There are nearly five million households in the UK that are rented out privately, properties that vary wildly in quality from luxury homes on the smartest streets to budget bedsits way past their sell-by-date.

These fall into several categories. Here's our list of the most common rental property types. Which one describes your home the best?

The shared house

Shared houses are the cheapest way to rent a room in most towns and cities but they come with one health warning; the other tenants. Living with four or five people, whether they are complete strangers or besties, will be a severe test of human relationships.

Unwashed dishes, shower hoggers, noisy next-door roommates, reluctant bill payers and poor personal hygiene must all be overcome if it's going to be success. But on the flipside, you can make lifelong connections with people during the house parties, boozy pub visits and weeknight box-series sessions.

The bedsit

A bedsit is a room within a property which, although it’s similar to renting in a shared house (see above) the difference is that the rooms are rented separately and, apart from sharing a kitchen and bathroom, residents tend not to socialise, usually because there’s no lounge.

Regarded by the law as Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), if they are run by an enlightened landlord then bedsits can be perfectly lovely places to live, but all too often they offer relatively basic levels of comfort, lighting and decor.

Halls of residence

A university's halls of residence are usually the first home many people live in without the supervision of their parents, and many have the febrile atmosphere of a boarding school dormitory particularly during the first term. Many universities have outsourced their halls of residence, and are now more like Premier Inn hotels than the more basic facilities that used to be the norm.

The second-year student house

If you’ve completed a degree course away from home then you may have fond memories of the shared student home during the second or third year of your studies. A fine collection of empty booze bottles, unsanitary cooking facilities, bikes stored in the lounge, aubergine coloured bath suites, leaky showers and threadbare carpets all come as standard. Not much has changed except the rent, which these days is usually market rate rather than discounted.

First-time couples apartment

Most people enter relationships not for love, but to keep their accommodation costs to a minimum. OK that’s not true, but a couple renting a one-bedroom apartment in most cities will pay a lot less per head than if they were renting as single people. It’s all terribly grown up - isn’t it? Buying the first toaster together, arguing over which posters to put up, and the mild weirdness of sharing a double bed.

The accidental landlord’s pad

By accidental we don’t mean clumsy. Instead it’s a homeowner who is forced by circumstance to rent out their home. There are many reasons why this happens including working overseas or being unable to sell it, but accidental landlords can be both the best and worst of landlords. Often the properties have been their home for many years, and they regard them as such and are not ‘professional landlords’ with experience of managing properties and tenancies.

The party house

Living in a shared house can be a lottery. You may end up in the quietest, most sensible crib in the world, or alternatively it might be an animal house featuring too many drinks down the local hostelry followed by a takeaway on almost every night of the week. Party houses tend to burn brightly for 12 to 18 months before everyone realises it’s all getting too much, and they move out. But it was fun while it lasted.

The unaffordable penthouse

Flick through the posh rental apartments on any property portal’s listings and it’s tempting to buy into the Made in Chelsea lifestyle even if you can’t afford it. Some people do, though, ignoring their below-average income and paring their finances down the bone to afford a penthouse apartment. It all too often ends in tears - it’s no good living in luxury if you can't afford even the most basic champagne.

Would like to buy but can’t afford to

The average age of the first time buyer in the UK continues to increase. In 2020 it was 34, whilst in 2007 it was 28. In London it is now approaching 40.

So if you’re currently renting and want to buy, what options do you have? Recent changes have meant 5% deposit mortgages are available again - you can find out more in our ultimate guide to buying

Remember, CreditLadder can help you improve your credit score.

CreditLadder can improve your credit position by reporting your rent payments. CreditLadder is the first way to improve your credit score and position across all three of the main Credit Reference Agencies in the UK, namely Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. 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 content provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice.