renting and br

worried123

Hi

Could I ask a question about something that has only just occurred to me.

I pay private rent of £650 a month - just an average one bedroom flat - I live alone with no partner....I am on the social housing register but they have yet been able to help with housing....Would I be expected to move out of my rented accommadation to somwhere with cheaper rent - I do not know where though because 650 is the going rent here for a basic one bed.....this has only just occurred to me - perhaps I would be given a basic allowance for renting and that is that......I think that I would have to think twice about BR if this was the case..........Goodness, I am suddenly really worried by this...

I would be most grateful if anybody knows please.

Many thanks and best wishes to all

PixiePie

Hi Worried,

I haven't actually gone BR yet, but from what I can gather from what others who have gone BR have said and everything I've read on the offical sites and been told by CCCS and Debtline, as long as you're not renting something totally outragous then it's fine - if that's what it costs, thats what it costs.

I'm in the situation where our rent is £1400 a month, which includes all our water elec gas etc etc, so it sounds high but if I was renting a one bed flat near here (I've just got a job so can't move too far away) I'd be paying about £750 minimum a month (from looking at estate agents websites) and then all my gas water etc on top, which would make it about £900 at the very very least I reckon, plus I would have to spend more on travel and wouldn't have as much coming in as OH would be on no income at all (we don't agree with benefits so wouldn't be claiming anything either), and we would have to buy some furniture (as we don't really have any). Sooo, I'm hoping my very outrageous rent will be accepted. Yours doesn't seem at all ott to me, but then I am used to London prices lol, and the OR will know what averageish prices are for rents (I have no idea what it costs to rent, for eg in Manchester etc etc so don't know if £200 a month is good or bad there IYKWIM) - I very much dount (anyone want to back me up on this?) that the OR will say 'no, you have to move into shared student accommodation to save money you naughty BR', so it should be ok.

Posthinking

I agree Pixie, your rent is what it is

savagevixen

Absolutely, unless you are being extravagant there will be no problem. We all have to live somewhere.
As my Bankruptcy did not include any rent, my landlord (an agency) was not contacted or informed as there was no need. I checked my tenancy agreement and could find no mention of it there-sometimes there is a clause on private rentals about bankrupts.
Interesting though, as I have always complained like fury about rent in our area being so high...I pay £650 per month (the house is tatty) for a 5 bedroom house with garage and garden!
Vix

worried123

Thank you everyone....that is such a relief...

Good luck and best wishes to all.

rog2

UNLESS there is a clause, in your rental contract, forbidding bankrupts, then you should be okay. The OR MAY inform your landlord, but if you have been a good tenant, and are not in arrears, then normally the landlord would have absolutely no interest in evicting you.
As far as I know, it is not within the remit of the OR to set the level of rent that you pay.

Richard_S

Some time ago a poster was worried about their rent being £1,500 per month and apparently at the interview the O.R didn't make any comment at all. I think if you'd got a rent that high in a lower cost area then it may be a problem; the O.R's do have information relating to the disparities of renting in different parts of the country.

NekoZombie

The OR wrote to my landlord to request a copy of the tenancy agreement. I was really surprised that they didn't just ask me for it....

savagevixen

I asked the OR twice to clarify, and each time she confirmed that no contact would be made with my landlord. So it is worth checking. Mind you, I did send her my tenancy agreement when I had to send the 'pack' of initially. It asked for all bank statements etc and copies of tenancy agreements. Thus they had access to my tenancy agreement from the word go.

NekoZombie

Its possible I missed that, but I only remember being asked to send credit cards, switch cards and cheque books chopped in half and all bank statements

savagevixen

Maybe the initial forms from the OR are different from county to county. Mine requested all cards cut in half, bank statements, loan agreements and tenancy agreements. Thus I sent it all of in the first week.
Does anyone know if we get the paperwork back actually?