Let agreed, then owner decided to charge more rent, appl. refund? FINAL UPDATE 23/12

PasturesNew

continualdiamond wrote: »

..could you not live in the property for 6mths and then if the rent is increased, look for something else?

I think the OP made the right call, the cost of moving after 6 (or even 12) months, knowing that the LL is a bit of a poor/flakey bet, isn't worth it. They know they can expect the LL to increase the rent as soon as possible and they'd have to go through the cost/time and stress of referencing, searching, moving again. I'd rather take my chances with a LL that wasn't so changeable from the outset.

PasturesNew

Britwife wrote: »

I want to add one more thing....

I don't understand why the EA's don't take your deposit until the day you move in or arrange to get keys. Anything can happen while you are waiting and then you are out of a house.

I'm new to how things work over here but in the states, when you want a place and you get final approval you go in and sign a lease and pay your deposit and most likely first months rent. You then go to the agency on your agreed move in date and get your keys.

At least that way, it's all signed and in writing and you have some protection.

You are completely right. Here you aren't guranteed that the place you pick, pay a holding fee on, get referenced on, etc is ever actually going to be yours.

Usually a LL will want to advertise a property when an existing tenant is in it - so they can't guarantee that the tenant WILL move out, or it will be OK to rent out straight away (it might need repainting/fixing). LLs don't wait for the property to be vacant, then make it available, so you can't actually sign the agreement usually until the actual day you're moving in.

Also, the referencing takes 2-3 weeks, so all in all it's just not easy to do.

It'd be so much easier if you could have a credit check that was good for any agent, then simply view properties available and pick one and get a moving in date then and there ... but it doesn't work like that usually as LLs/agents can't/won't actually give you a firm date. I got "caught out" when the agent made me give them a date I wanted to move in, on the application form when I paid the holding fee - then the LL decided they wanted to do some minor work (fit a blind to one window) and I was kept completely in the dark about when I could move in/what was going on. I ended up moving in a week after my original date, each day phoning up the agent asking "when? when?" and never getting an answer as they weren't getting the answer from the LL. It's a mess really.

LisaLou1982

Britwife wrote: »

Thanks LisaLou for your input. You are right that the EA is handling the sale of their new home and the rent on their current home. They are old school friends and they trust them with the rental and sale.

The estate agent gave them an evaluation of £550 to £575 for rental amount. Apparently, the LL said they wanted to go for £575 but EA thought they were going for £550.

The larger home for £600 is indeed bigger but on a busier road and that was the only reason we didn't go for it. We can afford it but choose to go for a lower amount so that we can put some money in savings. We never even considered phoning for a viewing anyway. The only thing I'm trying to justify is that for £25 more a month, we could have a much larger house, detached, and a huge garden.

I agree that it is reasonable to raise the rent after a year but this raise would have been after 6 months. We also have to take into consideration that the council tax is on a higher band, same as the larger house and this house isn't much bigger than the house we are currently in.

and yes, I hear you when you say that by them paying the exess for us we would ultimately get what we wanted in the end. However, the LL gave us a verbal agreement for move in date. After that was agreed, we let our current LL know and she set wheels in motion to have an EA come out and get it listed to let. In the meantime, it all fell apart and we told them we werent' going to pay more than what was advertised and agreed upon. It wasn't until after I went in asking for our fee back that they offered to pay. Granted, this was only a matter of 2 days but we had to secure a place for us to stay, we have 3 children as well. I also didn't want my current LL to have to pay anything out if not needed.

Bottom line, this was handled poorly and we shouldn't be out of pocket for their error or the LL's, whichever. The offer came too late and after everything was cancelled.

Hiya

Completely agree that it was poorly handled - its certainly been a mess on your side that you didnt need!!!

What have you decided to do now? Have you found another property to go to?

Britwife

Well, I had to call the EA back today and I knew it was coming. I was told that since they offered to pay the balance for a year that we still would have got what we wanted. True enough but it was all too late. We had to resecure the home we are in now. Then offered half but I told him in all fairness we shouldn't be out any money for their mistake. Then he said he still had to pay for the reference, again, we should be out.

So they are going to refund us in full. Stick to your beliefs and don't back down. He finally agreed that they didn't come to a solution fast enough.

Britwife

Lisa Lou, sorry I missed your question...we are going to stay put. Our current landlord is allowing us to make the changes to fit us in and we can fill in the huge pond.

thanks!