My landlord's offering me 'favours'....ooh-err

ormus

i thought you were going to say the landlord wanted an arrangement, whereby you can live there rent free?

love_the_messenger

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

You need to think about the cost of moving though - presumably you're not moving far but there's still going to be some. If you stay, you're 'saving' about £1000 over the course of a year. If you move, it's going to cost you £600 a year more in rent, a probable increase in council tax and utilities, and the general costs of moving - lets say at least £1500 over the course of the year you're planning to stay there. Presumably you'll be going via an agents so you need to look at their costs (ie, are they going to be arsy about you being self-employed and ask for more money upfront).

It's a balancing act though - is a separate office going to let you be more productive so you'll recoup that extra cost through work? Is your general quality of life going to be better? New build rents tend to be higher anyway, could you negotiate and get the other flat down to what you're paying now? Could you maybe look outside the development for a 2-bed place cheaper (risky in terms of not liking it, but you could get what you want, and a better build quality, for less money)? Or, could you stick it for another year and add that £75 per month to a deposit fund?

Also, you need to bear in mind that your landlord obviously wants you to stay, you seem to be getting on ok with him/her and they seem to be in a fairly 'good' position financially in that they're offering you a reduction. You need to think about what you could be moving in to - worst case scenario is that the new flat is owned by someone who isn't paying their mortgage and you could be out in a few months, which ultimately will cost you loads more money and stress (been there, done that ...). If I were in your situation, I'd probably negotiate a bit more with your current LL (point out stuff like the EPC certificate, the risk of a new tenant etc etc), put up with it for a year and then buy my own place - better the devil you know and all that.

This is a really excellent post - thank you. What is an EPC certificate?

You are right about better the devil you know. The current landlord is very laidback. If something needs fixing, he pays for it but beyond that he totally just lets me get on with it and leaves me in peace.

The things that worry me somewhat about the new 2-bed place are:

It's 4th floor but has no lift
It's all carpets which I hate since I have a new puppy (current place is wood floors)
The management co will come every 3 months for "inspections"!!!
I've no idea whether the soundproofing really is any better than my current place
I'll have to pay my own water rates, water rates incl in rent.

Gingernutmeg

EPC - energy performance certificate, LL's need one now when they rent out places and it costs a certain amount to get one (less than £100 I think, but it's all a cost that you can point out to your current LL).

Personally, I'd avoid a 4th floor flat with no lift. I used to live in a third floor flat with no lift and it was a nightmare lugging shopping in, and as for moving in and out, I think I gave myself multiple hernias lol

Carpets and a puppy ... could be that you end up having to pay more to get them cleaned porfessionally when you leave, so that's another cost. Also, would they even let you have a pet there?

love_the_messenger

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

EPC - energy performance certificate, LL's need one now when they rent out places and it costs a certain amount to get one (less than £100 I think, but it's all a cost that you can point out to your current LL).

Personally, I'd avoid a 4th floor flat with no lift. I used to live in a third floor flat with no lift and it was a nightmare lugging shopping in, and as for moving in and out, I think I gave myself multiple hernias lol

Carpets and a puppy ... could be that you end up having to pay more to get them cleaned porfessionally when you leave, so that's another cost. Also, would they even let you have a pet there?

Hmmm. So it looks like I am staying put.

The new place I am not allowed to hang anything on the walls or change anything. The current place I can put up shelves, hang pics on the walls - whatever. As long as I pay my rent.

Gingernutmeg

love_the_messenger wrote: »

The new place I am not allowed to hang anything on the walls or change anything. The current place I can put up shelves, hang pics on the walls - whatever. As long as I pay my rent.

That's a real bonus. Where we live now we can't put pictures up, or anything like that. I love looking at acres and acres and acres of empty magnolia walls, it really makes a place feel like home ...

love_the_messenger

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

That's a real bonus. Where we live now we can't put pictures up, or anything like that. I love looking at acres and acres and acres of empty magnolia walls, it really makes a place feel like home ...

LOL

Do you have the landlord or letting agent coming round for 3-monthly 'inspections'? That is the part that scared me the most about the new flat. I just don't like the idea of that. They said they can just come round and inspect while you're out at work if you'd prefer it that way. Yikes! My current landlord has not even been round once.

Quasar

Ohh !!!!!! - this OP always starts sleazy or leading fantasy/prurient threads to get people to talk about their experiences for purposes best known to him/herself.

Look at the other threads and you wonder how all these situations could happen to just one person.

And this is interesting too: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1676091&highlight=

There are many more such threads but I leave it to those who care about them.

Gingernutmeg

love_the_messenger wrote: »

LOL

Do you have the landlord or letting agent coming round for 3-monthly 'inspections'? That is the part that scared me the most about the new flat. I just don't like the idea of that. They said they can just come round and inspect while you're out at work if you'd prefer it that way. Yikes! My current landlord has not even been round once.

No, we're quite lucky in that respect, although the LL does pop round regularly to 'collect the post' (ie have a nose through the door). There haven't been any formal inspections though. Realistically you can see both the house and garden from the street so all they need to do is drive past to make sure everything's ok, and I imagine they do. We've thought about moving from here to somewhere cheaper but overall it'd take a long time to recoup the cost of moving and we're happy, generally, with the LL and the way things have been. Things seem pretty stable here financially too and I'd worry that we'd move to somewhere that isn't.

LeeSouthEast

I'd attempt negotiation, then move anyway.

BallandChain

Quasar wrote: »

Ohh !!!!!! - this OP always starts sleazy or leading fantasy/prurient threads to get people to talk about their experiences for purposes best known to him/herself.

Look at the other threads and you wonder how all these situations could happen to just one person.

And this is interesting too: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1676091&highlight=

There are many more such threads but I leave it to those who care about them.

Ooooo you swore Quasar! I'm shocked. It's funny as I read the thread title I thought it was to do with a landlord who wanted his tenant to sleep with him. I was quite disappointed to read it was nothing of the sort. Maybe the OP works for The Sun and likes titillating headlines?

I read the thread you linked to Quasar, and it was one I read before. I remember thinking at the time it was total fantasy.