Ask tenants

    Top 10 tips to make most out of the property viewing Property viewing a property is an exciting time but it’s important to know what to look out for when searching for your next dream home. Rental property rating and review site  Asktenants.co.uk  has compiled a list of the top ten tips for people to make most out of their property viewing. From checking for mould, searching for mouse droppings and even listening out for any noise, there’s a number of things to consider to ensure you dodge a renting disaster later on. Knowing what to look out for couldn’t be more important. A recent English Housing Survey revealed that 35% of properties in the private rented sector are rated ‘non-decent’ – hiding a variety of major health and safety hazards. Further research also discovered that 60% of renters have found a problem in their accommodation in the past 12 months, with issues including damp, mould, leaking roofs or windows and even animal infestat...

    Letting Agency fees for tenants – Unfair, Immoral but not yet illegal. Asktenants.co.uk  lets renters rate and review their accommodation and responsiveness of their landlord, giving it an overall score. It has thousands of properties rated by tenants across the UK. On their reviews tenants have also mentioned exorbitant administration fees charged by letting agents has made it expensive for them to switch from a poorly maintained rental property. In this blog we will cover what are the Letting agent fees charged to tenants, why they are unfair, immoral but yet legal in England and Wales. What are letting agent Fees charged to tenants? Letting agents in England and Wales can charge tenants for drawing up a contract, doing inventory of the property, credit checks, getting references, admin cost for things like phone calls and postage. Tenants can also be charged guarantor fees where applicable, additional person fee where there are more than one appl...

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    Real life landlord reviews shared on Asktenants.co.uk Tenants have been submitting property and landlords reviews on Asktenants.co.uk since the launch of the website. The website has survey style landlord rating process which covers all the major problems tenants face while renting. Depending on now the tenants answered the survey every property gets a score. In this blog we will share few real life landlord reviews. 58% of tenants say on their landlord reviews that they are/were happy with their rental property and would recommend it to other tenants. Average score on recommended properties is 8.7/10 with properties scoring well on all counts. 42% of the properties are not recommended by tenants with their average score being 3.0/10 on our landlord reviews. We have thousands landlord ratings but have handpicked few good and bad landlord reviews. These landlord ratings have been shared on Asktenants.co.uk and have not been edited. The data has ...

    2016, a promising year for UK private tenants. Here is what we the tenants have achieved together in 2016 – 1. Abolition of letting agent fees for tenants announced and will now undergo consultation to be embedded as law (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38065249) 2. London Living Rent where a 2 bedroom London flat will cost below £1,000 in rent announced – (http://tinyurl.com/z9psvvt) 3. Ban on rogue landlords protecting millions of tenants is being planned (http://tinyurl.com/zyfq6pc) 4. AirBnB announces to block hosts in London from renting out homes for more than 90 days a year without official consent. Landlords can no longer use their homes as ‘backdoor hotels’ reducing supply of homes available for rent. (http://tinyurl.com/zudj7jt) 5. Buy to Let tax changes making Buy to Let investments less attractive which means more properties available for First Time Buyers instead of Buy to Let investors – homes are for living not for trading. (ht...

    Tenancy Deposit Disputes in UK – FAQ The latest stats show that there has been a steep 25% rise in tenancy deposit disputes in year ending March-16. Asktenants.co.uk is a website where tenants rate and review their landlord and rental property. Out of thousands of properties reviewed, more than a third of the tenants said that their tenancy deposit refund process was unfair. Only handful of tenants found time and motivation to challenge unfair tenancy deposit deductions. Asktenants.co.uk have put together exhaustive list of frequently asked questions related to Tenancy Deposit  Disputes process in the hope that tenants will be better prepared on how to deal with landlord or estate agent on  tenancy deposit refund deductions. Questions we will cover in the FAQ are – How to check if my deposit is protected? Consequences for landlord’s not protecting deposit? What are reasonable deductions from deposit? How long does landlord have to return deposit? I...

    Landlord ratings – Online revolution against rogue landlords Landlord ratings on Asktenants.co.uk suggest, mould and damp are the biggest issues facing private tenants. Almost one in ten also having to deal with pests like rats or mice. More than a third of tenants, 36%, have unresolved mould or condensation problem while a third. 34%, are faced with an unresponsive and seemingly uncaring landlord. This is according to new stats on Landlord ratings service Asktenants.co.uk. Stats are based on Landlord ratings posted by tenants across the UK. The site analyzed thousands of Landlord reviews from across the UK finding more than a quarter, 29%, of tenants saying the deposit refund process was unfair. Payal Bhavnani and Vijay Bhawnani founders of Asktenants.co.uk and say tenant’s stories are being shared every day. We set up the site after our own bad experience of renting a property and wanted to give tenants somewhere to go to speak out. Rental property reviews o...