NOBODY dreams of renting a house forever - but if this is the situation you’re in, you may as well make the most of it.

There are certain things you can do to help make living as a rent-paying tenant the best it can possibly be. Here are Abi Jackson’s five top tips...

1. Be on good terms with your landlord/letting agent

When you’re looking for a place to rent, remember you’re vetting the people you’ll be renting with/from, as much as the property itself.

Mutual trust and respect, and an ability to communicate, will count towards a lot.

There might be times when things go wrong and need to be fixed, fast. A broken toilet/tap/boiler, for instance.

The good thing is, where a plumbing disaster due to wear-and-tear or technical issues is concerned (or any similar scenario), your landlord will be picking up the bill.

2. Streamline, streamline, streamline

It’s often said that our European cousins are much better at the whole renting game than us, being far more likely to rent their “forever home”, while us UK renters might find ourselves moving a lot (I stopped counting at 13), and it sucks.

The good thing though? You’ll get so sick of packing and unpacking and losing money to removal vans (and cramming all your worldly belongings into one small bedroom, if you’re sharing a house), you’ll reach a point where you just don’t care for “stuff” any more.

Do yourself a favour and get strict about the “stuff” you let into your life. The next move will be a lot easier and, without even really trying, you’ll be living a less consumerist lifestyle - and will have more money to spend on experiences (tick, tick, tick).

3. Give yourself reasons to get out of the house

Live in a shared house? No matter how great your housemates are, there will be times when you desperately wish you could afford your own place.

Until that day comes for you, though, you need to make the best of the situation you’re in now - and embracing life outside your four walls can play a big part in this. Make dates with friends, join a club, go for walks, volunteer in your local community (no seriously, try it). Your life will be richer, your mental wellbeing will benefit, and you’ll find yourself seething about coming home to an already-occupied sofa a lot less.

4. Make your bed king

You might not own the bed frame, or the walls around it - but that does not mean you don’t own the right to a decent night’s sleep.

Renting doesn’t have to mean putting up with a crap, wafer-thin mattress or not-quite-right bedding. Invest in the best mattress you can afford (it’ll be some of the best money you’ve ever spent), and a pillow you look forward to sinking your head into every night.

5. Find ways to get personal

One of the most frequently-cited phrases among us long-term renters: ‘I just want to be able to hang whatever pictures I want on the walls!’ There’s a general assumption that landlords don’t want tenants to make their house too much of a home (by banging nails into walls, that sort of thing).

Have you actually asked your landlord about this though? There’s no harm in asking.

Even if nails are out, there are lots of other ways you can personalise a space.