Can I Buy or Rent Property as an International Student in the UK?
For any student studying in a foreign city, and even more so in a foreign country, the issue of residence is extremely important. Renting a house is not cheap, and a lot depends on its convenience and location, including a good mood, the ability to communicate with peers, the amount of time and money spent on the road, etc. Solving housing issues takes a lot of time and you may have no energy left to write academic works; fortunately, writing service EssayShark can help you with it. As for housing in the GB, in this article, you will find the necessary advice for a foreign student on finding a property.
Where to Find Student Housing?
If you do not plan to live in a university dormitory, a placement service can help you. They also have lists of private owners who rent rooms to students or contact real estate agencies and view ads on the Internet. There are sites that search for private housing in the UK, they are easy to find by entering the city and type of housing in the search engine, for example, studio flat or room in a shared house.
Here are examples of such sites:
How to Buy a Property?
Of course, if desired, a foreign student can simply buy property in the GB. In the UK, you can buy real estate in three types: freehold, which means finding the land with all the buildings on it in the ownership of the owner (typical for private homes). This is very convenient because if something happens to the house, you can rebuild it or use the land for other purposes. The second type is shared ownership (freehold) when tenants jointly buy land.
The acquisition process consists of several stages:
• Selection of an object. You can select real estate on various catalogs, while you can sort by the categories that are of interest to you.
• Drawing up a proposal. After choosing a property, an offer is made to the seller, in which you can specify your own price for the property.
• Choosing the lawyer’s services. The lawyer must have experience in the field of real estate purchase and sale since he/she will be the one who will be involved in the verification of contracts and the purity of the transaction.
• Conclusion of a deed of sale. The act must indicate information on the acquired property, all data of the buyer, seller and attorneys of the parties.
• Independent assessment of the facility. Be sure to conduct an independent assessment of the object, in case you receive a mortgage. The purpose of the independent assessment is to check the technical condition of the facility. As a rule, appraisers indicate the understated value of the object, which is an advantage for you, since it is possible to conduct additional bidding.
• Conclusion of a sale. The signing of the contract of sale between the seller and the buyer occurs in the presence of lawyers and a notary. At the same time, the buyer’s lawyer transfers the remainder of the transaction amount to the seller’s lawyer account, from which money will be transferred to the seller’s personal account in the future. On the same day, the seller transfers to the buyer the keys to the acquired property. After that, it is recommended to pay stamp duty.
• Registration of the new owner in the State Register. It is the duty of lawyers to provide documents to the State Register confirming the change of ownership of the property.
However, it is not very reasonable for a foreign student to buy property in Britain, since it is too costly and better to simply rent a flat.
Useful Tips
1) When renting a home, always keep your landlord’s telephone number. A real estate agent is not required to directly participate in solving any problems related to housing. All issues are discussed only with the landlord.
2) A tenant’s refusal to contact the landlord or vice versa may be prosecuted in the UK. The landlord must answer your calls and messages, just as you must answer his/her calls.
3) Check the utility bills that the landlord defaults. Some may be overpriced for your specific case.
4) Save water, gas and electricity. This will help you save on accommodation, because in the UK utilities are quite expensive!
5) If you rent a house with friends, it is important that the contract states that your responsibilities, as well as tenant’s, will not change if one of your friends decides to leave the occupied housing.
6) Always read feedbacks about landlord if it is possible. For example, before ordering a paper you may always read a review to be sure the work will be done in good way. When renting a flat you also have all the rights to be sure that a landlord is not a swindler.
Thus, in principle, a foreign student can both buy and rent property, and everyone here chooses a more suitable option for themselves. We only hope that the pieces of advice provided in the article will help you in this difficult matter.
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