Tenants responsibilities

As a tenant your responsibilities may vary depending on the tenancy agreement between you and your landlord.  You will however probably find that most of your responsibilities fall into two main categories, paying your rents and bills, and looking after the property and its contents.

As a tenant you are responsible for:

Paying the rent on time

As a tenant you have to pay rent to your landlord, this will usually be paid on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis and is typically paid in advance.

Paying household bills (electricity, gas, council tax, etc)

While you are living in the house you are responsible for paying the household bills.  If there are any overdue bills from the last tenant waiting for you when you arrive pass them on to the landlord, you should not be expected to pay for these.

Repairing damages caused by you or those living with you

If you damage the property then it is your responsibility to repair it, if you don't then the landlord is within their rights to claim the cost of repair from your tenancy deposit.  Find out more about tenancy deposits. 

If you redecorate the house without permission from the landlord then he may view this as damage to the property and charge you for putting it back to how it was before.

Keeping the house secure (setting alarm, locking doors, etc)

Keeping the house locked up every time you leave the house not only protects your possessions in the house, but also prevents the property being damaged. If the property is damaged because you left the house unsecured this could also effect your tenancy deposit.

Keeping the house clean and tidy

Keeping the house tidy makes it not only nicer to live in but will also help ensure that the property and its furnishings are not damaged.  Damaging property and its furnishing can resulting in losing some or all of your tenancy deposit. 

A tidy house will also make inspections go much smoother and quicker.

Returning property in same state as you found it at beginning of the tenancy

When you are getting ready to move out of the property you need to make sure that the house is as clean as when you moved in and that any damages have been fixed.

If you fail to clean the house, the landlord can bill you to have professionals clean the house, the same applies if the landlord has to fix any damage to the property (and this can sometimes be more expensive than doing it yourself or sourcing someone to do the work).

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