6. It’s on the firm

Coutts Bank found that 92,000 foreign executives come to Britain every year and live in rented accommodation for an average of three years. Most of them arrive from France and Germany, followed by America, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Women make up 40 per cent, and more than one in ten are engineers or work in IT. Their employers spend up to £500,000 putting them up in corporate lets, and Coutts believes that these “inpats” contribute more than £9bn a year to the UK’s economy.

7. For your protection

In April 2007 Tenancy Deposit Protection was introduced to protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords. It covers all Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England and Wales where a deposit is held, and protects the tenant against losing his/her deposit. All landlords must now join a statutory tenant deposit scheme, and if tenants keep the property in good order, they will receive all or part of their deposit back. If a dispute between tenant and landlord occurs, the scheme offers an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to negotiate between the two parties.

Related Internet Links

• Property guides

A guide to househunting on the web

Househunting goes high-tech: technology is transforming the way we search for our next home. Our buyers test-drive top property websites

• A step-by-step guide to selling your home

• Gumtree founder, Simon Crookall, puts his £1.5m home for sale online

BACKGROUND

• Why can’t we sell our home?

• ‘I didn’t want a profit; I just wanted out’

• How to sell your home in a hurry

BACKGROUND

• Overseas property: where, how and what to buy

• How to get onto the property ladder

• Guide to buying above a shop

BACKGROUND

• How to sell your home

• Buying a property at auction

• Home improvement

• Eco homes

• Step-by-step guide to buying your first property

Related Links

• A step-by-step guide to renting

8. Keep out!

Your landlord (or a representative or letting agent) has a right to inspect the property at reasonable times of day. You also have a right to privacy in your own home. He or she must give you 24 hours notice, in writing, before a visit, unless it is an emergency. If he or she has a habit of dropping in unexpectedly, tell them it is not on, and if they persist in doing so, seek legal advice.

9. National treasure

The National Trust has more than 4,000 properties which people rent as their homes. They range from cottages to terraced houses, to farms and grand period mansions. Tenants are often expected to open up the property at certain times, and to act as custodians. There is no central database of properties, but when properties do become vacant, they are usually advertised locally. For further details, contact your nearest National Trust office, see www.nationaltrust.org.uk, or call 0870 458 4000.

10. Ooh, Mr Rigsby!

Television’s most memorable comedy about renting, Rising Damp, started life as a stage play called Banana Box, written by a then electricity board auditor named Eric Chappell. It was first performed in 1970 at the Hampstead Theatre Club, and then went on tour around Britain. Leonard Rossiter, who played the landlord Rigsby, joined the cast in 1973, and it enjoyed a month in the West End. Later that year, at a performance in Newcastle, it was spotted by John Duncan, then Head of Light Entertainment at Yorkshire Television, who recognised its potential as a sitcom.

Jargon-buster

Assured shorthold tenancy