Hunting for somewhere to live means phoning strangers, visiting unfamiliar addresses, and sometimes moving in with people you've only just met. Almost every viewing is completely uneventful, but a few sensible habits cost you nothing and cover you for the rare occasion something isn't right.

Protecting yourself online

Keep your personal contact details out of the advert text.

If you give an email address when you place your advert, people respond through the contact form on the site and their messages arrive in your inbox. You choose who to reply to, and when your advert comes down the messages stop. If you write your phone number into the advert itself, it's published to anyone who reads the page, and it stays out there even after your search is over.

Watch for anyone who wants money before you've seen the property.

No genuine landlord needs a holding fee, a deposit, or "proof of funds" before a viewing. Anyone asking for money up front, or claiming to be abroad and unable to show you the property, should be treated as a scammer. Report the advert to us and don't send anything.

Trust your instincts on the phone.

If a caller makes you uncomfortable, end the conversation. You don't owe anyone a reply, an explanation, or a second chance.

Viewing a property

• Take someone with you. Don't view a property alone if you can avoid it. If you have to go alone, tell someone exactly where you're going and arrange to check in with them at a set time afterwards.
• Know where you're going. Look up the address before you set out, check how you'll get there, and plan how you'll get back. Arriving lost in an unfamiliar area puts you at an immediate disadvantage.
• Research the area. If it's new to you, ask around. Colleagues, coursemates, and local forums will tell you quickly what an advert never will. If you're a student, your university accommodation office can advise on which areas to avoid.
• Meet the housemates. If it's a shared house, ask to meet the people you'd be living with before you commit. If they make you uneasy, keep looking. There will be somewhere better suited to you.
• Trust your gut. If anything about the property, the landlord, or the situation feels wrong, walk away. A cheap room is never worth ignoring your instincts for.

Writing your own advert

• Stick to the practical. Describe the accommodation you're looking for and why you're a reliable tenant. Leave out personal details and anything about your appearance. Adverts that read like dating profiles attract the wrong kind of reply.
• Think about who else your advert affects. If you have children, be careful about searching for shared accommodation with strangers, and don't advertise details about your children online.

What we do at our end

Every advert on Letalife is read and approved by a human moderator before it goes live. We edit or reject adverts containing inappropriate material, we remove adverts when advertisers report a problem, and adverts expire automatically after six weeks so stale listings don't hang around. If you see an advert that worries you, use the report link on the advert page and we'll look at it.

None of this replaces your own judgement, but it does mean nobody's advert reaches you without a person having looked at it first.

Letalife has carried the same motto since 2000: safe as houses. We'd like your search to live up to it.

More help

• Suzy Lamplugh Trust — the UK's leading authority on personal safety, including guidance on flat sharing.
• Gas Safe Register - Tenant's guide to gas safety (PDF) — your landlord must have gas appliances checked every year and give you a copy of the record.
• Your local council can tell you whether a landlord is accredited under a local scheme, and is the right place to report a landlord operating badly.