Landlady wants to increase rent by £70 a month

amboy

zar wrote:

It may not be an option for you but when I was doing my masters in York two years ago we didn't rent a house in York as it was too expensive. We rented a small two-bed townhouse in Pocklington for £395pcm, then when the landlady sold it we rented a 3-bed house in Stamford Bridge for £400pcm (through one of the Pocklington agents). They were both at the lower-end of the market but there was plenty about for £450. Both have regular bus services into York, I don't drive and found it very straightforward getting in every day but I was on the right side of the city for the university. Both Pock and SB are lovely places to live and have cash machines, pub, shop open til 10pm etc.

p.s. Try to enjoy the rest of your weekend, it'll all sort itself out and hopefully something good will come out of it like you find somewhere better to live anyway. :beer:

pps from what you said I assume you're renting furnished. A lot of the property in Pock is unfurnished, but its quite easy to pick up everything you need for free on freecycle or cheaply in charity shops - there was a charity shop in Market Weighton that sold lots of furniture for example and would deliver. At least you get to choose your own furniture then.

Like Zar I know this city very very well as i am located their too and and am LL, my fear is that you will struggle to find a decent place that takes HB, I know many fellow LL in York who just wont do it, although I appreciate that the LL does not have a say once the tenant is in. The problem is that when you find a new house it will take the LA quite a while o sort things out, in the meantime the rent needs to be paid.

Gorgeous_George

Why don't you take over the tenancy and claim full HB? I'm sure lots of other people would do this.

You could then rent a room to your housemate.

Of course, you'd need to check the legality of this suggestion.

I raised the rent for my tenants after 3 years from £75 to £80 per week. Not bad for a 4-bedroomed house.



GG

newfoundglory

Is the house next door up for rent through an estate agency? If so, then the agency will usually take between 10 and 15pc of monthly rent a month anyway.... hence a landlord would want more rent to compensate for the amount taken by the agency (which would explain the difference between your place and next door)

Therefore, if you are paying your LL directly and not going through an agency - you *should* be paying less.... as your LL does not have an agency to pay! In which case, you should expect a very nominal increase in rent (personally, i would NEVER pay an increase of more than £10 a month split between 2 people - a fiver each). Maybe thats because I like to be cheap, or maybe I just like a good deal.

Stand your ground! The rental market is completely and totally FLOODED....everyone wants to be a landlord, scare the life out of her and use that fact to your advantage... dont budge - offer a nomimal increase of just £5 a month....if necessary hand in notice ASAP and move elsewhere to a better deal if you have to.

Mrs_pbradley936

I just did a search on rightmove.com for rental property in York and there is plenty to chose from. If you have a look yourself (put in the relevant postcode) you might be in a better position to negotiate. I have let out flats to people on housing benefit and if you stay with the same agent who can give you a reference for one of their other landlords you should not have a problem. I might not approve of someone unknown but if my agent said they had someone on HB with a good track record and no problems with noise etc. I would accept them. HB tenants sometimes have a reputation for causing nuisance problems with the neighbours which is why landlords do not want them.

libitina_2

Is your LL not breaking the law by not having all the gas appliances (including the broken fire) serviced every year? I thought they had to have all the corgi certificates renewed evry 12 months?

Tassotti

LL is obliged to get an annual Gas Safety check. If the fire is unsafe, then yes LL breaking the law.

libitina_2

Tassotti wrote:

LL is obliged to get an annual Gas Safety check. If the fire is unsafe, then yes LL breaking the law.

Maybe you should casually mention that to the HB people too OP.

Mrs_pbradley936

Some people may not be aware that if a tenant is on HB the property insurance is a lot higher. Unless the landlord wants the hassle of changing the premium then it is easier just to decline such tenants. Not sure what the legal implications would be if Landlord not aware of the situation and had HB tenat then needed to claim.

Tassotti

Very good point.

The Insurance would be invalid.

LL needs to know if tenants are claiming HB.

Also, many mortgage lenders specify NO DSS..Again LL needs to know

libitina_2

Why is the insurance higher? Are people claiming hb more likely to trash the property?