Changing rent due date

timberflake

Hi guys,

My girlfriend and I split the bills in our house, she pays the rent, and I pay everything else incl. car etc.

She's just accepted a new job and as a result she's going from a monthly salary (last Friday of every month), to every 4 weeks.

The rent is currently due on 1st of the month, but she doesn't start for the new company until 9th July, which means her first wage won't be until 9th August.

Would it be possible to change our rent due date from 1st of the month to the 10th and pay the difference between 1st and 10th for August?

If so, how do I work out how much the pro-rata amount is? Is it your monthly rent (£550) / 31 days? So our daily rent is £17.74 x 9 days = £159.66?

Would appreciate your help as we need to get this sorted ASAP. We asked the new employer if there was any movement on the wage dates but they said there isn't so our only option is to change the rent due date.

JuicyJesus

You need to ask your landlord. It would involve a significant variation to a fundamental part of the tenancy agreement - many legal rights are predicated on the "tenancy period" i.e. the time between dates you pay rent. For example, if you want to leave on a statutory periodic tenancy, you have to give one rent period's notice, and the notice starts on the rent payment date and ends the day before the next one. Your landlord may well be disadvantaged by the move, because the tenancy end date would likely have to change as well. Your landlord's rights would likely be affected, and you'd get into a whole debate over whether it's even possible to change the terms of a fixed-term tenancy agreement part-way through the tenancy (he could come back and say "well, I could let you change the date at inconvenience to me, but if I was to ask for an increase in rate you would be justified in telling me to p*ss off").

But the only way you'll find out is to ask. Landlord might be reasonable, he might not.

The other option is to apply for an overdraft facility of the size of half the rent and use it to make the rent payment in advance of your girlfriend's salary being paid, as the issue is fundamentally a cash flow one and that's what overdrafts are for.

timberflake

JuicyJesus wrote: »

You need to ask your landlord. It would involve a significant variation to a fundamental part of the tenancy agreement - many legal rights are predicated on the "tenancy period" i.e. the time between dates you pay rent. For example, if you want to leave on a statutory periodic tenancy, you have to give one rent period's notice, and the notice starts on the rent payment date and ends the day before the next one. Your landlord may well be disadvantaged by the move, because the tenancy end date would likely have to change as well. Your landlord's rights would likely be affected, and you'd get into a whole debate over whether it's even possible to change the terms of a fixed-term tenancy agreement part-way through the tenancy (he could come back and say "well, I could let you change the date at inconvenience to me, but if I was to ask for an increase in rate you would be justified in telling me to p*ss off").

But the only way you'll find out is to ask. Landlord might be reasonable, he might not.

The other option is to apply for an overdraft facility of the size of half the rent and use it to make the rent payment in advance of your girlfriend's salary being paid, as the issue is fundamentally a cash flow one and that's what overdrafts are for.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but we're not on a fixed-term contract, that ran its course & we're now just on a rolling contract.

mije1983

If you can;t re-arrange the rent due date, can you not just pay the rent this month, and have her cover the other bills when she has been paid on the 9th?

timberflake

mije1983 wrote: »

If you can;t re-arrange the rent due date, can you not just pay the rent this month, and have her cover the other bills when she has been paid on the 9th?

But that doesn't solve the problem as we'll face the same issue next month.

mije1983

timberflake wrote: »

But that doesn't solve the problem as we'll face the same issue next month.

Having thought about it, the issue will remain no matter what the rent due date is.

If she is getting paid every 4 weeks, then the pay date will change every month (9th Aug, 6th Sep, 4th Oct, 1st Nov, 29th Nov etc). So even if you change the rent due date to the 10th, you will end up in the same position as now at some point.

You may need to look at how you split the bills.

ValHaller

She will be paid for the period 1st to 8th July by the old employer? Between the 2 of you, you need to scrape together the rent for 1st of August - you need to lend her some money until 9th August

timberflake

mije1983 wrote: »

Having thought about it, the issue will remain no matter what the rent due date is.

If she is getting paid every 4 weeks, then the pay date will change every month (9th Aug, 6th Sep, 4th Oct, 1st Nov, 29th Nov etc). So even if you change the rent due date to the 10th, you will end up in the same position as now at some point.

You may need to look at how you split the bills.

That's not correct, in fact, she'll get paid 13 times a year instead of 12 so we'd have 1 months wage where we wouldn't have to pay any rent.

We won't face this problem again if we move the payment date as once it's been moved she just keeps the money in the bank until the next rent payment is due.

timberflake

ValHaller wrote: »

She will be paid for the period 1st to 8th July by the old employer? Between the 2 of you, you need to scrape together the rent for 1st of August - you need to lend her some money until 9th August

No, her employment with the old employer ended on 4th July.

I've got no problem paying the rent from 1st - 10th August, I just need to know:
1) Is it something that can be done subject the the Landlady's agreement.
2) How do I work out the pro-rata rent due from 1st - 10th August?

ValHaller

timberflake wrote: »

No, her employment with the old employer ended on 4th July.

I've got no problem paying the rent from 1st - 10th August, I just need to know:
1) Is it something that can be done subject the the Landlady's agreement.
2) How do I work out the pro-rata rent due from 1st - 10th August?

1) It can be done. But it is not advisable. It involves complications for you and the Landlord and makes the end of the tenancy messy.
2) Use fractions if you really have to do it

Your girlfriend needs to get her act together and find the money. She needs to get her head around the issues arising from 4 week pay and monthly bills. As mije1983 points out, the pay dates will come right at the end of November. So the problem will sort itself out by then if your girlfriend cannot scrape a months rent together sooner. But beware - if she does not get used to always keeping a months rent in hand between payday and the next rent day, then sometime around late spring she will be in trouble again

JuicyJesus

One of my creditors has a 28 day payment cycle. Much smaller amount, but essentially it amounts to 13 payments a year. Simple solution is to, for 12 of the payments, save 1/12 of the payment amount somewhere and then use it to pay the 13th payment.