Spending 68% of my salary on rent!! :( How can i get it lower??

Angel89_2

I currently pay £675 for rent, £64 for council tax (with 25% single occupancy discount), and around £30 electricty (although im trying my hardest to change from British gas to N-power).

I live in a studio flat in Surrey (Addlestone/Weybridge border) so basically the only other place in UK the comes clsoe to the living costs here is Central London/Canary Wharf.


However im currently really seriously seriously struggling with my living costs!



Ive recently managed to get a new job (was previously self employed), which even though is in the industry that i want to work in, is a total nightmare due to quite severe 'bullying' from my boss.
And to to being given an extremely low amount of hours my yearly salary is barely £18,000.
And i now that ive started having to start paying tax as its deducted automatically from 'payslips', the actual amount of cash i get each month is barely £1,200!! _pale__pale__pale_


Ive drawn-up a budget sheet for my life costs so i can orangise and pay out for everything the day i get that pay money into my bank,
however i really really would appreciate some help on how i could lower certain areas of it??

The main one being how can i get my landlord to agree to me paying a lower rent??



My life costs sheet is as follows-
Rent= £675
CT= £64
Travel to work= £180 (£45pw)
Food= £105 (£26pw / £3.50pd = 3meals)
Drink= £75 (£19pw / £2.50pd = 2beers)
BT (Internet port)= £12
02 (Mobile phone)= £20
Sky TV + Internet= £36
Halifax CC repayment= £50
Electricity= £30
Haircut x2= £18
Other Essentials= 30
______________________________

£1,295


Ive already cut back on basically any sort of luxury or even basic expense of any sort,
but so the only other thing i believe that i can get reduced is my rent.

But what is the best way of approaching my landlord to ask for this to be done??


I dont really know my landlord and have never met him in person, since he owns a property company that builds and sells/rents out lots of properties,
so doesn't really do the whole 'chatting to the tenants' sort of thing.

Ive emailed him a few times though as i had a few problems with fixtures and stuff,
and i had to ask him if instead of paying my normal 1month's rent in advance like normal if i could pay 2months rent at the end of the month.
(1months rent for the month just past, and then the next months rent in-advance, which i did pay).


Ive never been a 'bad tenant' i dont think,
when i moved in here he was quite cautious because of my age and profession of self employment (i was 18, and worked self employed trading crude oil futures on the stockmarket),
but i paid out over £1,300 security deposit + i paid 3months rent upfront in-advance.

And have paid my monthly rent in-advance every month since for the 11months that ive lived here.




The main direct arguements that i am going to try using to negotiate my rent lower are-

*My nextdoor neighbour who lives in an exactly identical flat to mine pays £625 per month, so £50 less per month than i pay.

*My salary has dropped by roughly 5x the amount that i was previously earning.

*The flat was a brand new build when i moved in 1year ago, but now its 1year old.

*When i moved in back in August 08 even though the property market had been going downhill gradually and slowly for the past 1year in certain areas (other areas like this had still been rising though),
but from mid september when the publicity stunt of the stockmarket crash started to be broadcast to the general public through news and front pages of news papers,
the property market really really slumped 15%-20% all over the country basically.

So i feel that this should be reflected in my future rent.



And i also know,
but as im very straight forward and direct talking type of guy so not especially eloquent when it comes to negotiations,
i dont know how to use these factors without sounding like im trying to almost blackmail him...

But i also know that-

*Hes had this property and the 2 other flats in the villa block on sale since last August as investment purchases (selling to other landlords with tenants living heere already preferably),
yet in these 11months has only had 1 person come to view these flats and they werent interested in buying as it was too small they said.

So hes seriously truggling to sell already, and thats when he is sleling with tenants guaranteed alredy. SO If he loses me, and hes already losing nextdoor, he will ALOT more trouble still in selling.

*The guy who lives nextdoor is moving out in August/September as hes going to back university, since he was only here for 1year due to a work placement that was part of his course.
So landlord will already be losing £625 per month from August as will be stuck with an empty flat, and so losing £1,300 per month instead will be ALOT worse than just getting £100 less per month on 1 of the flats, and still getting nearly £600 + keeping it with tenant inside so saving ALOT of money on the estate agents fees again.



But so can someone please please help me with a template of an email/letter that i could send him that will include ALL those factors as negatives,
but without it sounding rude or threatening or financially-blackmailing,
so that i can get my rent lowered to £575-£600 per month.

