when you leave the property, and you shouldn’t give your keys to anyone else.
When you rent a property, there are certain things that you aren’t allowed to do. You can’t alter the property in any way, or make any changes without your landlord’s permission. This includes redecorating the walls, or even hanging a picture from picture hooks.
You also can’t run a business at the property, although some landlords may allow you to have a business registered at the property as long as you aren’t actually using the property as a business premises. You should check with your landlord before taking any action in this area.
Subletting is also usually forbidden, although some landlords may allow this too. Again, make sure you have permission before you do anything, click here to learn more about being a tenant.
