i need your best rent negotiation tips please

sophlowe45

Right - I went to see a flat near Stratford in East London at £125 a week, i'll like to negotiate the rent as much as I can, I'm hoping to get tips from people about how best to do that. (nearest tube - pudding mill lane).

Its a 2 bed flat (but the living room is being used as a 3rd bedroom) the other two people own the flat and 1 lives in the living room, the other in the master bedroom....so i'd be sharing the bathroom with one other person...

Any ideas on how best to ask them to reduce the rent a bit?

Thanks!!

sophlowe45

right - i've been trying to do some research - they bought the flat for around £250,000 from what i can find out online but thats such a great idea - that two friends have bought a flat together making their share £125,000.

Theres a website that helps people wanting to get onto the property ladder find another person to buy with to make it affordable - might look into it and think about buying later this year....

silvercar

not such a great idea for them, if they now need to rent a room out to pay the bills.

Is £125 a good rate for the area? Bear in mind that you won't have the use of the living room if its been converted. Are you happy sharing with your landlord?

If you want it, sell your best points - able to commit to moving in quickly/ references/ steady job...... then ask is they would accept £110 - expect to settle somewhere between the two figures.

prudryden

What does your weekly rent include? Does it include your share of the council tax, water, electricity, gas? Do you have to help pay for maintenance, repairs? Who does the cleaning? Lot of things to consider here.

cattie

It sounds very expensive for a flat share that has no living room to relax in.

A friend of mine rents out a room with a similar set up overlooking Tower bridge & charges £90 per week inclusive, seeing as it's effectively just a not very spacious bedroom with shared use of kitchen & bathroom.

sophlowe45

its not that they need to rent out a room to pay the bills, they're doing it to make a profit...

i don't know if £125 is a good rate for the area...i think its expensive but thats me being not rational for London prices...

I'm very happy sharing with the landlords - that exactly what I wanted as they'll take care of the place better etc. it'll be a quiet place to live...

its £10 a week for bills (council tax, electricity (theres no gas) and water) or i can have the option of paying a third of the bills as they arrive...

cattie - thats what i was thinking but wasn't sure if it was just me as it is just a room with a shared bathroom and ktichen...the only thing is its the first nice place i've seen, i keep gonig to look at flats but they're just horrid for over £100 a week!!

prudryden

£10/week for bills sounds very reasonable. £10/week alone might be your share of the electricity bill, if splitting 3 ways.

£1200-£1400/month is what you would pay to rent a large two bedroom flat in west London. In addition, you would have to pay @£1400 council tax (annual), electricity, gas, telephone, water.

barnaby-bear

sophlowe45 wrote:

Right - I went to see a flat near Stratford in East London at £125 a week, i'll like to negotiate the rent as much as I can, I'm hoping to get tips from people about how best to do that. (nearest tube - pudding mill lane).

Its a 2 bed flat (but the living room is being used as a 3rd bedroom) the other two people own the flat and 1 lives in the living room, the other in the master bedroom....so i'd be sharing the bathroom with one other person...

Any ideas on how best to ask them to reduce the rent a bit?

Thanks!!

125 a week is
4.33 x 125 = 541.25 a month

Try offering 500 a month, easier if you are paid monthly too otherwise you'll get a 5 week rent to pay on one months pay check scenario every so often.
Stratford isn't that nice, £500 for a flatshare with no lounge doesn't sound great nor obscene though for London.