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SavannahYear 8
← Citizenship
CitizenshipRenting and buying a home30 min★★★ difficulty

Renting your first place

Almost everyone rents before they buy. The advert says '£750 a month' — but the money you actually need on day one is closer to £1,700, and the rules of a tenancy decide what happens if something goes wrong. This lesson works out both.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the functions and uses of money, the importance and practice of budgeting, and managing risk

Key learning points

  • • Day-one money
  • • Then every month after
  • • What the agreement says
  • • Protecting your deposit

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

functionsimportancepracticebudgetingmanaging

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Renting your first place

An English teaching video on this topic from Philadelphia Fed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the functions and uses of money, the importance and practice of budgeting, and managing risk

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You can add and subtract money amounts and work out a monthly total.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Rent
The monthly payment to a landlord for living in their property.
Tenancy agreement
The contract between tenant and landlord: how long, how much, and each side's duties.
Deposit
Money held during the tenancy, protected in a government-approved scheme, returned if the place is left in good order.
Landlord
The owner of the property you rent.
Inventory
The list and photographs of the property's condition when you move in.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

What renting really costs on day one

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

Day-one money

A one-bedroom flat is advertised at £750 a month. To move in, Jaz needs: the first month's rent, £750; a deposit of five weeks' rent, which is £750 × 12 ÷ 52 × 5 = £865; a van hire, £90. That is £1,705 before she has bought a single teaspoon. The advert only ever shows the smallest of those numbers, which is why people are caught out.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Then every month after

Rent £750, gas and electricity £75, water £30, broadband £28, council tax £115, contents insurance £9, TV licence £14. Monthly total £1,021 — about 36% more than the advertised rent. A good rule of thumb is that rent is roughly two thirds of the real cost of the roof over your head. Budget from the £1,021, never from the £750.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Rent is £750 a month. A five-week deposit is about:

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

Rent £750 plus bills of £271. The real monthly cost of the home is:

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

The agreement and your rights

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

What the agreement says

A tenancy agreement is a legal contract. It fixes the rent, the length (usually a six or twelve month fixed term), how much notice each side must give, and who pays for what. It cannot take away rights the law gives you: the deposit must be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days, the landlord must keep the structure, heating and water in repair, and must give 24 hours' notice before visiting.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Protecting your deposit

Deposits are argued over more than anything else in renting, and the argument is almost always about evidence. On the day you move in, photograph everything, including the marks that were already there, and check the inventory line by line before signing. Report faults in writing, not by text you will later lose. Fair wear and tear cannot be charged for; damage and unpaid rent can. If you disagree at the end, the protection scheme runs a free dispute service.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

Within how long must a deposit be put into a protected scheme?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

The strongest protection against an unfair deposit deduction is:

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • Thinking the deposit is the landlord's money — it is yours, held in a protected scheme.
  • Budgeting from the advertised rent and forgetting council tax, energy and water.
  • Assuming a landlord can turn up whenever they like; they must give notice.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Renting your first place

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Rent of £600 a month means a five-week deposit of about:

  2. 2. Who is responsible for repairing a broken boiler in a rented flat?

  3. 3. 'Fair wear and tear' means:

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Should the town centre have a curfew for under-16s?

After a rise in reported vandalism, Harbrook council proposed that under-16s should not be in the town centre after 9 pm without an adult. Police recorded 62 incidents last year, most between 9 pm and midnight. Shopkeepers signed a petition supporting the plan.

A youth council objected. They pointed out that most young people in town at night were going home from sports clubs or work, that the plan punishes a whole group for the acts of a few, and that the library and the bus interchange are in the town centre. They asked instead for a late bus and a youth space.

The council voted to trial the curfew for six months and to publish the crime figures at the end.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Give the strongest point on each side of the argument, using a fact from the case.
  2. Whose rights and whose responsibilities are involved here? Explain both.
  3. Write your own view on the curfew with reasons and one example.

  • Reading and response

    Reading

    Read the case in the lesson again and write what you think should happen, and why it is fair. Use one fact from the case as evidence.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your answer to the lesson's big question in full: the strongest point on each side, then your own view with reasons and an example.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Find one news story this week that links to this lesson. Note the headline, where you read it, and how it connects.

    1 story, 4–5 sentences

  • Two sides of the argument

    Writing

    Write the strongest point for, the strongest point against, and then your own view with a reason.

    3 paragraphs

  • Poster or leaflet plan

    Diagram

    Plan a leaflet that explains this right or responsibility to someone your age, then photograph it.

    1 planned page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

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