Renting a property in UK

I would have thought that (1) was most unlikely, not least because the included items will vary according to the details of the tenant. Even Council Tax can vary (discount for single occupation, not levied on students, for example) and insurance, electricity/gas consumption, water and sewage could all vary considerably.

Rental agreements in the UK are usually for six months and, although they are renewable, the rent charged will subject to review (and possible substantial increase) every time the contract is renewed. The landlord can choose to terminate the rental without giving a reason at each six-monthly renewal.

A Belgian will have the same right to residence in the UK (at least pre-Brexit) as a Britain who wishes to live in Belgium - i.e. they must effectively be self-supporting (which usually means having a job or pension). The UK, though, doesn't have any form of registration in the way that Belgium does, which can actually make many things, opening a bank account for example, much more difficult.

(1) You are renting a room in a property and the landlord also lives there. The agreement will be adhered to, but might a well no be written down. Rights? No. Not really.

(2) You are renting the whole property as an assured shorthold tenancy. The rent won't go up for 6 months, and that's about all you can be sure of. After 6 months, the landlord can kick you out at 2 months notice, or hike up the rent arbitrarily.

(3) No.

Under UK law, tenants have nothing like the rights they do in Belgium, though landlords are supposed to fix things like dripping taps.

The first scenario should not exist if you independently rent a property, only if you take shared accommodation. Regardless, it really makes no difference that I am aware of when it comes to rights as a UK resident.

In response to the negative comments from J regarding renting in the UK.....

Tenants in the UK have very good rights, including the right to move out after 6 months if the property is not working out for them without being hammered with paying 3 months rent as a penalty.

As to landlords kicking out tenants after 6 months just because they can and arbitrarily raising rents, can you tell me, J, why I would do that to a perfectly good tenant who is paying their rent? Similarly, can you tell me how I can arbitrarily raise the rent without my perfectly good rent paying tenant going off to find another property at the market rate?

Also, when you rent property in the UK, it is likely the landlord that is responsible for pretty much everything he rented to you, including fixtures and fittings, fridge, cooket and the heating system, all of which you can find yourself being responsible for in Belgium. I know to my cost that the system of making tenants responsible for these things is wide open to abuse by landlords.

Further, when you do come to leave UK rental property in the UK, you are likely going to have far more slack given as the landlord is unlikely to expect the property back in exactly the condition he rented it to you two years previously, so you are more likely to get your deposit back.

Not quite as bleak as J portrays, but then he hates the UK.

Good landlords will do an inventory on moving in, and will charge you for damage just like in Belgium, however the inventory is almost never done by an independent expert.

In Belgium, you are protected against rent rises above the rate of inflation for the duration of your contract. In the UK, you are not.

I don't hate the UK - I just thought it wise to point out some glaring differences. The law is very different between the 2 countries.

This will help:
http://www.which.co.uk/money/mortgages-and-property/guides/renting-a-home/

You'll also find that things tend to be done less formally in the UK. That can lead to a lot more flexibility when all goes well, but it can also lead to uncertainty when it doesn't.

Nevertheless, your suggestion that UK landlords will throw people out because they can and will increase rents to unreasonable levels because they can are nonsense. Both means they lose a perfectly good tenant in a competitive rental market where good tenants are a blessing.

Inventories are agreed between landlord and tenant without an expert and the system largely works just fine, without the cost of the expert. Deposits are no longer held by landlords either, so the landlord also has something to lose by making an unreasonable demand.

Again, there is an expectation by Belgian landlords that they get the property back EXACTLY as they rented it out. This is not an expectation in the UK.

It could equally be said that it's a pity that us UK landlords cannot tie tenants up for years at a time and charge them huge amounts if they try to leave, make automatic rental increases, make them pay to maintain our dodgy old appliances and heating systems and then charge them an arm and a leg because we don't like the way that it looks as if they actually lived in the place when they try to leave,

Do have a good day now.

Having previously forgotten to cover the situation where one rents a room in a property and the rent is likely to be all inclusive (although not necessarily fixed because consumption-based costs, e.g. electricity, may be shared as they arise), I must point out that anyone, particularly someone new to the UK, who rents in this way risks becoming a "non-person".

Because the UK has no formal registration system, an "informal" system has been developed that relies on things such as utility and council-tax bills to establish one's place of residence. This is important because, for example, it is almost impossible to open a bank account without proof of one's residential address. Obviously if you rent just a room on a shared-property basis you won't have such bills and you won't be able to prove your address. If you already have a UK bank account it is less of a problem because a bank will accept a new address without proof.

My son is a student in a shared house with three others the rent include utilities and he's on a one year short term tenancy.
Last year he was in a house in which he had to pay extra bills so both are possible. However a guarantor was needed for both and a large deposit.

> UK landlords will throw people out because they can and will increase rents to unreasonable levels

I was advised to do so by several estate agents. The buggers can either cough up or move out, and given the expense and stress of moving, they usually cough up. No need to "throw people out" - you hike up the rent by 10-15%, and the choice is theirs.
(and no, I didn't)

PG be aware long term rental isn't as common in the UK there are rules but finding a good letting agent and landlord is a minefield. Unless you have a big deposit and good references it's hard to get a landlord to accept you in quality accommodation. If you're say a student the housing will be of lower quality because people think student don't look after nice property and so won't rent to them. Finding a room in a shared house can by comparison be simpler but you should always sign a rentL agreement so you know how long your notice period is and what your rights are.