Nobody Panic - How to Rent Your First Home

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Moving house? First rental property? No idea what to ask? Don’t know how to find the stopcock or work the meter? Stevie and Tessa have made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.Helpful Rental Information Sites:Shelter.orgCitizens AdviceThe Tenants VoiceWant to support Nobody Panic? You can make a one-off donation at https://supporter.acast.com/nobodypanicRecorded by Naomi Parnell and edited by Molly Stewart for Plosive Productions.Photos by Marco Vittur, jingle by David Dobson.Follow Nobody Panic on Twitter @NobodyPanicPodSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/nobodypanic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, I'm Carriad. I'm Sarah. And we are the Weirdo's Book Club podcast. We are doing a very special live show as part of the London Podcast Festival. The date is Thursday, 11th of September. The time is 7pm and our special guest is the brilliant Alan Davies. Tickets from kingsplace.com. Single ladies, it's coming to London.

True on Saturday, the 13th of September. At the London Podcast Festival. The rumours are true. Saturday the 13th of September. At King's Place. Oh, that sounds like a date to me, Harriet. And welcome to Nobody Panic, the Italian podcast, where we help you get through some things, whether you're Italian or not. It's got nothing to do with Italy. Apologies.

It's a child. We just want to welcome our Italian friends. I'm Stevie and this is Tessa. And today's episode is about how to rent. And we want to make it very clear that this is not an episode for landlords renting out your first home or your second home or your 12th home. This is for tenants who are renting, of course. Of course. Listen, we've got a lot of opinions about landlords and we won't be sharing them. You know what they are. This one was a suggestion that was emailed to us by Nancy. Hello, Nancy.

What lovely name. And she says, I'd like to suggest a topic for an episode. My boyfriend and I are planning on moving in together later this year. Oh, clang, clang, Nancy. Well, yeah, well done, you both. I've already listened to your episodes on how to make a rental house a home and how to move in with a partner. But would love some advice on how to rent with the least stress possible. What questions should you ask at a viewing? How did you get a sofa up four flights of stairs into your one-bedroom flat?

Aside from living away for uni, neither of us have any experience with both of the adult in inverted commas renting and would love some help. Thank you so much, Nancy. Welcome. Yes, that's great. That is a great suggestion. I think I've rented about 3,500 flats. And I think if you can rent in London, you can rent anywhere. Although I will say I've been quite bad. at renting in London. So you can learn for my mistakes, Nancy. Yes, I think Nancy, be ready for it maybe. Ready for it to be a learning club and don't beat yourself up, but you didn't smash it the first time? Of course not. It was your first go. Like, hey, take the pressure off. Just accept like, there's going to be some surprises on route.

I am moving in two weeks, renting and it's the first time I've ever... Oh, so prescient this one for you. I know. But also, this is the first time I've ever moved somewhere where when they've asked what are your, where are the places that you've lived in the last three years? I haven't put down at least five addresses. It was like, oh my God, it's the same place. Oh my God, it's one. It's one normal place.

It sort of feels like I've owned it. Right. You know, when you live somewhere for long enough, you're like, it feels, I mean, I've got a landlord, but like, it's soft. It's like my place and I've, like, a grown-up and I'm moving. Let's do our adult thing, which is each week we say what grown-up thing we've done to make ourselves feel better about life. Please, Tessa, what is yours?

Thank you so much, Stevie. I'm sorry to say I don't know the correct word for this, but I'm going to go for bra extender. Hello. Hey. I imagine this is fairly common for people. You either have just abandoned ship on wearing a bra and then you try and put it on and you're like, and this used to fit, did it? I can't get in any of them and I'm way too depressed about that to buy a new bra. What I have found is something that's been living at the back of my cupboard for years and years and years. It's a bra extender. It's just, the hook and eye thing, but one way hook and eye, one way the class, you look at it and you're like, sorry, like this is the greatest bit of engineering I've ever seen. Of course, this tiny little thing is all you need. And then you can just extend, it's about, it's a couple of inches long and you can have as much extension as you like. And I was like, and now I can get back in them? That's amazing. Can you like attach loads together to make like a meter longer if it's really, you really struggling? Yes, yes. You're absolutely right. If you had more of them, you could make it an infinite.

