Help needed in negotiating a lease

jimjimjim

Hi everybody,

Having had a look around the site you all seem lovely and very clued-up, so I wondered if I could get your advice on a little problem I'm having...

My girlfriend and I have a nice little house in Leeds, but our rental contract is up on the last day of June this year. We plan to go travelling in January 2010, and our current landlady will not allow us to have a six-month contract for our current house.

Because of this, we've been looking around and have fallen in love with a very modest little back-to-back terraced house not far away from where we currently live. The problem is, it's available at the end of April, meaning that it's going to be hard work to persuade the lovely landlady to keep the house empty for the entirety of May and June until our current contract ends.

I am fortunate enough to have saved enough money to be able to pay one month's worth of "double rent" if the worst came to the worst, but two months isn't financially viable for me. Our current rent is £600pcm, and the place we've fallen for is £500. If we were being totally logical about these things we would say "it's only for six months" and grin and bear a house that's not so nice - but this place is perfect for us.

As there are a lot of you on here that rent out properites, I wondered if there were any other bargaining tools I could throw in to try and convince her to let us move in - essentially asking her to keep the house empty for 2 months. I'm not sure what the rental market is like at the moment, but it's a 1 bedroom house that would only suit a single couple.

I don't want to cause her any financial difficulties, and we're very tidy, houseproud and - dare I say it - nice people :rolleyes: . I'm fairly practical and keen to keep the house and garden immaculate for her.

Initial thoughts I've had (to try and lessen her burden but secure the house) have included:

- paying her council tax on the house for the two months it's empty.
- paying one month's rent (though I would really rather avoid it!)

Does anyone else have any clues about what I could offer if it comes to the crunch? I've had experience working as a painter and decorator and a landscape gardener (now a journalist) so I could offer to pay her back in labour or something?

Any suggestions would be appreciated so much :T

thanks in advance,

Jim

poppysarah

Just wait.
It's not like you're going to be there long term if 're going travelling so don't be so silly to waste money.

You'd be better allowing your current tenancy to turn into a periodic one until you travel

jimjimjim

Thanks for your reply PoppySarah,

That's pretty much what I've come to think, but it's hard let go of it!
It's good to hear the opinion of someone who's distanced from the situation, thank you.

Jim

clutton_2

stay where you are and let the tenancy run into period.

jimjimjim

Thanks Clutton. That's not an option unfortunately. We signed a 1-year contract and were not given the option of a rolling contract when it expires.

We live in an area where the majority of houses and flats are let to students and post-grads, meaning that the majority of lets run from July to July. In January 2009 we were asked if we wanted to sign a contract until July 2010 to stay in the house. Neither of us were in any position to commit to where we'd be living 18 months from then, so we had to decline. The house we are living in at the moment will be occupied by other people from 1 July.

I should have put that in my first post, but that's why I think I'd be willing to secure a house. Otherwise we'll be looking around in June for a house to move into at the start of July, which would be very stressful.:eek: