Can I haggle for lower rent?

gregarious

Hi there, we are considering moving home so we have been looking online for homes to rent. There seems to be several houses available and still available. Actually for several weeks now.
My question. Can you haggle down the rent price? Is this OK to do? What might be the best approach?
Many thanks for any suggestions you may have.

rheme

If you don't ask you don't get.

Give it a try.

lisa*_5

I always haggle on my clients behalf unless its already an absolute steal!

ilovecheese

I would always offer lower rent, the worse that can happen is the LL says no. We are in our second rented flat, we managed to reduce the rent on the first one from £675 to £650 but when we moved in to our current flat the LL would not accept a lower offer, so we paid his asking price. (because the flat is the best one we have ever seen!)

OrangeProse

Before I moved to London two years ago, I'd never even thought of negotiating on rent. However, everyone does it here, so I'd give it a go. Last time I moved I managed to get the (private, not agency) landlord down from £1700 pcm to £1500 pcm.

The way I did it was that after viewing the property I put an offer in to the landlord in writing (well, over email) explaining that I wanted to rent the flat, my ideal length of tenancy and initially offering £1400 pcm. Everything was very straight to the point and businesslike in terms of language.

Ultimately the landlord didn't want to go for £1400, so we ping-ponged figures over email for a bit before settling on £1500. It was all done in about forty-five minutes if I recall!

Like the others say, if you don't ask you don't get. Most landlords/LAs won't actually be offended by you making an offer. It's probably worth seeing what similar properties in the same area are going for, however, as I found out, sometimes a cheeky punt pays off. If I hadn't stuck my neck out I'd be £4800 worse off after two years!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I've spent the past couple of weeks looking for somewhere new to rent. Very interesting to contrast the approaches of the various estate agents I arranged viewings with- several said straight out without my even mentioning it that the asking price could be knocked down, others sucked in their breath, shook their heads sadly and said I wouldn't get anything better for that price round there.

State the price you're willing to pay and other relevant details ie moving date, and do a bit of research into comparable properties in the area. Rents were dropping in area I was searching (SW London).

Good luck!

gregarious

Thanks so much for your replies, I am viewing several properties on Monday and will definitely be trying my luck and see what I can do.

sooz

Certainly try. You have nothing to lose. If you are looking through an agency, haggle on the agency fees too.

However, don't do what one couple did to me recently...offered a price, I agreed & then then came back & tried to insist on another £5 per week less, stating that they'd looked at their finances & their first offer was too high, & they couldn't afford it

I rejected them on the grounds that they were a) muppets, & b) very bad at managing their finances