long bra. And that's what we're all dreaming of. And also, again, if anybody can't get into their clothes, I have gone up a Marks and Spencer's pack of pants size. Sure. Because I was like, I can't get in my pants. And it was me and I, and then I just go up beside you idiot. And I was like, oh, of course. And then I was like, oh, get on with your day. It was that feeling of being like, I feel like I've been shrunk in the wash. Like how, how does nothing fit? Guys, don't waste a second more time even thinking about it. Just crest gently up a pants size. Anyway, so, So that's mine, Stephen. What's yours? Right. So I think I've spoken in the deep past about my psychological problems in general,

but also psychological problems with plants. My flatmate slash partner slash the shadow, he buys lots of plants for the balcony and like, you know, tends to them. And we discovered a while back that I ignore them because I don't want to get too attached in case they die and then I feel like I can't look after anything. last summer I pruned one of them and it worked so I was like okay this week I noticed that we've got a lavender thing

bush bushal and could be and it would die it was dying on the ends and I like peered in and it looked like it was some of the things were dying from the middle and I was like oh my God we've done it again

we've killed him but instead of just being like throw him away I cut off all the dead things and cut him right back I've read that that's a good thing to do and now he's all short and bald and I'm hoping that he will not grow. The point is, is that I've moved on from my psychological problems with plants and hopefully this will lead to a bright future of

being able to invest in things without the fear of them going away. Thank you. That is my spoken word poetry applause for you to say yes, yes, yes. I feel you. That is wonderful. All my plants are fake for exactly. That's what I was really pushing for the fake thing and then the shadow said quite quite rightly but if you go fake then how will you ever learn exactly right right right oh god right but speaking of god let's rent let's rent baby oh it's an exciting day renting your first home oh baby it is and of course if you if you're listening and you've already rented then these are things that you maybe could do beforehand but we'll move on to things that you can do when you're already in i think the the question of what question to ask when you're looking

around a flat is a really good one. If the tenants are there, it's always worth, even though the estate agent will attempt to keep you separate, it is definitely worth saying to the people who already live there, what's the worst thing about the house? Like, literally, be like, what's the worst thing? And so then they can either be like, oh, God, what's the worst thing? Oh, God, I don't know. I can't think of anything.

Good sign. I guess that the shops are too close. Like, you know, if they're like, okay, great. but if they're like, oh shit, okay, what's the worst thing? I guess the damp, the mind to this. And if there's something that comes immediately to mind for them, it's worth to be like, okay, good to know, this is the worst thing. When you say what's the best thing,

it's, you know, you can see what the best things are. It's the worst things that are being kept from you. And that's exactly what you need to be asking about. Also, it's helpful to think of specifics as well, even just thinking then if someone said to me now, what's the worst thing about the flat, I'd be like, ah, I don't know. Like, because, you know, like, when someone asks you, like,

what's your favourite film? I've never seen a film, actually. I don't know any films. Someone came to look around my flat this day and was like, how much do you guys pay roughly on bills a month each? It's like, oh, that's good. I'd like to know that more, but I never ask anyone. And then you're right. I don't know. I live here. I guess there's no way of ever knowing how much I will ever pay. Right. But there is. And also asking about mice is really good. Asking about, you know, if it's important to you, like, if the flight gets in the sun, light, yeah, noise, damp is really important, damp and mould because what a state agents will do is they'll often like paint over it

and just paint over it you know a friend of mine does a thing which i think is great and doesn't always work because these say agents often will pretend that they don't know if there's a real problem but to ask for the contact of the previous tenant and then you can email them i think that's like the great one because the state agent and this is as well the main thing when you start renting if you're a trusting person like myself you'd be like well the state agent said that there there weren't any mice and it was just fine. You don't have to feel shady about asking those things and you shouldn't be, if you were ever,

I think, sort of trust your gut on that sort of stuff if the people are like, why are you asking that? Be like, if it's a great home and a great place that hasn't got problems, then there's no reason that the tenants shouldn't communicate with each other. They're being shodiest for a reason. I've definitely had two landlords that were like full criminals, definitely.

