Deposits

Your landlord must put your deposit in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme (TDP Tenancy Deposit Protection).

Landlords or agents must protect your deposit within 30 days of receipt of the money in an authorised scheme and give you written information about the scheme. Deposits must stay protected for the whole tenancy agreement for each tenant. 

A deposit paid by joint tenants is usually protected as a single deposit. The scheme can ask for a lead tenant to be chosen, the lead  tenant will be the named contact when this happens. The lead tenant is the person who the scheme will contact when the tenancy ends. If this is the case, ensure you have this person’s contact details. It is always worth asking the landlord if they would agree to protect each share of the deposit separately.

At the end of the tenancy agreement, your landlord must return your deposit, minus any agreed charges.  If you do not agree to these charges or think they are unfair, you must contact your tenancy deposit scheme immediately to raise a dispute. The scheme will deal with the dispute on your behalf and their decision is final.

In order to have a good chance of being successful with your dispute, it is important you have a check in and check out inventory, showing accurately the state of the property. Photo’s and videos are important, alongside your inventory for this purpose.

Find further information on what should happen to your deposit and how to raise a dispute on Shelter’s website.

Council tax

If you are a full time student, you will be exempt from paying council tax; however, if you are part time, you will be liable to pay the bill.  If you are the only non or part time student in the property, you maybe entitled to a discount on the total bill.

If you have an adult within the property that is not a full-time student, they may be liable for Council Tax as well; details on council tax charges and how to set up your bills can be found below:

Council tax information in Cheltenham

Council tax information in Gloucester

General advice for international students about council tax and exemptions can be found on the UKCISA website.

Right to rent checks

Private landlords and letting agents must check that you are allowed to rent in the UK as part of the renting process.  You might be asked for either a:

• Passport or immigration document
• ‘share code’ which lets someone check your immigration status online.  Landlords are not allowed to check your documents over video calls or accept scanned copies.

What does this mean?

You have the ‘right to rent’ if you have the right to live in the UK.

You can pass a right to rent check by showing you have the right to live in the UK.

Landlords and agents must check the immigration status of adults who will live in the property before a tenancy starts.

If your permission to be in the UK has a time limit then the landlord must do another check either within a year or when your visa ends, whichever is later.

These checks should be done if you are living in a property with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement (AST) or living in lodgings (renting a room in the landlord’s home).

All future tenants must be checked, landlords should not discriminate.

Find out more on the Gov.uk website