About to sign tenancy agreement but.......

MinkyMoo_3

I have reservations!

I have am currently living in a studio flat which I pay £395pcm for and have been living in this property for the past year. The tenancy has been solely in my name and I am due to vacate on Saturday.

I am about to move to another flat in the same building but it is a 1 bedroom flat it is not massively bigger it just has a bedroom. The asking price is £475pcm.

Now here is the crunch. My studio flat is now back on the rental market and I have been watching it on Rightmove over the last few weeks. It originally went on at £395pcm which I thought was optimistic. It was then reduced to £375pcm, then to £355pcm and now today I look and its £325pcm. I know that they have been conducting viewings but obviously it is not letting. Given that the 1 bedroom flat is only bigger by having a bedroom and may be in slightly better condition, I am starting to get cold feet about paying £475pcm a month for it. The rental market in my area is flooded due to it being a reasonably affluent area and the rental market seems to be stagnant and full of BTL's.

The potential new property will house myself and my partner and it will be a joint tenancy. We have tonight discussed maybe taking a chance and going back to the agents and saying that we want to reduce our offer to say £425pcm a month to bring it in line with what they are attempting to get for the current flat I am in. The landlord has recently vacated the property and moved to another part of the country. I do not really know a lot about the landlords circumstances other than this although I believe she had been living in the property as her main residence.

What damage can asking for a reduction do? I have a good track record as a tenant over the past year having always paid my rent on time and have made minor improvements to the property at my own expense. If the worst came to the worst myself and my partner could move back to my parents temporarily although it would not be ideal. We have no children. I have the deposit and first months rent in a bank account and have additional money if needed. Our references came back perfect. Its probably also worth mentioning that both properties are being marketed by the same agent. Therefore the agency knows my history as a tenant.

Thanks

tbs624

Ask them, but get some evidence of lower rents on one bed properties, which are more popular than studios, so that you are comparing like with like.. Much will depend on the new owner's personal financial situation but if there is a surplus of similar property available s/he may have to be willing to accept a lower rent. If she had a month's or two's void on the property it would soon wipe out the difference in rent between what you would like to offer and what it is currently on at. Bear in mind too that some LAs deliberately allow a margin to allow for a reduction if requested by a potential T.