And it's not that there were signs. It's more like they just told me they were criminals. And I said, yes, I'll rent my flat from you. So it was like, for example, oh, you don't need to, like a deposit. We don't need to pay a deposit. But there was nothing in writing. And then at the end, they made us pay for loads of stuff.

And it was like, but hang on, isn't that what the deposit is for? And then they were like, you paid for a deposit, but it's on top of it. And we were like, what? And it didn't even make any sense. But then obviously I was, you know, 22. So I didn't have any knowledge of how that, what, you know, and you're just like, You just don't know. If someone's like, yeah.

And then maybe like your parents or like grownups in your life are like, what do you mean you didn't pay a deposit? And you're like, no, no, it's fine. It's actually like they just said this. He said it was all right. He said it was all right. And you're like, no, you just have to like really listen to your gut, really trust your instincts. And your gut is also like, this feels wrong, but I don't know why.

Because you don't know enough about deposits or whatever to know it's bad. But you do just have to trust yourself to be like, okay, this doesn't feel good. And you want basically just like everything in writing, anything you possibly think you might need. get it in writing, just constantly. And it's so easy to just say, oh, could you pop that in an email for me? So we've got it in writing. And it sounds like you're being overly officious, but you're not at all. It's very normal. And everyone does it. And I think like, again, getting older is one of those things where you start to realize that all the things you're embarrassed about doing when you're younger, you realize how they weren't embarrassing. They were just incredibly normal things that

everybody does. But because you're new to them, you're like, I sound like I'm being like a weird lawyer being like, could I get that in writing? Objection. I don't yell objection. Yeah. And also you feel like, and equally you feel like asking like how much you pay in bills makes you be like, oh, boring. Like, rude to talk about money.

Yeah, so vulgar. Be like, ask those questions, obviously. Like, sorry to be the worst girl, but like, are there rats? No, just ask. Like, are there rats? Like, that is such a reasonable, normal adult thing to say. And I don't know where it comes from that suddenly you try and

I guess it's because when you're young, you're trying adult things for the first time, and therefore everything feels like cosplay. And so you are like, how cookey am I? Say get it and write it. You just don't know what you're doing. Yes, everything's fun or weird or wrong or strange. But just really, you also feel like, I remember I would constantly feel like if I had to ask a question about these things, they would know I didn't know.

So it would be like, so you're constantly pretending that everything's fine. So you're like, yeah, I'm taking this in my stride. but then it's like, well, there are maggots in the drawers. Don't take that in your stride. That makes you look very young. Exactly. Don't take things in your stride. And don't be embarrassed if someone uses a phrase that you don't know.

Like, they're selling the flat below us. And I can hear people when viewings were allowed. I could hear people going up and down the stairs. And I could hear the estate engine using like crazy language, like just using all these phrases. I could see these quite young people being like, what? What does that mean? Yes. And then I heard one be brave and.

enough to, he said, like, it's tenanted at the moment. And I heard the one lad be brave enough to be like, what does that mean? And he was like, oh, it means it has tenants in. And he was like, oh, of course, of course it does. And it wasn't at all embarrassing. But you're like, yeah, if you've not heard the phrase, it's tenanted, you'd be like, is it made of, like, is not, it's not made of talents. Is it made of tenets? Is it like, because in that, that could mean anything, you know, that could be anything, you know, obviously it does mean it's got tenants in. But, you know, there are so, so there, don't be afraid if the words come up that you do not recognize to be like, sorry, what does that mean please? And they'll be like, oh, of course, that's just lingers.

