Moving into a student rented property is an exciting time. There’s the start of the academic year, the first parties and getting to know your housemates better.
Before all that kicks off, it's time to explore your new rented student house. But hang on... what is that lurking in the cupboard under the stairs!
Seriously, though, who knows what you'll find left behind by the previous tenants? Here’s our tongue-in-cheek run-down of the most common items.
Battle-hardened vacuum cleaner
After over a decade of eating dust, and barely working because the bag hasn’t been emptied for millennia, it's so battered that you're hard pressed to tell whether it’s a posh Miele or a Mr Henry. Either way it spreads more dirt than it sucks up.
Unloved garden furniture
It’s a long time since lunch was eaten off this lonely plastic dining table, abandoned by its chairs years ago, who now hang out at the bottom of the garden next to the doleful shed, gathering moss.
Abandoned Sky box
Students are all about recycling and saving the planet, and yet every house they inhabit has at least one old Sky broadband box festering on the sideboard. It’s not their fault, though. However hard anyone pleads with broadband providers like BT and Sky, these companies insist on sending you a new one even though there’s already one in situ.
Half-finished salt cellar
Perhaps it’s bad luck to take a salt cellar with you when you move. Or maybe it’s impossible to divvy up in the same way you can rice or eggs. But there’s always a partially-used salt cellar in one of the cupboards when you move in. And a jar of cocktail olives in the fridge.
Note from the previous tenants begging you to forward their mail
Scrawled on a ragged piece of paper liberated from a notebook, the previous tenants want you to forward their post to them. This would be amusing if they included ardent love letters littered with unrequited love, or their lifetime supply of fresh cheese. Instead it’s their bank statements. This is a bad idea, by the way. By doing this you’re giving wannabe fraudsters your new address, name and access to your bank account details.
Abandoned BBQ
Bought in the belief that the property is in Saint Tropez rather than Swansea, it’s not unusual to find a lightly-used but heavily-rusting round black or red Wilco BBQ at the side of the house, or on the flat terrace. Assembled by a DIY ingenue, they are as wobbly as custard pudding and dangerous to use.
Knackered red mop
Placed strategically in your kitchen cupboard by the landlord in the hope you’ll all mop the kitchen floor occasionally, the mild whiff of wine emanating from its ropey strands show it’s only been used at parties to clear up when a bottle of cheap sauvignon has been smashed on the floor.
Hideous fridge magnet
Bought on a misguided impulse while on holiday in Mallorca, Krakow or perhaps Amsterdam, it asks you consider the delights of the destination in question, portrayed badly in moulded plastic. But it’s useful when you later need to affix a note to the fridge, warning fellow housemates they will be sliced and diced if they pinch your orange juice again.
Sofas covered with a throw
Landlords hate replacing sofas; they’re expensive and difficult to get in and out of a property. Lightbulb moment! Throw a rug or blanket over the existing one and another decade of use has been guaranteed.
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.
