First time renting - Help please

Allumis

I've recently been promoted at work which is going to mean relocating from Durham to take up a position at my employers head office in Manchester city centre.

I'm having great difficulty finding a property close enough to work so that I can walk but within my budget. I've exhausted looking on zoopla and rightmove but really starting to struggle especially with such short notice.

I am looking for a 2 bedroom property with a maximum PCM rental of £900 however each property seems to charge insane fees/deposits? Is this usual for Manchester city centre? We're talking admin fees of up to £450, credit referencing of up to £100 per person and a guarantor fee (???) of up to £80 which I've no idea what that's even for! This coupled with a deposit of £1350 - £1800 and finally s check out fee of up to £140 per person.

Everything sounded great when I originally took the position which I'm due to start in 4 weeks but due to the upfront fees being so high I'm now concerned I won't be able to afford it.

Can anyone please offer some advice as to what I can do in order to be able to afford the move/where to look for property? As with such high fees I won't be able to afford it in such short notice, especially seeing as the only time I have to look for, view and sign for a property is the 19th and 20th March as I can't get back down to Manchester again till my job start date.

HappyMJ

Your employer should be helping you with this.

I would ask for a hotel for the first few weeks whilst looking for a property every day and then I would ask the employer to pay the deposit, first months rent and ALL of the fees for me. I would require the employer to guarantee the rent will be paid for the first 6 months. Otherwise...no move.

Manchester isn't cheap you're going to have to move further out and commute in.

Allumis

My employer offers no relocation package for the grade job I'm taking up unless I was being relocated due to redundancy.

I've looked outside of the city centre in Salford and Hulme but they seem to suffer from similar letting agent fees. Any further out would make it impossible to walk to work and public transport fees for two people comes to £1440 per annum I would rather allocate the £120 PCM to rent than live outside the city pay £800 rent and still be out of pocket on transport fees.

HappyMJ

Allumis wrote: »

My employer offers no relocation package for the grade job I'm taking up unless I was being relocated due to redundancy.

I've looked outside of the city centre in Salford and Hulme but they seem to suffer from similar letting agent fees. Any further out would make it impossible to walk to work and public transport fees for two people comes to £1440 per annum I would rather allocate the £120 PCM to rent than live outside the city pay £800 rent and still be out of pocket on transport fees.

I was thinking Harpurhey it's £11.50/week for a bus ticket and 2 bedroom properties are around £500/month.

Buses come every 10 minutes and take about 20 minutes to get into Manchester.

melstar11

The pp is correct that a weekly bus ticket is not that expensive. To be able to rent in the city centre and walk to work means you are limiting yourself to looking at the most sought after and expensive rental property. Avoiding fees will be difficult unless you find a landlord advertising their property direct. I think you need to look further out and accept you will have some transport costs.

melstar11

It's not clear where you have looked - what about Whalley Range, Hulme, Chorlton, Fallowfield? I've just had a quick look on Rightmove and there were several flats and even houses to rent in Whalley Range in your budget. You can walk into the city centre from there or use the bus or metrolink and it is also close to Cholrton.

Pixie5740

Letting fees in England are both legal and common. From Shelter:

What letting agents can charge you for
Before you move in, most letting agents charge you for:

drawing up the contract
doing an inventory of the property
doing credit checks to see if you've had problems paying bills in the past
getting references from your employer, bank or previous landlord
admin costs for things like phone calls and postage
You may also be charged for a right to rent immigration check.

You may also have to pay a holding deposit to 'reserve' the property before you sign a tenancy agreement.

Fees when your contract ends
When your tenancy agreement ends you're often asked to pay for:

renewing the tenancy agreement when the fixed term ends
an inspection of the property when you move out (if they told you about it when you moved in)
professional cleaning costs (if they told you what it would cost when you moved in)
You should never be asked to pay a fee to stay on after the fixed term ends if you don't sign a new agreement.

If you want to see an end to letting fees in England then sign Shelter's petition.

Allumis

I've been looking at areas like Ancoats, Green Quarter, Northern Quarter, Piccadilly Basin, Spinningfields, Castleford, Hulme and Salford. Or anywhere else within the inner ring road.

My shifts can start as early as 5am and finish as late as midnight which is why ideally I would want to be able to walk to work within 10-20 minutes. So places such as Chorlton or Whaley range are too far out of the city to walk it (over an hours walk each way) how do I get an £11 bus ticket? I can only find them for £17.50 a week

.systemonetravelcards.co.uk/travelcards/


Any advice on good Letting Agents for Manchester City Centre preferably not one who charges such high fees!

Miss_Samantha

Admin fees seem high but the other numbers quoted are not extravagant.

greensalad

Those fees are completely standard, you'd be hard pressed to find a place without those sorts of fees.

If you're looking for a low-cost way to get to work why not buy a scooter? I had one in my final year at uni when I was in a similar position to you (needed to be commuting in the wee hours/late at night but couldn't afford to be close). £5 per tank of petrol lasted me about 3 weeks. Plus you don't need to take a test to get one, and it's super fun!

Or if you're not up for that, how about cycle? I had a friend who lived in Whaley Range (lovely area) and cycled to work in the centre (about 15mins by bicycle). I also used to commute by bike when I lived locally to my job and it was a lovely way to get fresh air in the morning. I got my bike, helmet and lights on 0% finance and paid it off over 9 months.

HappyMJ

Allumis wrote: »

I've been looking at areas like Ancoats, Green Quarter, Northern Quarter, Piccadilly Basin, Spinningfields, Castleford, Hulme and Salford. Or anywhere else within the inner ring road.

My shifts can start as early as 5am and finish as late as midnight which is why ideally I would want to be able to walk to work within 10-20 minutes. So places such as Chorlton or Whaley range are too far out of the city to walk it (over an hours walk each way) how do I get an £11 bus ticket? I can only find them for £17.50 a week

.systemonetravelcards.co.uk/travelcards/


Any advice on good Letting Agents for Manchester City Centre preferably not one who charges such high fees!

You are looking at some of the most expensive areas.

http://www.firstgroup.com/greater-manchester/tickets

If you consider Harpurhey then pick Rochdale Road as your Zone. That will allow you to use the 17/18 bus along Rochdale road.

How about cycling in? It's only 2.5 miles...you could even walk that distance. That would take 50 minutes to walk.

To live just one mile away from your work (a 20 minute walk) is really limiting your options quite significantly to the most expensive properties you can find.

I paid £432 in LA fees which is a lot but that's what they charge.