Student guide to private accommodation bills

When you receive your first bills make sure that you check the dates on them and that you are not paying previous tenants balances. All bills to the house or flat you are renting should have been paid up to you move in date.

If this is not the case you need to contact your landlord immediately to inform them of this.

As a student you will not have to pay council tax, however you will be sent a bill. You will need to go to your university and get a council tax exemption certificate for each member of your house and send them to the council with a copy of your bill. Water bills are usually paid in advance and allow you an unlimited supply of water for a fixed rate. They are usually paid half yearly so chances are you may need to reclaim money back from the water company when you end your tenancy, assuming it is less than twelve months.

When moving out of your flat you will have to pay off any outstanding bills before you can retrieve your deposit. To do this you will have to take meter readings and send them to your suppliers and pay off the outstanding balance and then send all receipts to the landlord.

When moving into your flat its best to request an itinerary of everything that is in the flat, such as kettle, toaster, cutlery etc… This way you know exactly what the landlord will be expecting to be in place and in tact when you hand the keys back over at the end of your lease.

At the end of the day renting a flat is not the most stressful thing you will do during your student life but just make sure you do everything properly or you could end up living in a hole for a year and a cost.

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