And also like, absolutely, and it sounds so basic, but do look at the place before you. A video is not enough. A picture is not enough. Like, I've lived in three flats where, well, one of them, none of us looked around it because we didn't live in London. The first flat we ever moved into, we didn't live in London, so we just went off the pictures. The second one, a friend did it for me, like, as who I was living with. And that was bad, because there's only one bedroom, mate. Anyway, then, and he's like, that's okay, I'll live under the kitchen table. I was like, I'm not comfortable with that. And also, halfway through, now we have to swap. I did, I wanted a two-bed. Anyway, and then the third one was just, I can't remember.

I think I was just like, I hadn't learnt my lesson. It was like, oh, just, it looks fine. You have to see the flat. Like, you, if it's even, no matter how much of a pain in the ass it is, if you're moving to a different city and you're like, I just don't go and travel. It is worth it because the pictures are completely different. Of course, the pictures look fantastic. They were taken by a professional, fantastic picture taker whose job. And doctored.

Exactly. And they've been taken with a fish eye lens so that things that are so small look absolutely massive. You're like, what look this palatial bathroom? And then you get there. I once saw one where there was a bath, there was a bath and it looked absolutely massive. And when I got there, it was completely square. I'd never seen a, it was like a, it was a half a meter per half. half a meter. It was insane. But in the pictures, honestly, it looks enormous. It was a square bathtub.

There are so many ways that they can get you. So something looks lovely when it is, in fact, not lovely. And also, look at the floor plan ahead of time. And again, like, numbers are tricky. And someone says, like, that's 20 square feet. And you're like, okay. Yes, square foot, like the feet on my legs. Yes, that is right. If someone asked me to mark out 20 square feet, I, oh my God, I don't know how much I'd just, yeah, I'd just wipe myself. I just, I'd hope that that was a distraction and not measure that. Yeah. As much wee is that just, I'm just, wait is that 20 square feet? I was like, I don't, I don't, I don't know. And so get a, get a floor plan, get a tape measure out and like measure it up and be like, oh shit, okay, that's

nothing. Yeah. That is not a large amount of space. And it's helpful to get the floor plan of your flat you're in now because then you can compare it, like directly. You can like, oh, it's a little bit wider, because then you can literally visualize it. Yeah. Literally put, no, no, you could completely right to be like the visualization. If you mark it out like in the park or something, you're like, yeah, it seems big. Mark it out with like a, with whatever. Mark out in the park.

I'm going to go to, I'm going to go to the sea and mark up. I just meant like, if you mark out in a big space. Yeah, no, I know. It would feel big. But if you mark it, like, make it be like this cardboard boxes, this corner. This is this. you will be like, okay, this is not a lot of space. And then if you're like, and now I need to put a double bed in it.

And now I need to put a wardrobe. You're like, okay, great. This is not a workable space. And the things will be small and they will be trying to, they will be trying to trick you basically. So be, you know, be ready. It's really worth walking around the area if you can. And just having it. Because if it feels, if it feels threatening in the day, it'll be threatening at night.

Don't be afraid of being like, I just, I think I'm a bit. I went to see it and I felt a bit nervous. Because you're going to have to live there every single day. So, of course, when you're first renting, you know, you can't, you might not be able to afford to live in like the fancy, fancies place. And I'm not saying live in a fancy place. I just mean, you know, close to a bus stop, close to transport links, all that stuff, like making sure that you don't have to like walk through a dark park in order to get home.

Things like that where you don't realize until you actually move in. And you're like, oh, I never actually took the train here. my mum dropped me off and now I can see that I can't get anywhere without walking down down this alleyway like all those those things but then the main tricking bit that I wanted to say that you mentioned earlier that I think that really starts with the inventory when you are given the inventory and that will be like essentially a list of everything in the flat that you're moving into and when I was going to be like okay that's boring yeah fine okay cool like a list of things fine but when you look closer it's got things like the damage that is already there

when you move in. And if you don't keep that somewhere really safe and then update it and update the landlord every time something happened or something disintegrates or something breaks, they will get you when you leave. They will pretend that you did that. They will, it's like you have to be so careful to make sure that you don't lose that inventory and lose track of what was in the flat before you moved in because I did that every single time. And then it's just another 200 quidders off your deposit and you don't know why and you've forgotten. A hundred percent. Like these people, estate agents,

I'm sorry to any estate agents listening, but like estate agents make their money by tricking people and being like, it's easy, breezy, come on in, no problems. Yeah, of course. And once you're in, then they literally will charge you to get out. So, like, even though you're like, oh, I want to trust people and they seem so nice when they showed me around. Of course they did.

