Want to rent

meow951

Me and my boyfriend want to move in together in to a rented place. Neither of us know anything about it and i just have a few questions.

I've recently started a new job and have only been there a month. Do landlords speak to your employer, and do i need to have worked there for a certain amount of time to prove that we can pay the rent and i'm not going to quit?

Does it matter that i only work part time? My partner does have a full time job which he has worked at for 3 years.

Also do they look at bank statements? If they do what do they like to see as in terms of a lot of savings etc?

Also can you haggle on the rent or is it usually non negotiable?

Any help very much appreciated!

meow951

anyone?

Pepper07

it does all depend on the letting agent you go through, they all have different criteria if you find a property you like you are best contact them direct.

Most letting agents want you to have worked in your current position at least 3 months but have you have continuous employment?
I don't think you can haggle on the rent

hope this helps

gmarno

meow951 wrote: »

Also can you haggle on the rent or is it usually non negotiable?

This depends on the situation. If the LL is desperate they may take a rent reduction to avoid having the property empty for extended periods.

At the end of the day, if you don't ask you don't get. I'm looking for a place at the moment and I will be haggling. I probably won't get anything, but you never know.

Pigmy

You can haggle on price - I have a couple of properties that I let out and nearly always get asked if I'll knock a bit off the rent.

I'm not sure exactly what the agent will look for in employment. If your boyfriend has a full time job and has been in it for a while, then it shouldn't really matter too much that you've just changed job. I wouldn't expect them too look at bank statements - there is too much sensitive information on there.

The best thing to do is probably to approach a local letting agent. They will soon tell you what they want. Alternatively, if you are renting directly from the landlord then they are probably going to be more relaxed. You certianly shouldn't show a private landlord your bank statement - never let a stranger have access to sensitive data such as that

Hope this helps

mynameisdave

You can haggle on rent, but they don't have to budge. Depends how much cheaper you are looking. If you ask for £25 cheaper and stay for 12 months then its a £300 difference. If the rent is £600pcm the landlord would have to get somebody paying full price within two weeks to make it worth turning you down.

If you go in asking for £75 off £500pcm then you're unlikely to get success.

But, as already commented - If you don't ask you don't get and the LL may be desperate the for a tennant.

G_M

Depends on the letter agent or Landlord. If you go to a LL direct (ie via newspaper ads) well, they are all different.

When haggling, are you willing to commit to a longer tenancy? ie if you commit to 12 months not 6, the LL may be more flexible - he doesn't have an empty property in 6 months time, with no rent and costs of cleaning advertising etc...

As a LL I always runa credit check on tenants, and ask permission to approach previous LLs and employers. If your joint income is enough it doesn't matter if you are full/part time, but I'm happier with a permenant employment contract. If it's temp, or on an initial trial basis, well, you might be unemployed in 3 weeks and unable to pay my rent!

Going to quit? Would your employer know even if I asked?.....

meow951

Thanks everyone

We will approach an agency and find out more once we are in a position to move into somewhere. We're saving up first for furniture and collecting bits and pieces so we don't have to get it all at once.

carolinosourus

Where abouts in the country are you? My bf and I have just signed the contract for a new flat (but we're currently in a rented flat so it's not new to us), this time of year is particularly busy according to agencies we've been to, as so many tenants are currently looking for housing. As it's so busy and there are tenants fighting over properties, there isn't a lot of room for negotiation. Apparently this "rush" lasts from about August to around December.

You could rent fully-furnished, which we do as it's cheaper, there isn't a great deal of rent difference between a furnished and unfurnished flat per month. It means you don't have to buy all your own furniture, if you decide you want to move 6/12 months later then you'll have to arrange AND PAY to have all the furniture moved and you may find that the furniture doesn't fit into the next property or even that you can't find an unfurnished flat next time that you like, so what do you do with the furniture? I really would recommend that you don't buy your own furniture.

Agencies like to see ID, 3 months bank statements and 3 pay slips. They also like references from employers and previous LLs. I had to get one from my landlady I had at uni! You may need a guarantor if you haven't been in employment for very long or if your salary is low, they wanted one for our previous flat for me because I was temping however we didn't need one in the end because my bf's salary could cover the rent.

Instead of saving for furniture, I would save for your deposit (usually 6 weeks rent), your first month's rent, any agency fees, then anything you need for your flat, ie electrical equipment, bedding, crockery etc. We just had to put £3003 down for our new place, it would have been more with card charges but bf is clever and did a bank transfer so we weren't charged.