Help when renting??

DJRenegade

Hi guys, looking for some advice with renting.
We have lived in our current house for 2 years, and out of the blue we have recieved a call today from the estate agent about the landlord wanting to put the house up for sale. We have already found a new house we like however with all the fees required it would cost us £2315 to move in. This is extortionate, especially when we expect our current landlord to find every little thing wrong in the house and delay us recieving our deposit back. Even with this it would cost us a one off payment of £1625 with the risk of us losing money if for whatever reason the new estate agents decline our application.
This is worrying for us as atm as we are currently scraping by as it is.

What help can people who rent get? if any!
Any help and advice is greatly appreciated

marliepanda

DJRenegade wrote: »

Hi guys, looking for some advice with renting.
We have lived in our current house for 2 years, and out of the blue we have recieved a call today from the estate agent about the landlord wanting to put the house up for sale. We have already found a new house we like however with all the fees required it would cost us £2315 to move in. This is extortionate, especially when we expect our current landlord to find every little thing wrong in the house and delay us recieving our deposit back. Even with this it would cost us a one off payment of £1225 with the risk of us losing money if for whatever reason the new estate agents decline our application.
This is worrying for us as atm as we are currently scraping by as it is.

What help can people who rent get? if any!
Any help and advice is greatly appreciated

There is nothing 'specific' for this.

You could apply for income related benefits, housing benefit, discretionary housing payment (though it's not gonna touch the sides of £2000)

May I ask why it's so high? When I rented many moons ago it was £1200, including deposit and a months rent in advance. I know different areas are different, however that's a big jump! Is it possible to find a cheaper house or a different area, if you are scraping by and his is extortionate.

Pixie5740

None. It's the norm to have a crossover between paying one deposit and receiving the previous one back. Your deposit is, or at least should be, registered with one of the three deposit schemes. If you and your landlord can't agree on the proposed deductions then use the scheme's arbitration service....it's what it's for.

Before handing any money over for referencing find out, IN WRITING, exactly what the fees are and under what circumstances they can be kept or returned. If you have a CCJ or insolvency such as a DRO, IVA or bankruptcy disclose it before handing over any money for referencing. There's no harm in trying to negotiate the fees down.

DJRenegade

marliepanda wrote: »

There is nothing 'specific' for this.

You could apply for income related benefits, housing benefit, discretionary housing payment (though it's not gonna touch the sides of £2000)

May I ask why it's so high? When I rented many moons ago it was £1200, including deposit and a months rent in advance. I know different areas are different, however that's a big jump! Is it possible to find a cheaper house or a different area, if you are scraping by and his is extortionate.

The Initial Money consists of:
•
First month’s rent in advance (£700)

•
Security Deposit - one and a half month’s rent (£950)

•
Administration Fee £50 per tenant (£100)

•
Referencing Fee £75 per tenant (£150)

•
Check-in fee - minimum of £72.00

•
Tenancy Agreement £300


AFAIK the only thing returnable in this list is security deposit.
Its rediculous how much they can charge
Unfortunately we dont qualify for any benefits as we just hit the threshold.

marliepanda

The only thing you'd have to pay upfront is the admin and reference fee.

There's no tenancy agreement, no check in, no rent and no deposit if you fail.

DJRenegade

They also charge £60 for moving in on a Saturday

DJRenegade

marliepanda wrote: »

The only thing you'd have to pay upfront is the admin and reference fee.

There's no tenancy agreement, no check in, no rent and no deposit if you fail.

My only issue with that is its £250 down the drain if they turn around and say no, we havent been declined before but did have some major issues with debt last year after I lost my job, so my credit rating isnt good atm.

Pixie5740

DJRenegade wrote: »

They also charge £60 for moving in on a Saturday

Don't move in on a Saturday then.

marliepanda

DJRenegade wrote: »

My only issue with that is its £250 down the drain if they turn around and say no, we havent been declined before but did have some major issues with debt last year after I lost my job, so my credit rating isnt good atm.

Well that's £250 which is 10% of what you initially said.

Be upfront. Tell them you have bad credit. Explain.

To be honest they'll likely require the rent upfront which you're not going to be able to do either by your reckoning.

Sorry I can't be more helpful. Is a loan a possibility? One which you can repay early once you get your deposit back (the rent you're expecting anyway so should have that ready)

Pixie5740

DJRenegade wrote: »

My only issue with that is its £250 down the drain if they turn around and say no, we havent been declined before but did have some major issues with debt last year after I lost my job, so my credit rating isnt good atm.

Forget your credit rating no one but you can see it never mind use it. It's your credit history that's important not the [STRIKE]marketing tool [/STRIKE] number. All letting agent checks can see is what's recorded on your public credit file. Public credit files show CCJ and insolvency that's it which is why I specifically mentioned those things earlier.

DJRenegade

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Forget your credit rating no one but you can see it never mind use it. It's your credit history that's important not the [STRIKE]marketing tool [/STRIKE] number. All letting agent checks can see is what's recorded on your public credit file. Public credit files show CCJ and insolvency that's it which is why I specifically mentioned those things earlier.

Ahh ok thats not an issue then as I have none of them.