Renting a home should be a straightforward transaction. A tenant chooses the house or flat they’d like to live in and, if the landlord is happy and the tenant passes referencing and pays a deposit plus a month’s rent, they move in after signing a tenancy agreement.

While they live there the landlord or managing agent looks after the property so that it meets - at the very legal minimum - the basics of human habitation including running water, a dry and safe house, heating, lighting and electricity. In return the tenants promises to look after the property and pay the rent.

For most people, it’s a simple arrangement. But for a few it’s not. A small minority of landlords and letting agents can make some tenants’ lives difficult and expensive.

To prevent this, there are some basics rights that tenants are entitled to but that many are not aware of. So here they are.

A tenancy agreement

Somewhat shockingly tenants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are not entitled to a written rental contract (although in Scotland they are). But in reality almost all landlords are keen for their tenants to sign a legally-binding agreement that sets out exactly the terms and conditions both sides agree to. It’s why it’s vital to read your rental contract - they’re not always ‘standard’.

Read our guide to tenancy agreements.

A house fit to live in

A bill has just been voted through parliament that makes it illegal to rent out a home that’s not ‘fit for human habitation’. The government’s own figures suggest nearly 800,000 of the UK’s 4.5 million rented homes are a ‘serious risk’ to their inhabitants.

This includes leaking roofs, dangerous or broken boilers, cold bedrooms, exposed wiring, pests, mould on the walls, dangerous stairs and poor external door security.

The new legislation, which revives and modernises some existing laws that had fallen out of use, sets out more generally what ‘fit for human habitation’ means.

Put simply these providing water, gas and electricity; personal hygiene facilities (working wash basins and showers); property food safety (i.e. somewhere to store, preserve and prepare meals) and heating.

A right to privacy

There are rules that set out when a landlord or letting agent can enter a tenant’s home. Put simply, a landlord or agent requires a tenant’s permission to enter a property and should give 24 hours written notice.

A landlord does have a right to inspect the property once a year, although the frequency can be more often than that (check the tenancy agreement) but they still need the tenant's permission before they can enter. The overall aim of the rules (which are within the Protection from Eviction Act 1977) is to protect tenants from harassment.

Read our full guide to landlord access.

Protection from eviction

The law is relatively balanced in its approach in England and Wales. Tenants have the flexibility of being able to move out when they want after the initial period of the tenancy agreement (usually six months) has ended. On the other hand, landlords can also eject tenants after this period too, without having to give a reason. The law does protect tenants though in one particular and contentious area; revenge evictions.

This is when a tenant complains about the poor state of a property to their local council and, rather than fix the problems, the landlord slings them out.

Read our full guide to evictions.

Protection from rent rises

Landlords cannot increase the rent just when and by how much they please. For most tenants (who have signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy) the landlord cannot put up the rent during the fixed period (normally six months) and then after that, unless agreed with the rental agreement, no more than once a year.

Rent rises must also be ‘fair and realistic’. If you disagree with the rent rise, then the matter can be thrashed out at an official First Tier Tribunal. Few tenants and landlords choose this process; it can be slow and expensive to complete.

Read out fuller guide to rent rises.

Right to not pay letting fees

This is a new one. For decades activists campaigned to have the fees that many letting agents charge tenants either limited or banned, but to no avail regardless of who was in power. But last year (2018) the government changed its mind and introduced the Tenant Fees Bill. This has now been voted through parliament.

From June 1st 2019 it will be illegal for a letting agent to charge a tenant any fees other than a holding deposit (of no more than five week’s rent) and a rental deposit (of no more six weeks’ rent).

The bill also allows agents to charge ‘default fees’ but only when a tenant has incurred a cost for the agent or landlord such as if they need a replacement set of keys, or have to be chased for the late payment of rent (more than two weeks’ rent).

Right to have the rental deposit protected

By law a landlord or agent cannot take a deposit from a tenant without protecting it via one of the government’s three approved schemes. This must be done within 30 days of the deposit being handed over. If this isn’t done, the tenant can take their landlord to court and may be able to both have their deposit paid back with compensation. It is also much more difficult to be evicted from a property if the deposit has not been properly protected.

Read our guide to deposits.

Right to see a gas safety certificate

Every landlord is required by law to carry out an annual check on any gas appliances in a property and/or any chimneys/flues as well. The checks must be carried out by an approved engineer and a copy of the certificate provided to the tenant.

This is particularly important if a tenant has just moved into a property - the landlord must give them a copy of the existing/valid gas safety certificate. This might not seem important, but it is - for two reasons.

Firstly, until these regulations were brought in, tenants were being killed by faulty gas boilers and heaters. Also, if the gas safety certificate runs out or doesn’t exist, it’s much harder for at tenant to be evicted from a property.

Right to know who the landlord is

Some landlords like to be elusive and communicate only via email or text message or hide behind a letting agent. But don’t be put off - you have a right to know who your landlord is including their contact details and address. Also, it is normal for this to be included in the tenancy agreement. It would be odd if it was not.

CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score

If you want to improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments, CreditLadder is the only way to improve your credit score and position across all four of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and Crediva. Building up a high credit score has a lot of benefits, including helping you access finance at better rates - this can also help save you money.

CreditLadder also runs a free mortgage application service in partnership with Tembo which will tell you how much you could borrow.

Remember the information provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.