# Who pays the 1 year rent upfront? The company or the employee?



## Sean2008 (Sep 9, 2008)

Hi folks, I understand that landlords require 1 or 2 cheques upfront for a 1 year rent... is the employer supposed to pay that to the landlord on my behalf and then he takes that out from my income as housing allowance? How does it usually work?


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## Ogri750 (Feb 14, 2008)

Many companies will offer an interest free loan to cover the rent, which is then deducted from your salary each month.

It is not something they have to do, so it would be worth your checking with any prospective employer that this is something they will offer


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## crazymazy1980 (Aug 2, 2008)

Sean2008 said:


> Hi folks, I understand that landlords require 1 or 2 cheques upfront for a 1 year rent... is the employer supposed to pay that to the landlord on my behalf and then he takes that out from my income as housing allowance? How does it usually work?


There is no set answer here, it totally depends on what you negotiated with your employer before you came.

I didn't come with a specific housing allowance so I was completely on my own to sort it out.

Some possibilities though are:

Your employer gives you a housing allowance, and you pay up front, recouping the costs each month.

Your employer gives you a housing allowance AND pays it up front on your behalf deducting the costs monthly from the housing allowance.

Your employer gives you a rent loan to pay it in full and then takes it out of your wage at source.

You get a rent loan from the bank

You pay it out of your savings

You find somewhere that will take payment monthly.

HTH


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## clickonline (Sep 18, 2008)

As everyone said, it depends on the employer. Make sure you negotiate this during the offer stage. My employer agreed to pay the housing allowance upfront so I can pay the yearly rent provided I show them the lease contract.


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## Maz25 (Jul 6, 2008)

Don't panic if you failed to negotiate anything during the contract negotiation stages. I was busy salivating when I heard the salary on offer that I plain forgot about housing. Result is that I panicked (was too chicken to pick up the phone and ask afterwards) but when I got here, my employer made it clear that he would pay my accommodation allowance upfront (I didn't need it cause I pay monthly but normally, our company writes a cheque directly to the landlord). Saying that, I still advise that you sort it out before you arrive and if possible have it written into your contract. I had another offer where it was written into the contract that my housing allowance would be paid upfront!


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