Renting privately may involve renting a self-contained property or a room in a shared house where you share facilities such as the kitchen and / or bathroom with other residents. Most properties are offered on assured shorthold tenancies whereby the property is let to you for a fixed period (typically 6 months or a year). However, the landlord may be willing to renew the tenancy when it expires. If your landlord asks you to leave and you want to stay in the property and / or you have nowhere else to go, you should contact the Homelessness Prevention Service (Housing Aid Centre) for advice and assistance.

 Finding a property
 Help with rent and deposits
 Moving in

 Finding a property

There are several ways of looking for a property or room to rent. The most common ways of finding a property include responding to advertisements in shop windows, newspapers or on the internet, and contacting letting agents and accommodation agencies.

There are many ways to find somewhere to live. These include:

• Advertisements 
  landlords often advertise in shop windows, daily / weekly papers and magazines, and on the internet. You should get the early editions of papers and magazines, telephone any suitable places immediately and be prepared to visit them the same day.
• Accommodation Agencies
  details can be found in the telephone directory. Most agencies charge a fee, but they are only allowed to charge you if you actually rent somewhere through them. Always ask what other charges might be involved when you first contact the agency as charges can vary significantly from agency to agency.
  If possible, use an agency which is a member of the National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS), the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), or the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) as all of these organisations have professional codes of conduct for their members.
• Letting agents
  are like estate agents but also let, and sometimes also manage, properties on behalf of landlords. They often advertise in weekly papers or magazines, and on the internet. Most will want references from your employer, bank or previous landlord.

Some landlords and / or letting agents will not accept certain types of tenants. For example, some will not rent to tenants with children and some will not rent to people who are unemployed. In particular, some landlords and / or letting agents will not rent to tenants who are in receipt of housing benefit. However, some landlords / letting agents will rent to tenants they would not otherwise rent to if the tenant has a friend or relative who is working and is willing to act as guarantor.

People without dependent children, particularly those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, can obtain further advice from Threshold Housing Advice on 020 8767 6888.

Once you have found a property you are interested in renting, it is important to make sure you understand the terms on which you are being offered the tenancy and that you will be able to afford it.

 Help with rent and deposits

If you want to rent a room or property privately but cannot afford the rent or deposit you may be entitled to some assistance.

Help with the rent: Housing Benefit
If you are in receipt of Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance, or Incapacity Benefit, or you are on a low income, you may be entitled to housing benefit to help you pay your rent. If you are eligible, the amount of housing benefit to which you are entitled will depend on your household income and the size of property you are deemed to require by the housing benefit regulations.

If you are interested in renting a property in the borough of Wandsworth, and want to know how much housing benefit you may be entitled to, please contact the council's Housing Benefit Section.

If you are interesting in renting a property in an area other than Wandsworth, you should contact the housing benefit section of the local authority in which the property is located. If you know the postcode of the property you are interested in renting but don't know who the local council is, you can find out by entering the postcode on the website upmystreet.com (and, if you know the address of the property you are interested in and need to find out the postcode you can use the postcode finder at Royal mail.com).

Help with the deposit: Loans form Jobcentre Plus
Most landlords will require tenants to pay one month's rent in advance and a deposit of between one week's and two months' rent although you can, of course, try to negotiate with the landlord. Do not hand over any money without obtaining a receipt.

If you are in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support, or Incapacity Benefit, you may be entitled to a Crisis Loan or a Budgeting Loan. If you want to see whether you are eligible to apply for such a loan, please contact your local Jobcentre plus

 Moving in

Tenancy deposit schemes
From 6 April 2007, all deposits taken by landlords for Assured Shorthold Tenancies (most tenancies) in England and Wales must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. When you sign a new tenancy agreement ask the landlord to provide you with details of the scheme your deposit will be protected by. Your landlord is required by law to give you these details within 14 days of you handing your deposit over. Once you have these details then contact the scheme to confirm your deposit is protected.

Tenancy agreements
A tenancy can be created by verbal agreement but it is advisable to obtain a written tenancy agreement from the landlord and most landlords will ask you to sign a tenancy agreement anyway. There is nothing to stop you trying to negotiate better terms for yourself in the tenancy agreement (including the rent) although you may risk losing the property if there are other people interested.

You should read the tenancy agreement carefully and ensure that you understand everything in it before signing. In particular, you should check:

• The type of letting being offered and how much security it gives you (Most lettings will be assured shorthold tenancies for a fixed period (usually 6 months or 1 year) but the landlord may be prepared to renew the tenancy when it runs out).
• The rent: How much is it? Does it include water, heating, gas, electricity, and council tax or are these extra? How often does it have to be paid? On what day of the week / month? By what method?
• The deposit and rent in advance: Typically, you may have to pay one month's rent in advance and a deposit of between one week's and two months' rent. Does the tenancy agreement state what, if any, deductions the landlord is entitled to take from your deposit? Make sure you get a receipt for these.

Inventories
Before signing the tenancy agreement, if possible agree with the landlord or letting agent an inventory listing the contents of the accommodation and its condition, decorative order and cleanliness which you should both sign. This should help avoid or resolve any disputes that may arise in the future as to whether you have damaged the property or its contents in any way. If the landlord or letting agent refuses to agree an inventory, you should write one yourself and send a copy to the landlord asking him / her to advise you in writing if they disagree with anything in it. Don't forget to keep a copy yourself.

Rent books
If you are a weekly tenant (i.e. your rent is paid weekly) who is not provided with substantial board and lodging, the landlord must legally provide you with a rent book which must contain the name and address of the landlord (and agent, if any), the rent payable, and information regarding your right to have a rent fixed, your protection from eviction and your right to claim housing benefit. If your landlord refuses to provide a rent book, the Council's Tenancy Relations Officer in the Homelessness Prevention Service (Housing Aid Centre) can prosecute him or her.