Property rental prices in Belfast

eastlady

I honestly thought the only fee the tenant had to pay was a nominal fee for the credit check.Was under the understanding if tenants credit was iffy they would the refund the money.geez these agents must be making a fortune had 6 applicants for last property I rented out.Agent told me all applicants had good credit check and left it up to me to decide who got flat

work_to_live

yea east lady, it seems like its not just about getting a place rented out as soon as possible anymore. its about making money from fees aswell. its bad enough here but ive read on articles online that its a lot more expensive to apply in england. its only going to get worse with each year. i hope i find somewhere that i want to stay in for a good few years then i wont have to bother with this for a while

eastlady

Think most landlords are looking for someone like you.My last tenant had the property for 7 years .Am hoping new tenants stay a while.Hope you find somewhere suitable.:)

duggan1

So my new get rich quick scheme is to find a lovely house, do it up really nice and offer it up for what looks like a fantastic rent.

Charge anyone who wants to 'apply' for it £45 quid. Get 20 people 'applying' a month and you're quids in.

work_to_live

lol duggan. me and my boyfriend joked about doing this with the house we're in atm

warmhands.coldheart

Just out of interest, do you as an applicant get to see any of the information that these agents get back on you to check if it is even correct? I wouldn't be impressed paying £45 or more to an agent to "do searches on you" when you don't actually see anything... how would you even know they did it and didn't actually have someone lined up already and are just pocketing the £45

work_to_live

no you dont get to see anything but i know that they phoned my dad because he was put down as the guarantor. with bennett clarke they said we passed their application but the landlord choose someone else who had been in her job for 15 years which is fair enough. they said if we want to apply for anything else within 6 months then we wouldnt have to pay another fee but there hasnt been anything else on their lists that are suitable so far. going to view a place tomorrow night. typically, its available immediately so if we apply and get it we'll have to pay double rent to be able to give the months notice to our current landlord

warmhands.coldheart

Are rental properties in general really in short supply or is it just "Good affordable" properties are short in supply

work_to_live

i think good affordable are in short supply

ladeeda

Letting agents in Belfast have been adding charges for sometime now. The link is the Housing Rights NI research from 2013 into LA fees. http://housingrights.org.uk/sites/default/files/policydocs/HRS%20Mystery%20Shopping%20Exercise%20on%20Upfront%20Fees%20in%20the%20%20PRS%20May%202013.pdf

Some have gone up considerably since then.