Struggling to find a place to rent..

ognum

OP, I am sorry that you are finding things difficult. This is probably not what you want to hear but throughout time people have had to cope with what they can afford.

It is I guess good to be fussy but it may be you are being too fussy. It is not the right time to say this I guess but maybe you should have considered you housing before conceiving baby number two, maybe you should just put up with where you are until you have a partner who is employed.

Perhaps it is not the right thing to tie yourself into a new contract when your partner may get a job anywhere it's probably better to be flexible.

Consider your situation from a landlords point of view, your pregnant therefore soon to lose your income or part of it. Your partner is a student, you will have two children to feed and clothe. Why would a landlord think that paying your rent would be high on your agenda ( it may be). You need to find a gaurantor or stay where you are.

Kynthia

ognum wrote: »

OP, I am sorry that you are finding things difficult. This is probably not what you want to hear but throughout time people have had to cope with what they can afford.

This is a bit presumptuous as the OP has given no indication that they can't afford the houses they are looking at. Also she hasn't said that her income will notably drop with maternity leave. I know it does for most people, but some get very good packages from work and others cut their leave short for financial reasons.

OP, are the letting agents even aware you're pregnant or do they ask for a guarantor before this point? Do they say why they want one, is it because of the amount you earn or because only one of you is earning. The latter would surprise me as there must be many single earner families and perhaps it's the word 'student' that's putting them off as opposed to 'stay at home parent'?

emilybean

I've told them I'm pregnant when they've asked how many people will be living in the house.. whenever I ring up to arrange a viewing it's one of the questions they've asked me, when they're taking our details. The one today has just really annoyed me tbh what does the age matter anyway (I know I won't!!) - but hypothetically, from their POV, if I did leave the place in a state and they needed to take the guarantor to court why would their age even matter if they can put a charge on their home?

We have managed to get a couple of viewings but it seems like someone with a guarantor is going to get picked over us regardless, it really just baffles me that they even ask it over the phone, suppose it saves them wasting time showing us around in the first place if we won't get it but it's just a shame

emilybean

ognum wrote: »

OP, I am sorry that you are finding things difficult. This is probably not what you want to hear but throughout time people have had to cope with what they can afford.

It is I guess good to be fussy but it may be you are being too fussy. It is not the right time to say this I guess but maybe you should have considered you housing before conceiving baby number two, maybe you should just put up with where you are until you have a partner who is employed.

Perhaps it is not the right thing to tie yourself into a new contract when your partner may get a job anywhere it's probably better to be flexible.

Consider your situation from a landlords point of view, your pregnant therefore soon to lose your income or part of it. Your partner is a student, you will have two children to feed and clothe. Why would a landlord think that paying your rent would be high on your agenda ( it may be). You need to find a gaurantor or stay where you are.

Because I'd rather my children were naked at home than clothed sleeping on the streets?!
Not that either would happen.
My partner is in his first year at uni and isn't seeking employment at the moment we are fine as we are, he's got at least another 2 years of uni. We've applied for one place, that's one landlord that's got to look at our application. The estate agents are fobbing us off over the phone before we've even viewed places because they're asking over the phone :mad: The only two homeowners who I know full well know our rent is paid on time, we are quiet, good clean tenants are my landlady and my Grandma.

emilybean

This might be a bit of a longshot but does your Grandma own her house outright? Does she have any savings? Does she have an pension or income or both?

If the answer to all the above is yes, you might be able to persuade teh LL to give you the tenancy.

She doesn't own her house yet she's currently purchasing it off the council, she can afford it outright though there'll be no mortgage required. Yes, she gets a pension. I think we'd have no problems with a private landlord but again we're not even getting some viewings because of it.
Just going to have to keep looking privately and hope for the best.

Sorry I'm reading this thread backwards which is why the replies are backwards..

amiehall

Why are you telling the agent that you are pregnant? It may be too late if you've already spoken to a lot of your local agents but people rent out houses based on 1 wage all the time. They're presumably just worried about your maternity leave when you're the sole earner. Are you obviously pregnant? If not, maybe try not telling them and see where that gets you.

emilybean

amiehall wrote: »

Why are you telling the agent that you are pregnant? It may be too late if you've already spoken to a lot of your local agents but people rent out houses based on 1 wage all the time. They're presumably just worried about your maternity leave when you're the sole earner. Are you obviously pregnant? If not, maybe try not telling them and see where that gets you.

Not obviously pregnant yet no but they're asking how many people will be living in the house, if I say there's just me, my partner and my son they'll be thinking well why do they want a 3 bed house?

amiehall

emilybean wrote: »

Not obviously pregnant yet no but they're asking how many people will be living in the house, if I say there's just me, my partner and my son they'll be thinking well why do they want a 3 bed house?

Who cares what they think if you can get the home you want? I've rented a 2 bed before and there's just me, no-one thinks anything of having a spare room....

sharp910sh

emilybean wrote: »

Not obviously pregnant yet no but they're asking how many people will be living in the house, if I say there's just me, my partner and my son they'll be thinking well why do they want a 3 bed house?

DO not tell them you are pregnant. You don't need to give them your life story! You want to move into a place not make friends with the landlord.

Next place you go enquire about just say you are working and want to view the place. Nothing else. Don't speak your mind.

emilybean

Thanks everyone