(Ideally i would like £550 or lower, since while it is extremely stylish and modern looking inside it is very very small in area space and is an unfurnished studio, not even 1bedroom, and is situated 6meters away from trainline even though you cant every hear the trains,
but i would still be veyr very happy to get it down to £575/£600).


Any help with letter templates that i can write to him to cover all those factors and get it lowered would be greatly apprecaited please... :beer::)

And also if anyone here knows how likely (in %) it is that he will agree to this that would be nice to know to.


(My current tenancy agreement expires on 23rd August, so i was hoping to get this done as part of that agreement's natural re-newing and negotiation,
instead of it just being me saying mid way trhough tenancy 'i want to pay you less).

LeeSouthEast

This might be a terribly obvious suggestion, but have you considered moving to cheaper accomodation closer to work? Tackle the issue from both ends.

benjo

My life costs sheet is as follows-
Rent= £675 - could you move to a cheaper place or find someone to share with you?
CT= £64
Travel to work= £180 (£45pw) - you dont mention how you travel to work/how far, is a season ticket cheaper or even a bicycle?
Food= £105 (£26pw / £3.50pd = 3meals)
Drink= £75 (£19pw / £2.50pd = 2beers) harsh but true, beer isnt essential and you spend nearly as much on beer as food.
BT (Internet port)= £12
02 (Mobile phone)= £20
Sky TV + Internet= £36 - not essential
Halifax CC repayment= £50
Electricity= £30
Haircut x2= £18 - try the local hairdressing college it can be much cheaper.
Other Essentials= 30

Since your new employer doesnt give you many hours - how about a part time job to increase your income?

"a total nightmare due to quite severe 'bullying' from my boss." - dont put up with this, it may well eventually have a negative impact on your health and certainly on your self esteem. Keep a diary of the bullying, keep any bullying emails etc you never know when they might come in handy.

Angel89_2

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

This might be a terribly obvious suggestion, but have you considered moving to cheaper accomodation closer to work? Tackle the issue from both ends.

Aloha, yeah i have looked at going for a cheaper place..

(Unfortunately i cant go very far away for certain personal reasons that i cant disclose on an internet forum)

But also i cant go too far from here due to work, family and friends.


And even if i did look to move the only options would be-

*Cheapest rent for an old broken down smelly room in a shared house anywhere within 6miles radius of here will be MINIMUM £450p/m.

And you will severely struggle to find anywhere like that though due to this being North East Surrey.

*Move over 15miles anywhere in a South-Western direction, and id endup in the real countryside area of Surrey around Guildford, where not only will prices be nearly the same, but the travel cost of getting to work will hike up over £10 extra per day.
Since every trainstation you go past costs you roughly £1.50.
Plus you will have severely limited services and access in getting to SW london where i work, and especially when i work very odd hours through nights lots getting back at at 5am to those places just wouldnt be physically possible.

*Move over 10miles in NorthEast direction and id endup in SW london,
where id save a few quid per day on travel,
but would still have nearly as expensive living costs due to it being in the London borders, and the areas id be moving too would be alot less nice than here for barely any cheaper rent.



To actually be able to get a cheaper rent (£150+ lower per month) id have to move over 30miles South/West of where i live now,
and would endup in the countryside/motorways area between the south coast and guildford.

Angel89_2

benjo wrote: »

My life costs sheet is as follows-
Rent= £675 - could you move to a cheaper place or find someone to share with you?
CT= £64
Travel to work= £180 (£45pw) - you dont mention how you travel to work/how far, is a season ticket cheaper or even a bicycle?
Food= £105 (£26pw / £3.50pd = 3meals)
Drink= £75 (£19pw / £2.50pd = 2beers) harsh but true, beer isnt essential and you spend nearly as much on beer as food.
BT (Internet port)= £12
02 (Mobile phone)= £20
Sky TV + Internet= £36 - not essential
Halifax CC repayment= £50
Electricity= £30
Haircut x2= £18 - try the local hairdressing college it can be much cheaper.
Other Essentials= 30

Since your new employer doesnt give you many hours - how about a part time job to increase your income?

"a total nightmare due to quite severe 'bullying' from my boss." - dont put up with this, it may well eventually have a negative impact on your health and certainly on your self esteem. Keep a diary of the bullying, keep any bullying emails etc you never know when they might come in handy.

Thanks..

yea i would really like to get a 2nd income stream coming in,
however due to my boss thats almost impossible.

