Renting a House

There are 11 districts in Guangzhou, among which the districts with many foreigners living in are Tianhe District, Yuexiu District, Baiyun District and Panyu District. After signing the lease contract and moving into the rented house, you need to register again at the police station of your residence within   24 hours.

1.Agency fee: The agency fee is usually one month’s rent, which is born as negotiated between the landlord and the tenant (in most cases, each party pays 50%).

2.Rent and deposit: It is a common practice that the tenant pays the deposit (usually the amount of two months’ rent) and one month’s rent when signing the contract. When the contract is due, the landlord will return the deposit to the tenant if the tenant does not breach the contract or damage the house or furniture. The rent generally does not include third-party fees such as utilities, property service, gas, telephone, internet, sanitation, etc., which need to be paid separately by the tenant.

3.Checking the facilities before moving in: Check the facilities in the house before signing the contract, such as whether the doors and windows are in good condition, whether the sewer is clear and whether there are any water leakage. If the facilities are damaged or old during the leasing period, the tenant can ask the landlord to repair or replace them, which can be agreed in the contract.

4.Lease contract default: Usually, if the tenant unilaterally requests to cancel the lease contract during the leasing period, the deposit will not be returned; if the landlord unilaterally cancels the lease contract during the leasing period, the deposit shall be returned and the same amount of deposit shall be compensated (subject to the terms of the contract signed by both parties).

5.Record registration of the lease contract: According to the regulations of Guangzhou in house leasing management, house leasing should be registered for record. The two parties of the leasing shall, within 3 days from the date of signing or changing the contract, go to the rental house management service center of the street or town where the house is located to register.

* Lease contract is an important document, you need to have it for accommodation registration, etc., please keep it properly.