Renting a property is becoming a nightmare.

Martynb_

Since when has it become such a daunting task to rent out a dingy bedsit flatshare property for a single person?

Okay I've read the stickies on here and the information is bewildering.

I've found a job (Mary Antoinettes of the internet need not comment) but to make it worthwhile I need to move closer to work. Today, I went to look at a property - 1 bedroom/bedsit flatshare all bills included - and got to know the letting agent. I asked her about fees and so forth:

Rent: £346 percm (upfront as soon as move-in)
bond: £346 (upfront, refundable when moving out)
credit check fee: £170
guarantor fee: £60. (if credit check fails)

We're taking £700 just for a one room bedsit. not a flat. Not a self-contained flat.

The two students who turned up with me to view the other rooms in the house were like: wtfk!! You should have seen their faces.

I could not afford all that upfront let alone students. The bond, in my view, is excessive. Not to mention the credit check fee. I never knew that they had to do that. Seems like they are adding costs on to get more money.

At one time you could pay £40 for a bedsit and just move in. Why are they making this difficult for us?

arbrighton

Most deposits are equivalent to 1.5 months rent. So hardly excessive and rent in advance is also perfectly normal.

If someone is doing a credit check on agents' behalf, to check whether you are able to pay the rent, rather than being pursued through courts etc, are you expecting them to do it from the goodness of their heart?

Not difficult, market forces and inflation.

PasturesNew

Try flatsharing websites like easyroommate and houseshare.com - and even Gumtree. No agent fees.

I've just moved into a flatshare for a month, and he said I seemed honest so no deposit was even required. I'm moving at the end of the month to another one (pickier owner) - and I'll have to put down a £500 deposit there.

No other fees..... just deposit and rent.

I'm also going to PM you my little secret weapon to moving even faster/easier....

Eliza_2

Martynb_ wrote: »

At one time you could pay £40 for a bedsit and just move in. Why are they making this difficult for us?

That was usually when you used to rent directly from the landlord. Try and find something without going through an agent - far better and there are still plenty around. I've never rented with an agency.

Kynthia

Imagine you own the property that has a value of tens/hundreds of thousands of pounds. Imagnine they could cause extensive damage costing you thousands of pounds and that suing them might prove difficult if you can't find them after or they don't have any money to pay you. Imagine that by letting it to someone you are legally granting them 'exclusive possession' and they can legally refuse you entry. Imagine that if they stop paying rent it might take you seven months to get them out!

Now wouldn't you want to ensure the proposed tenant could afford to pay rent on an ongoing basis and didn't have a history of not paying bills? Wouldn't you want a guarantor if they couldn't prove they could afford it and were trustworthy with money? Wouldn't you want a deposit to help incentive the tenant into leaving the property in good condition? It all seems very reasonable to me, especially paying rent for the first month you will be living there.

Martynb_

Kynthia wrote: »

Imagine you own the property that has a value of tens/hundreds of thousands of pounds. Imagnine they could cause extensive damage costing you thousands of pounds and that suing them might prove difficult if you can't find them after or they don't have any money to pay you. Imagine that by letting it to someone you are legally granting them 'exclusive possession' and they can legally refuse you entry. Imagine that if they stop paying rent it might take you seven months to get them out!

Now wouldn't you want to ensure the proposed tenant could afford to pay rent on an ongoing basis and didn't have a history of not paying bills? Wouldn't you want a guarantor if they couldn't prove they could afford it and were trustworthy with money? Wouldn't you want a deposit to help incentive the tenant into leaving the property in good condition? It all seems very reasonable to me, especially paying rent for the first month you will be living there.

But when you weigh up what a person on JSA has to pay, it does seem a bit too much, especially for a dingy one room flatshare. I mean the room itself is no bigger than your average dinning room. I can remember paying just £40 for an entire flat, no deposit or fees.

I'm saying that the LA costs are excessive. I understand the bond and rent upfront. I'm fine with that, although the bond is still excessive, in my view. A £200 bond would have been acceptible.

Kynthia

I can understand that it's a lot of money to have available up front, particularly if you don't have much. Finding a private landlord, one who doesn't use a letting agent is a possibility. The council may have a list or you can look at gumtree, Loot, etc, but you need to beware of scams. Renting a room in a homeowners house is another option.