Renting a house- advice please :)

[smicer07]

Hi there. Long time no see

Me and my girlfriend are about to rent a house off my brother in law. He's going abroad to work, indefinitely, and has offered a good rate for us to stay in his home. However, I have a couple of questions, if anyone can help!

1) Is it worth us changing the electric/gas/water bills into our own name or should I leave them in the landlord's name?
2) Regarding the boiler- should we be paying the boiler cover or should the landlord deal with that?
3) Council tax. Currently he's got single owner deduction- I assume we'll have to contact the council and put this in our name?

Cheers for any help!

[Kymmy]

Yes the council tax should be in your name as the single person discount will be void.

As for Gas/Electric it's upto you.. The good thing about having it in your own name is that if there's any issues then you can contact them directly.. Also you can change suppliers as costs change..

For the boiler.. it's a fixture of the house and as such he should be responsible for it.. that includes any service contracts on it...but it is entirely upto you if you wish to take it on as again with your b-i-l out of the country contact with the service agents might be problematic unless you pretend to be him.. I'd suggest moving it to your name but negotiating a rent discount to that amount.

One other point is that the more stuff you have in your name the better it is in securing a decent credit history..

[smicer07]

For the gas/electric, can I just call them up and get them to switch it, or will my brother in law have to phone them aswell?

Am I the only one with a sense of foreboding here? Threads about you and houses have a habit of getting ... Messy.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Get someone to draw up a proper tenancy agreement so you do have the leagl rights to stay at the property correctly defined. You and you BIL then know what is what. In return for the rent he knows what he has to pay for, and you know what he has to repair. You both also know the circumstances the tenancy will end.

[murphy666]

Originally Posted by Rob

Get someone to draw up a proper tenancy agreement so you do have the leagl rights to stay at the property correctly defined. You and you BIL then know what is what. In return for the rent he knows what he has to pay for, and you know what he has to repair. You both also know the circumstances the tenancy will end.

Well worth doing this - Gives all parties understanding of whats what.

[Wayfair]

Good idea on the tenancy agreement.

You can find loads of advice here http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/...agreements.htm

There is nothing going to sour a relationship faster with friend / family than money matters.

[iluvabargain2011]

Originally Posted by smicer07

Hi there. Long time no see

Me and my girlfriend are about to rent a house off my brother in law. He's going abroad to work, indefinitely, and has offered a good rate for us to stay in his home. However, I have a couple of questions, if anyone can help!

1) Is it worth us changing the electric/gas/water bills into our own name or should I leave them in the landlord's name?
2) Regarding the boiler- should we be paying the boiler cover or should the landlord deal with that?
3) Council tax. Currently he's got single owner deduction- I assume we'll have to contact the council and put this in our name?

Cheers for any help!

I also rent off my brother-in-law and can tell you that :-

A). He pays for boiler Maintenance
B). We have all the bills in our name (Water, gas etc)
C). Council Tax has to be notified..

Again this is a long term let so same as your case I would do the above...

Also we have a Tenancy Agreement in place like another user has sad, done it through a local estate agent and this is also valuable if you need to claim some Housing/Council Tax Benefit as you are entitled to claim from a family members property as long as local Council can see it`s all above board (I`m on low income not a dole btw :0) )

[Angua]

If a deposit is required it should be lodged with a deposit guarantee scheme.

Have a clear inventory with pictures of any damaged items so there is no unfair claim for damages when you leave.

For boiler cover it should technically stay in your brothers name as he must be responsible for an annual gas safety check.

Utilities/council tax should be in your name including phone. Take meter readings on the day you move in. Make sure the Council Tax is paid regularly as this is a priority. Court charges will be added very quickly if not paid.

Do a budget to make sure you can cover all the costs on a monthly basis and stick to it.

Good luck

[Kymmy]

Originally Posted by smicer07

For the gas/electric, can I just call them up and get them to switch it, or will my brother in law have to phone them aswell?

You can do it though you might need proof that you now reside int he property.. Just tell them the reading when you moved in and they'll probably want a place they can send a final bill to your b-i-l (same address will do..

[nashville]

Good luck with everything. Once you have things sorted out you will be fine.

[smicer07]

Cheers everyone. We've sorted out a tenancy agreement as mentioned above anyway. And Chris- sod off