Room rental costs: what you pay and what you should never be charged

10 minute read

This guide is for anyone looking for a room in Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge, Hyde or the rest of Tameside, whether you are a working professional, a first-time renter or relocating for a job. The rules are the same in every town, so you can use them to check any advert or agreement, ours included.

What are the room rental costs in a house share?

Room rental costs are simpler than they look. Only the rent repeats every month. Everything else is a one-off, and most of it can only be charged if the law and your agreement allow it.

That is the whole list. Anything else is a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

Which fees are banned under the Tenant Fees Act?

If you have searched for tenant fees act renters information, this is the part that matters. The Act, as amended, bans most of the charges renters once paid. A landlord or agent cannot charge you for:

• Administration. Setting up the tenancy or handling paperwork.
• Referencing and credit checks. The cost of checking you is theirs, not yours.
• Inventory, check in and check out. Recording the room's condition is part of running a tenancy.
• Cleaning. A flat cleaning charge at the start or the end.
• Continuing or reletting. Charges for carrying on your tenancy or finding a replacement.
• Insurance recharges. The landlord's own insurance.
• Pets. No pet deposit and no pet charge.
• Reservation payments. Anything taken to hold a room other than a proper holding deposit.
• Legal costs. The landlord's own, unless a court awards them.

The penalties are real. A prohibited payment can mean a penalty of up to £5,000 per payment, and up to £30,000 or prosecution for a repeat within five years. You can also recover the money at the First-tier Tribunal.

How much is the deposit for a room?

A deposit for a room is security against unpaid rent or damage beyond fair wear and tear. It comes back to you unless the landlord can prove a deduction.

Worked example: cap against North Point

Take a room at £700 a month. The annual rent is 700 x 12 = £8,400, so one week is 8,400 / 52 = £161.54. The legal cap is five weeks, which is 5 x 8,400 / 52 = £807.69. North Point takes two weeks, which is 2 x 8,400 / 52 = £323.08.

Your deposit must be protected in an authorised scheme within 30 days, and you must be given the prescribed information. Our guide to tenant rights in a house share explains what that means for you.

What are the holding deposit rules?

A holding deposit is a payment to take a room off the market while checks are done. It is allowed, but tightly controlled:

• One week at most. The limit is one week's rent for the whole property, and only one can be taken at a time.
• Conditions in writing. You must be given the conditions before you pay.
• A 15 day deadline. You have 15 days to sign, unless you agree another date in writing.
• A refund. It must be repaid within 7 days if the landlord pulls out or the deadline passes. If you sign, it is repaid within 7 days or, with your consent, put towards your deposit or first rent.
• When it can be kept. Only if you fail a Right to Rent check, give materially false or misleading information, withdraw, or do not take all reasonable steps to sign by the deadline. The reasons must be given in writing within 7 days.

At North Point there is no holding deposit. You pay nothing to reserve a room. Your first month's rent and deposit are only due once the tenancy agreement is signed. See our fees page for the full list.

How much rent can you be asked for in advance?

No rent can be taken before both sides have signed. Between signing and moving in, a landlord can ask for no more than one month's rent (or 28 days). After you move in, rent cannot be demanded before it is due. The rent must also be level, so a bigger first month is a prohibited payment.

Adverts must show a fixed rent, and a landlord must not ask for, encourage or accept more. You should never need to bid above the advertised price for a room.

What is the cost of renting a room? A worked monthly budget

The headline rent is not the whole story, so compare rooms on total monthly cost. Room A is an all bills included room at £700 a month, in line with the rooms on our rooms page. Room B is advertised at £540 a month with bills extra. The bill figures for Room B are assumptions for the example, not North Point prices.

Room B adds up to 540 + 75 + 22 + 28 + 55 = £720. That is £20 a month more than Room A, or 20 x 12 = £240 a year. Energy bills can also rise in winter. When you see a cheaper room, ask who is liable for each bill.

What do you pay to move in?

To show the effect, assume Room A takes a two week deposit, as North Point does, and Room B takes the full five week cap. Room A costs 700 + 323.08 = £1,023.08 to move in. For Room B the deposit would be 5 x 540 x 12 / 52 = £623.08 for the deposit, so moving in costs 540 + 623.08 = £1,163.08 to move in. A lower rent does not always mean a lower start up cost. The deposit comes back at the end, so plan your cash flow around it.

What can you be charged after you move in?

Once you are in, only a short list of extra costs is possible, and every one depends on what your agreement says.

• Late payment interest. Only if the agreement says so, only on rent more than 14 days late, and at no more than 3% above the Bank of England base rate.
• Lost keys or security devices. The reasonable, evidenced cost of replacement, and only if the agreement says so.
• Changes you ask for. £50, or the evidenced reasonable cost if higher, if you ask to change the agreement, such as swapping a sharer.
• Leaving early at your request. No more than the rent for the notice period you should have given.

At North Point, council tax, energy, water and broadband are all in the rent, so there are no bill top ups.

What should you do if you are charged a banned fee?

1. Ask in writing. Ask the landlord or agent to explain the charge and which part of the Tenant Fees Act allows it.
2. Ask for it back. Say you think it is a prohibited payment and ask for repayment by a set date.
3. Keep the evidence. Save the advert, messages, receipts and your agreement.
4. Use the complaints route. Agents must belong to a redress scheme, so once their own complaints process has run you can refer it to the scheme.
5. Go to the tribunal if needed. You can recover a prohibited payment through the First-tier Tribunal.

Keep paying your rent meanwhile, so a fee dispute does not become an arrears problem.

Common mistakes when budgeting for a room

• Comparing headline rent only. Add the bills, and the time they take, before you decide.
• Paying more than one month in advance. Before the start date, one month is the limit.
• Offering more than the advertised rent. You should never have to bid.
• Not asking what is included. Ask which bills are in the rent.

How room rental costs work at North Point in Tameside

Our rooms are furnished doubles in house shares in Ashton-under-Lyne, Hyde and Stalybridge. Rent is one payment a month with council tax, energy, water and broadband included. The deposit is two weeks' rent, protected with the Deposit Protection Service. There is no holding deposit and there are no tenant fees.

You can see our available rooms with their monthly price and deposit, or read about rooms in Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge and Hyde. For the checks that come before a tenancy, read our guide to referencing and affordability, or see what is included in a house share.