General costs involved in renting Studio Flat..?

poppysarah

Anything important needs to be written down and agreed by both parties

dustinjames

Npower is my electric supplier. "standard electrical tariff".
shall i just wait until my first bill to see how low it is or if i should think of switching?
i have no idea how much i will consume, this being my first time renting alone.

Severn trent is my water supplier.

dustinjames

hot water stopped working.
Agent says they have called plumber, and a new part has been ordered as
they know what the problem is. Will take several days to fix.

sound ok?

terryw

dustinjames wrote: »

hot water stopped working.
Agent says they have called plumber, and a new part has been ordered as
they know what the problem is. Will take several days to fix.

sound ok?

yes........

dustinjames

hi again, dont want to start another thread so....

letting agent calls me, says landlord wants the property re-mortgaged so is sending an estate agent or evalutaion somebody, to take pics of the apartment, and i need to clean it up for when they come.

1) can i refuse this?
letting agent came a week ago, to inspect, it was fine. Few weeks ago a property specialist was sent by landlord to inspect. And now this is the 3rd time. Its inconveniant, and i dont like thought of a stranger taking pics of place with all my stuff in them.

2) why do they want pics? when i saw the flat before i rented it, online, it had pics on line, of empty flat, these pics would be much better than a flat now with all my mis matching/mess and rubbish around, surely.

if landlord is getting it re-mortgaged, this means, he is looking to find a cheaper mortgage? so my rent should not really increase?

thankyou

PasturesNew

Estate agents take photos to sell it, not just to walk round and give a valuation. They can tell once they step in the door how much they'd put it on for.

For mortgages, it isn't an EA that values it - it's a proper surveyor (again, no pics).

I think your LL is thinking about selling it, to be honest.

You don't have to let anybody in. You're not getting your legal right of 'quiet enjoyment' out of the place are you.

LL's playing silly beggars, agent is letting them. Put your foot down politely. And - as for telling you to clean it up before they come .... pfffft. Cheeky beggars!!

dustinjames

the landlord and letting agent are part of the same company i think, or close relationship anyway.

the previous property specialist who came, i quizzed him, he said the landlord is making a loss on this property and his other propertys, so he is gonna advise to NOT sell now, stick it out, as things will get better over teh coming months.

my lease runs out in two months, i can ask for contract to get redrafted, £50 i think,
or i can just say i want to stay and it rolls over, at no extra charge.
But letting agent said only diff is if i dont get contract re-drafted (£50) then landlord only has to give me 2 months notice,
whereas if contract is properly renewed, i get 6 months stay, and can not be told to leave before contract is done.
WHich shall i do? I want to stay.

yeah i thinking of telling them im not happy with this, 3rd time they are coming, and pics etc.
see what they say.

i know, the place was a filthy mess when i moved in, and they expect me to clean it up for thier pics!

thanks.

hmm i thinking if i refuse, they cold refuse to renew my lease

dustinjames

renewing tenancy for 6 months "subject to two months notice"

what does this mean? that the landlord can kick me out with just 2 months notice, before the 6 month contract is completed?

break clause can be included where the tenant or landlord can terminate contract within 2 months the renewal letter says.
I dont know what to choose.

SO 6 month contract with no get out clause is better protection for me, isnt it?

dustinjames

right, no pics were taken.

anyway, so im about to renew my contract, i wanted to renew it. I called (telephone) the agent today to ask about something, they said to hold on and not do anything yet, as the landlord is getting the place re-mortgaged (ive had 2 visits from valuers already) and that he needs to wait till valuation and re-mortgage is done, and then the new tenancy can be sorted out along with that.
So he says the landlord told him to not renew contract with me yet, as it needs to be done with re-mortgage process.

so he said to wait as it will take 7 to 8 weeks.
i have 7 weeks left on my tenancy.
he said not to worry, and keep paying rent and it will get sorted out in due time.

does this sound ok?
or am i unsafe as not protected in any way?

terryw

An agreement requires two or more people to agree. Your landlord is not yet in a position to agree, but it looks likely that he will be shortly. In the meantime you are protected by the law of land. Notices etc must be issued in accordance with the law - you can't be evicted unless the proper procedure is applied.

In a nutshell, be patient for a little while until your landlord knows if he can offer you a longer contractual tenancy.