Like, they are going to get you on your deposit at the end. So, like, that inventory, and again, it will be like, like it'll be, it'll look like the yellow pages. Like it'll be so, thing. And you'll be like, I have to go through all of this. And like, oh, God, like really truly go through it and take pictures of everything in the house that looks like a hole or looks like it's damage or anything. Because if you don't have a photograph of that at the beginning that says this was here when I moved in, like they will absolutely get you. Like, we've been gotten like a hole in the wall that we were like, we literally all laughed at when we were showing around the house. Like, and we were like, are you joking?

We all laughed at that hole. And they were like, no, you. you did that. And we're like, what? But like, so like they will, if you do not have photographic evidence or written evidence or any of those things. And I know that we sound like, I don't know what we sound like school moms. Like, it sounds like being very boring. But we're only telling you because we are poor as a result of our deposits being taken away because we were too easy, preasy. When we moved in to our first flat, I went into the, I told the story before probably, I went into the drawers and there were just dead markets all over the drawers. So I was like, I guess

I can't use these drawers. And then just didn't use drawers for the whole year. And then was too nervous to tell the landlord, who used to come and sit on my bed and open his post. I was too nervous to tell the landlord that there were maggots and drawers. So at the end, I was like, just so, you know, there were maggots and drawers. And then he said, I'd put them there and then charged me 50 pounds. So.

30 pounds is a very reasonable fee for maggot removal. Right. Thank you. They were dead. Oh, they were dead. Oh, they were dead. dead at first he was like they're bits of rice so what are you what are you talking about they're literally maggots i just send him like a closer picture and then he was like yeah that's that that that wasn't

there when when you moved in and i was like well it has because i haven't you know when you try to explain to somebody the logic of it but i haven't put my clothes in there all you he doesn't know that like he doesn't care he doesn't he doesn't he does not care this is the thing they know you're telling the truth they do not care And also the landlord sitting on the end of your bed reading your post, I mean, his own post. That's illegal. It's illegal. It's completely illegal. And obviously he's like, well, it's my post.

I've just come into collector. And you're like, okay, I don't want to be a bother. It is illegal for the landlord to enter your premises without giving you warning and getting your express permission to enter. So they're like, I had to come in and check. I mean, unless it's the most, you know, real mitigating circumstance like the smoke alarm or emergency or something real. But otherwise, it is illegal. and for the estate agent, just because they have the keys, does not mean they can come in. So, like, it can feel like you are the very bottom of the pile, but you're not, it's all there to

protect you. Like, you are actually, you're paying for this experience. Like, you deserve to be treated properly. Okay, here are a couple of sensible questions before you get in there. Six-month break clause in the contract to say, just in case it is, maybe you want to live there forever, but put your six-month break clause in, insist it's in there. They are legally not allowed to say, no, you can't have that. And it's just there to say, like, if it's a disaster, in six months, you can get out of this.

And also your tenancy deposit scheme, they have to, again, they must take a deposit. It cannot be more than five weeks, the equivalent of five weeks rent. So don't let them say it's anything more or make it up. It has to be that. And they have to put it in a tenancy deposit scheme. Compulsory, they have to do that. If you're renting for the first time, a very tricky thing, especially if you're freelance or you're, I don't have a proper job or you're, you know, working in the pub or something that isn't an obvious, clear,

