THINKING of renting a home? You should choose wisely, according to the National Approved Lettings Scheme.

For a lot of people renting is a temporary arrangement, a staging post on the journey towards the elusive grail of house purchase. For others, though, it is a deliberate and permanent lifestyle choice. Some of us don’t want to be weighed down by the burden and expense of home ownership, so renting gives us flexibility, the freedom to up sticks and move - to a new part of the country, or even to a new country - without having to go through the chore of selling our home first.

Repairing a broken-down boiler, replacing roof tiles or redecorating the living room ought to be the responsibility of the landlord. The trick is making sure they are the responsibility of the landlord - and that the landlord actually fulfils that responsibility.

The first step to finding a good landlord - and a good rented home - is finding a letting and management agent, such as those accredited by the NALS, which is the nationwide benchmark scheme for service standards in the private rented sector.

NALS agents operate to minimum service standards, and are required to have Client Money Protection and Professional Indemnity insurances which helps to protect landlords’ and tenants’ money. Some landlords manage their own property or properties, in which case the agent’s job is merely to effect an introduction between him or her and their tenants. Others employ a management agency to take care of the day-to-day operational issues - rent collection, repairs, tenant handovers, mainenance and so on. In either case, you will often find that the service offered by a NALS-accredited agent goes beyond what might be termed the normal course of duty.

There are other advantages. A NALS agent will provide you with a comprehensive inventory of furnishings and equipment at the start of your tenancy. And if you rent your home through a NALS agent, you have access to a dispute resolution process.