SInce not only does the contract ban you for doing a 2nd job,
but more importantly even though they would never findout,
i would never be able to confirm my available hours to the 2nd job until 4weeks before,
and they would change every month.


Since we only get given 4weeks shift rota at the end of the month for the following month, and thres no pattern of 4on/4off or anything like that,
its more like ''work 3days at night shift, have 5off, then do 6day shifts, 2off, 1day more day !!!!, 1off, 4night shifts, 3off, 2nights, 1off, then 5day shifts''.

And the days n shifts change each month, so id have no way of being able to commit to a certain work structure at a 2nd job.

annberlin

There will always be somoene out there who is willing to pay the rent.As the previous poster has said why dont you find something cheaper. Failing that,why dont you write to the landlord saying your circumstances have changed and whilst you like living in the property and would like to remain there- you are finding it difficult and would he/she consider a reduction in rent.You can but try.I would not use any of the arguements you have described but make it plain and simple your circumstances have changed. This is only my opinion but hope it has helped:beer:

Angel89_2

Oh now i am seriously fuming but also extremely happy at the same time!!! :mad::mad::eek::beer:


I just looked on the webiste of the estate agent who rents out these flats as i was trying to get a definite idea of what the average rental price for this area is before i wrote the letter to landlord, but guess what ive now seen!!

The guy next door has already given his 2months notice to landlord about him moving out at end of august,
and so the landlord has put his flat up for rent already!

But hes only asking for £595 for it!! :eek::eek:
http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=341369


So while im sitting here like a mug paying £675 for it,
hes willing to have his ''starting price offer'' be £595!! :mad::mad:



And i know for 100% certain that that is the exact same flat as next door to mine, which is an identical flat to mine.

Since there are only 6flats in this villa block, all were designed and built by this landlord,
4 of them (3ground floor and 1upfloor are 1bedrooms/ and the other 2 are studios like the one advertised in the ad).


So can someone please help me in writing a template letter to the landlord for me to have my rent lowered to that £595 rate too.

Since im actually still going to be being nice and saying that even though your starting offer for the other flat is £595, so they could get you down to the £550 level,
im willing to pay you the full aksing price of £595, plus with me you dont have to pay the £100s of quid extra in estate agents fees or have teh property empty at all.


Is there any way at all possible that he could still turn down my offer though of having my rent changed to inline with the indentical flat nextdoor??

Angel89_2

(The photo that they have put isnt actually of the flat though)

The actual flat, which in the title for some reason has been given as a 1bed, but then studio in description and stuff, is this one http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=1&pid=4048573


Unless the landlord is planning on renting out my flat while i still live here... lol
Hes advertised the same flat twice, which is abit odd.

He says that they will knock off £100 fees if the tenant moves in before end of July too, so that shows that he is very desperate to have the property not go empty, and would probs be taking an offer of rent lower than £595.

(And ive looked and it shows that this flat was put up or rent longer than 1week ago, although doesn't give the exact date it was entered. But atleast that shows thats theres not a flood of people able to move in)

kazwookie

As your agreement runs out 23rd Aug, why not just rent the lower priced flat but with the same landlord?

Get a new job
Move to a cheaper area.

I am no good at letter writing, but good luck with it all

Angel89_2

kazwookie wrote: »

As your agreement runs out 23rd Aug, why not just rent the lower priced flat but with the same landlord?

Get a new job
Move to a cheaper area.

I am no good at letter writing, but good luck with it all

Thanks

I could do that, but it just seems very very silly and foolish for me and the landlord to have to go through all the hassle and expense of packing up all my things, getting security deposit back, having landlord pay checking out fee as i paid checking-in fee,
just to walking 2meters nextdoor and put it all in there, pay the few hundred quid that i did in estate agency fees,
and for the landlord to still be then stuck with an empty flat and have to go trhough all the same expenses again.

My landlord does seem like a nice reasonable professioanl sort of guy though, so im emailing him now to ask if we can sort out my tenancy renewal now for the current asking price.

Once we have got this agreed verbally im going to then, before we sign, email him again saying ''actually iv been looking at my finances and if you can lower it to £550 per month instead of £595,
i woudl then be willing to sign a 2 or 3year agreement instead of just a 1year.

creditboy

So your going to ask for £595...wait for it to be verbally agreed and then ask for a further reduction? You may well put a bee up his bonet IMO.