salary is that they might make you do endless reference checks and endlessly be really cruelly treated. You can get a guarantor, which is any adult who's just prepared to put their name to paper and say, like, I will, I'm, I'm good for it if they're not. I'll cover it if she explodes. I'll cover it if she explodes, which is a, even if people really trust you, it is a very tricky position to put anybody in. So just, I've never had that because both my parents are self-employed. Exactly. So mine never pass. So like, now what are we supposed to do? And you're like, well, they're adults. Like, I don't know. It's so cruel the renting game. So just be aware, like, there are options out there if you, they're kicking up a fuss about wanting to rent to you. Like, there are options. So don't, don't freak out. And last thing was, before you get in there, be like, okay, who exactly is what is the landlord's number? Who do I call if there's a plumbing emergency? Who do I call if there's an electrical emergency? What is the plan here? so that you, again, you'll be like, oh, doesn't, I don't want to be a bother. But when something explodes, you need to be like, who exactly are we calling and who is paying for?

Is it that they come and I pay the charge, but you will pay me back or that you are on a kid, like, what is the plan here? Because if the house is flooding, that's not a conversation you want to be having on the phone while you try and, like, sort it out. Yeah, and also, don't worry, like, you are not liable for, so you shouldn't have to pay if there's a flood, if there's any damage to the building that you have a, caused that, you know, there's, I don't know, water electricity, gas supply, the fridge breaks down, the washing machine suddenly just stops working. Anything that they, when you arrived in the flat,

was there already, they are supposed to fix, including like a chair that the leg falls off. Like that's, they should fix that chair. Like they need to. And so that is, you know, and the problem is that, you know, they don't. So you, but you have to keep on. of them. And this is the thing, like, when you don't realize, when you're not sure, and, well, for example, we lived in a flat that had two dining chairs. One of them had three legs, one of them had two legs. And then we had to, like, prop one of them with books for a leg, because I couldn't afford to buy a chair. And the landlord was like, no. It was like, oh, okay. Okay. What you're supposed to do? Like, so, but what you're supposed to do is go to,

go to your, attach your contract in the email, highlight the paragraph that says, like, all furnishings in the home are the responsibility of the landlord, say, as per the tenancy agreement of 1996, like, it is the right of the landlord to do this. Like, don't be afraid to get your, like, legal jargon out of there. And things like shelter.org are websites that are completely designed to look after you in these situations. Yeah, there's lots of, on the citizens' advice, there's loads of stuff about your deposit and, like, basically, your kind of tenancy. right and you feel silly you know emailing saying like you know as per the tendency but everybody who is

over 25 who has rented loads and has started to realize like oh the landlord is fucking me over you start to everyone older than you is doing that stuff so you are totally able to do that stuff as well you can you know you you do you do you do you do you do the landlord will often bend and if they don't. They're a terrible landlord. Use your six-month break clause and just get out. Just get out. Get out of there. Okay, couple things when you're in. Nancy asked about getting that sofa up the four flights of stairs. Ideally move into a house. That is furnished. You'll think, oh, unfurnished. I can put all my furniture in. You will be blown away by the cost of things if this is your first time renting. You'll be like, a sofa, how much is that? 30 quid. You've got

800 pounds. Oh my God. Yeah. And then you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're Like, what? And then you will end up getting one from FreeCycle. Just go for furnished. But if you've got stuff, like, because there are people that I know people who have stuff and are like, I want this safe for the audio. You've got the stuff from previous renting, go unfurnished. Go for it. But then it's the first time.

But then make sure that when you are getting the stuff delivered via the man in the van, that you check the box that says that they have to help you either side. You don't do that. You think it's like it is extra money, but it's not that much extra money. And you will, when they come to your flat and just dump the sofa outside on the doorstep, you will pay that, you would, you will want to pay that money there and they won't accept it. So you just do it in advance and make sure that you ask any delivery companies like and make sure that any delivery company that you use has an, has that option as well,

because some just don't have that option. And that's not good enough. You can't get that sofa in yourself. If you can't get the sofa through the door, I'm afraid we can't help you. No, at this point, you need to just be going everywhere with a tape measure. And so if you see a soap and you're like, what an exquisite colour, how long is it? Like, how long is it? How long are your doors?

