I am a student looking to rent in Bath, and was wondering how the deposit/first month rent system works with Rent Now.
If we pay the deposit now (Nov), does the money go straight landlord, or do they only receive 10 days after we’ve moved in (Aug/Sep)?
I’m just wondering if it’s possible to scam tenants, because we’ve found a really good house, but there’s only 3 images, and in the description it says “Due for full refurbishment Summer 2025”.
What in the case that we place a deposit, and the landlord doesn’t complete the refurbishments, and we end up with a house that wasn’t actually what was listed?
Is there any security for tenants to rent in houses like these?
The usual process is the deposit and the first months rent is paid to the landlord before the tenancy begins. The landlord then has 30 days to lodge the deposit with a government approved deposit scheme and serve you with all the info known as the Prescribed Information. With Rent Now the landlord doesn’t actually receive the deposit. It goes directly to Open Rents deposit scheme and the landlord and tenant are then notified that it has been paid. The tenants deposit is protected immediately and the landlord is spared all of the usual admin.
The first months rent should be paid before collecting the keys. This will be paid directly to Open Rent and they hold on to it for 10 days to make sure there are no problems before releasing it to the landlord.
The second months rent will go directly to the landlord if the landlord hasn’t opted for Open Rents rent collection service.
If landlord has opted for the rent collection your rent will be paid to Open Rent.
Last year I rented a building site to students in March with the same stipulation and took a deposit when the contract is signed.
They had a house by July .
Another year we were late by a week but we housed the students in another vacant house whilst we finished.
Other students have signed on with others and it’s not gone so well. It’s a risk that you have to take.
They will have to house you or void your contract.
Ask them to speak to other students from previous years to see their experiences.
There are landlords that allege the house will be refurbished , take them to a show home charge premium prices and the next year they were living in the same grotty house.
erm… how do you know it’s “really good” if there are only 3 images?
There are two ways you can take "Due for full refurbishment Summer 2025”. One is that it’s simply bait to get students to sign up to take on a sub-standard property at a higher rent and the LL has no intention of doing any work on it. The other is that it’s genuine (and also has the potential risk of not being completed by the time you move in.)
Ask the LL if they have other properties. Tell them that you want to make sure that you are renting with an experienced LL and want reassurance that you have someone who knows what they are doing. If they’re fake, they’ll prob tell you, “Yeah, I have lots of properties. I’m very experienced.” Then reply and ask if you could visit one of their houses to meet the Ts … just to be reassured. If they won’t arrange this then walk away.