The real cost of renting, lettings agents and The Deposit Protection Scheme

Before I start I would like to point out that for the previous 9 years we've been tenants abroad in South Africa and Dubai and we're on the verge of moving into our 5th rental property.

We are also landlords, we've been renting out our family home in England, until recently. We are also renting out a one bed flat in South Wales.

The last tenants, although not as bad as the first set and did vacate earlier than requested have not looked after our property at all, despite having a list of demands for things to be fixed, repaired and redecorated before they moved in, which we did willingly.

We received £716.99 back from the tenants deposit of £1,462.50, the cost of repairs claimed for was £1,820.08. Having read the report of the findings from the DPS, it is clear that there was lack of evidence in the form of quotes, dated photos and itemised repairs, damages etc. I'm very disappointed with the rental agents and could have and would have done a better job myself of submitting evidence had I not relied on the agents to do their job in my best interests. For example it is deemed acceptable for this door to have been repaired.

The rubbish removal wasn't listed with evidence of the individual items

An award of £300 was made for redecoration costs and as it wasn't stated at the time of the tenancy that the house had been freshly dated it was deemed acceptable wear and tear. Paint alone for the radiators, woodwork and walls was £100 and labour £15 an hour. The DPS consider a patch job good enough. 

There was an award of £40 for this carpet to be cleaned, it won't clean and now it has to be replaced

Despite tenants cleaning the property in between, we've redecorated, re carpted a room, replaced appliances, repaired fence panels, dry cleaned curtains. Paid for all repairs, unless caused by the tenant, had a new shower tray installed, fixed outside taps and lights, had new taps for the kitchen and downstairs loo, a new oven and hob installed, serviced and installed a new boiler during the the snow storm of 2018 and gave the tenants money to buy portable heaters to keep warm and had the cheek to take the heaters I paid for. They also had a list of demands that we rectified prior to thier tenancy commencing and they leave our home like this?

You can read about the problems we've had and see the photos by clicking here. There are links within that post.

Would you be happy renting a property that was offered in this condition? Our previous tenants weren't. Yet look how they left it.

I'd love to hear about your experiences as a tenant and/or a landlord. The good, the bad or the ugly.

Moving House in Dubai Part 1 - Giving notice and finding a new home

Handing in your notice:

You need to give written notice of 90 days to your landlord as per your tenancy agreement. I'm seriously hoping that a WhatsApp message to the Land Ladies daughter will suffice or we'll be staying put. The last two years we've rearranged the new teensy agreement this way and last year, it was how the 5% increase in rent was relayed to us via WhatsApp also. So far the only response I’ve had is that we’ll get the deposit back once we’ve settled the DEWA (electricity and water) account.

Our contract states we mustn’t remove anything attached to walls, so must I sssume we leave the curtain poles in place? It’s the only thing we’ve put up and that the house must be clean.

I’ve heard other contracts stipulate the house must be repainted and all plants removed from the garden. As our garden was bare other than a patch of half dead grass and 2 office chairs, I’ll be digging up our shrubs and small trees regardless.

Contacting an agent: 

Google ‘houses to rent in Dubai’ there are quite literally 100’s if agents. Set a budget, location, size of house (number of bedrooms) and be prepared to have agents a) ring you within several minutes with a list of available properties or b) not reply to your calls at all. 

Ask agents to ‘drop a pin’ on WhatsApp but be prepared that a) you’ll never find that location or b) the agent fails to turn up.

We’re moving to downsize, save money and be closer to Peters work. Downsizing and small are not words that Dubai are familiar with. Most of the properties viewed so far are bigger than where we are now, it have gardens of epic proportions. 

Some things to take into consideration when renting a new property:

Does the landlord accept pets? Does the land owners ie construction company allow pets on their land they manage? I know of a couple of areas in Dubai where pets are allowed in the buildings (mainly apartment blocks) but the land owners have declared the outside area a ‘dog free’ zone.

Will the landlord be doing any work to the property? What? Timescale? Decorating before you move in? Landscaping the outdoor area? What are the t&cs in regards to repairs? It is common that the tenant is responsible for repairs up to AED500. Make sure all this is in writing. 

Find out how many cheques the landlord will accept. It’s commercial n to pay rent a year up front. Some places will accept 2-4 cheques in advance for the year, but the price will go up if you accept this method and remember it’s illegal in Dubai if a cheque bounces and you will face prosecution if you don’t have the funds. You’ll also require a deposit. 

Agents fees? You’ll need to budget for them also, but don’t expect them to manage your rental agreement, that’s between you and your landlord. 

Getting a quote for packers and moving:

You’ll find details of removal companies in adverts on the rental agents pages. Find out if they’ll pack and unpack and if insurance is included and over how many days they’ll move you.

Here are some of the properties we’ve been looking at.

We’ve decided we want to rent a townhouse. They are 3 beds but much smaller and with less outdoor space than the 2 bed villas. Both properties are however the same price to rent.

There are only so many different styles to townhouses and villas, so preference comes down to location and quality of property.

We want to be within walking distance of the mall/shops and access to public transport and not on the front row on the entrance road.

2 bed villa

3 bed townhouse