Can you get it up the stairs? Are you prepared to call in six friends to carry it round, like, is it worth it or just, you know, like, it is tricky? my sister bought a sofa that was like honestly something out like Alice in Wonderland it is she's not a she's a tall girl and when she sits in it her legs just like her hot like her little feet are just out of the air like it is so massive and when the delivery guys got there they were like we can't we physically can't get it in they just left it outside the house and they had to um they had to take off the windows to get it in the living room right yeah yeah yeah like no you must measure things you must measure things you must measure things you must measure you must measure things you must Please measure. That's the only way around that, isn't it? Measure it. Measure it. And then do you definitely need it?

Or if there's a... And if the sofa is there and it's crap, then you think, like, I want to buy one. Firstly, can you definitely afford a new sofa because they are breathtakingly expensive? And if not, and you just... And you hate it. I can't...

We moved into one that was, like, honestly, like cigarette burns in it. Like, it looked like it been... It looked like it lived on a skit. And the landlord wouldn't remove it. So I just bought a sofa cover. for 20 pounds, these elasticated things that you sort of squash in. And then, to-da, new sofa. Now you don't feel like you sat on it always thinking like, what am I touching there? What's that

stain? Just cover your sofa, done. That's a good point as well. When you are renting, you can, again, feel like you're bothering the landlord by all these silly little questions. For example, like, this chair's only got three legs. Can I buy another, say if you're absolutely rolling in money and you can afford that five pounds from Argos, can I buy a chair and replace it? always don't ever do anything without in writing and not on the phone asking the landlord and getting the landlord's permission because then at the end of your tenancy, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on with charging you for the removal of your stuff that you've left when you're like, no, I've replaced it for you.

And also when there is the check, because there's a property check where they basically decide whether any of your deposit should be deducted, try and make sure that you're there when that's happening. So you can kind of, you know, discuss things as in when they come on. but if you don't agree with the reductions, because I think reductions are basically reasonable wear and tear. So if you've been in there for a year and there's a few scuffs, they can't charge you for a few scuffs on the wall. If those expressively said don't hang anything and you've hung something,

that's on you, unfortunately. And if it looks bad, then it's, you know, but like, you know, you've set fire to the carpet, fair enough. But like basic wear and tear, they're not allowed to deduct anything. And if they do, your deposit will be. protected. So then you can, if you go to the Citizens Advice website, they have all of the ways in which you can contact things. The problem is that once it goes far enough, then you have

sent into court, and that's not often worth it. Most landlords will bend before that. And sometimes it is worth it. So yeah, if they are definitely in the wrong, then it's worth, it's just pushing it as far as it will go. Yeah, you push it. To see if you get something. Yeah, if you are in the right, yeah, just keep on pushing. If only to be like, yeah, I'm making a stand for all the other little guys, you know. My last two things, when you move. move in, take a picture of the metre. Oh yes. You'll need to know exactly what the meter was.

Otherwise, you'll be charged for the previous people's electric. Listen, I'm well aware I've paid for every previous tenant's electric. I've paid a lot of people's electric, yeah. I'm into there and not everything. Because they call up and they say, what was the meter when you moved in? You're like, seven. Two. Seventy-two.

What was your meter? Exactly. And they're like, yeah, I don't know, what was yours? It's like also find your stopcock for where your water is in your house. Truth be told, I don't know where mine is. But, oh, that's not true. It's on the ceiling. I found it recently.

It's so high up. I could never possibly get to it. And that's if there's a flood, then that turns all your water off, does it? Yeah, that's exactly it. So if everything is flooding, the washing machine or the sink or something's burst, when you call the emergency plumber, they will say, find your stop cock. You'll be like, you find your stopcough. And that is not a pleasant thing to be freaking out in the house.

because it will be somewhere so weird. It basically looks like a giant tap, place somewhere crazy in your house. Find your stopcot. Just know where it is. So even emergency, you're ready to get to it straight away. And again,

these are just the mundane, boring stuff that is going to really save you in a pickle. All of it is, though, like, there's nothing, the fun stuff about moving into a flat is like all the stuff that we don't need to advise you on because things like,

like, have a nice time. Yeah. Have Chinese takeaway in the white boxes sitting on the floor when you first move in, like lighter candles, all the, you know, it's fun. don't need our help, you're going to do those fun things anyway. Light a candle. It's fun. It's fun. Our Bromotive of fun is just shot. It's really bottomed out.

