Accommodation
BBC released a rent calculator which shows how rent varies across the UK. Give it a try and see where you can live for how much!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23234033
This map below provides a useful view over the rent landscape for homes in December 2019:
For March 2020 the data shows that the average rental price for a new tenancy in the UK was £959 per calendar month (pcm), which is up by 1.8% on last year.
Rents in London increased by 3.7% in March 2020 than in the same month of 2019; the average rent in the capital now stands at £1,673 a month. (Source) A single room in London is likely to cost over £1000 a month. Outside London this is likely to be £500 – £800.
Student rents
For students around the UK the average monthly rent is £431 Source
Deposit & rent in advance
A deposit can be the cost of up to 6 weeks rent and a landlord may ask for up to a month’s rent on top of that in advance.
Tenancy deposit protection scheme
VIDEO- Good outline on the scheme and how it works
These schemes guarantee that tenants will get their deposits back at the end of the tenancy, if they meet the terms of the tenancy agreement and do not damage the property. Landlords must protect their tenants’ deposits if they have let the property on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) which started after 6 April 2007. There are three official schemes. If your landlord doesn’t protect your deposit you can take them to court and they may have to repay you four times the amount of the deposit.
Rent Arrears
You get into rent arrears if you are struggling to pay your rent and a backlog of payments is created. In some cases it will be obvious why you have a problem – your income or expenses have suddenly changed for the worse, for example because you’ve lost your job or a housemate has moved out and has stopped contributing to the rent.
If rent arrears build up for eight weeks or more and you’re on universal credit, then the landlord can ask for the payment to be made direct – this applies to private landlords as well as council and housing association landlords.
Universal Credit will not be paid for the first seven days, and it will then be paid monthly, in arrears. This means that it will usually take six weeks for people to get their money, but an advance payment can be made in some circumstances.