Really bottomed out. Oh, God. But like, yeah, you have, okay, a bottle of wine and you Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I was like, what cushions are you going to put on the sofa? Exactly. That's all fun, fun, fun stuff. But the stuff that is going to make that it's not fun is this sort of thing because it's not obvious and and they know it's boring and that's how they get you. Yes. And then last thing, register to register for the doctors. Register to vote and find your NHS number. Oh yeah, all of that stuff. Have a week when you move in and like all of the admin-shitty stuff. I'm going to do all that in the first weeks. Then you're just like, done no, no, no, no, done. Yeah. Rather than like, oh, I'll do it next month. Organising the broadband,

organizing the thing, registering to vote. Just imagine, have a day called emergency day and then imagine various emergency scenarios like the house is broken into house insurance do you have it like what is covered by the landlord the landlord should have like the building insurance but contents insurance you should have yeah just do have an emergency day

and and prepare and imagine how desperate you would be for these things in that emergency and then do them all as a lovely gift to yourself in the future and you might never need them Nancy I hope that sort of helps and also it wasn't too dry it's a dry old subject

But it's dry because it's going to cost you money if you're not dry. Oh my God. And we've paid so much money for just being too fun. We're not dry people. I don't know if you know that from this podcast. But we're not a thing. Sudden. Absolutely sudden.

A lot of things don't come naturally to us. And it has cost us dear. Okay. So just try and be dry from the get-go. It doesn't make you any less fun. It's like the dry week when you move it. As long as you've got the dry week. dry week, then you end, then you end that week with your housewarming party.

Yes, and then people are like, what energy provider are you on? You're like, I switch to a really good deal and there's a spare key in the stone outside. I know where the stopcock is. This is me party. Everyone's like, she's so good at a party. Wow. She is a lot of fun. That'll be you. That'll be you, guys. And also just enjoy it and have a lovely time in your, in your family. You have a lovely time. And that's the thing like, we're talking ill of, we're talking ill of all these experiences, but we did also have fantastic times in all our, in all our houses. Yeah, I've had nice landlords. My landlord at the moment is really nice, but like you just have to always err on the side of caution because 90% of them aren't. So you have to. Absolutely. That's all the same.

Yeah, be ready, but but don't stop that at you having a good time because you will. And even if it, you know, it costs you, you know, you're going to have a great time. Live your life as well. Yes. Don't let any of this put you off. You're still going to have a brilliant time. And remember the focus is like, you get to live together and you let to live in a new place and start a new life. It's really exciting. It's exciting. Very exciting. And yes, if you have any, if you are listening and have a topic that you would like us to cover it, at Nobody Panic Pod. Also, I haven't said this in a while, but if you like the podcast, you're like, this is nice, pop over and give us a nice little rating in a review, I suppose. It's nice to have that.

It helps. To be honest, we just love reading it. It's mostly that we like to read it. Yeah, we love it. Oh, anybody who's donated on that sponsorship list, oh my lord, we didn't know it was We didn't know how to find the messages for a while and then our producers and we had a little cry. Thank you so much people who send us. We really, it's an honour. It's an honour. It's an honour. It's an honour. It's an honour.

And email us and these podcast suggestions at Nobody Panic Podcast at gmail.com. And I'm on at CVM, the SESAFI, on Instagram and Twitter. What are you? What are you, Tessa? I'm at Tessa Goats or at We Pray Love on Instagram. I would say the content in both places is variable and slow. Have a wonderful week, everybody. And thank you, Nancy, for your topic. Bye-bye.

Bye.