Being asked to pay £19,200 rent upfront in the second year!

charliehelyes

In April 2023 my wife was on maternity pay and our joint salaries were lower than usual. Therefore after making an offer on the property we were interested in the agency told us after referencing that they had agreed we could move in if we paid 10 months rent upfront. The agency subsequently sent us a draft tenancy agreement stating that £16,000 would be paid upfront followed by two payments of £1,600 to complete the 12 month term. Further down in the agreement it stated that after the fixed term ended 'rent would be paid at the same recurring frequency'. Which in this case would be interpreted as referring to the two monthly final payments of £1600. The email referred to helping us once we moved in and it appeared that we had already had secured the property. However shortly before we moved the agency informed us that the landlord would only accept our tenancy if we paid 12 months rent upfront rather than 10. It was a one line statement sent to us by email and we believed this was simply a formality we then signed the updated agreement to slightly increase the rent paid upfront. However, due to the two final payments of £1,600 being deleted from the first initial term (absolutely nothing else between the draft and final contracts were changed) the agency is now interpretating the 'payment frequency' as being the full 12 months and have asked up to pay another £19,200 upfront! Which was completly unexpected and completely unaffordable. The contract actually sais '£19,200 upfront in the intitial term OR £1600 monthly'. Is this an unfair term and do I have a leg to stand on if I make a complaint and take it to the property Ombudsman?

NameUnavailable

Am I missing something?

Last year you paid rent of 19,200 up front? This year they are asking for the same amount either up front or £1600 monthly (which = £19,200) ?

[Deleted User]

If you do not have upfront, tell them you will pay monthly.

If the rent is not affordable try to find somewhere cheaper. 

GrumpyDil

Yes you are missing something. Because the OP paid 12 months in one go the agent seem to be interpreting that as meaning OP has a yearly periodic tenancy and needs to pay the 12 months up front again. 

OP hopefully some of the regulars will be along with thoughts soon as it is an interesting situation and I suspect the 10 months upfront plus two monthly payments was done deliberately to avoid this situation. 

NameUnavailable

GrumpyDil said:

Yes you are missing something. Because the OP paid 12 months in one go the agent seem to be interpreting that as meaning OP has a yearly periodic tenancy and needs to pay the 12 months up front again. 

OP hopefully some of the regulars will be along with thoughts soon as it is an interesting situation and I suspect the 10 months upfront plus two monthly payments was done deliberately to avoid this situation. 

The OP says the contract states £19200 up front OR £1600 monthly. So the OP goes back to say they will pay £1600 monthly from now now.

michael1234

Terrible time to rent (and to lease for that matter). I wonder who's fault it is.....

housebuyer143

Are you signing for another 12 months? If so, they can definitely ask you to pay the same way again. You probably failed referencing which is why you paid upfront so as far as the landlord is concerned you still can't afford it monthly. 
If you are not signing 12 months then they can't ask for 12 months, so pay monthly. 

If you want to sign 12 months but not pay upfront, offer to undergo referencing to prove you can now afford the monthly payments.

Ady87

An empty rental property probably comes third behind an annual payment and monthly payment. I wager they’ll fold on this one.

BobT36

housebuyer143 said:

Are you signing for another 12 months? If so, they can definitely ask you to pay the same way again. You probably failed referencing which is why you paid upfront so as far as the landlord is concerned you still can't afford it monthly. 
If you are not signing 12 months then they can't ask for 12 months, so pay monthly. 

If you want to sign 12 months but not pay upfront, offer to undergo referencing to prove you can now afford the monthly payments.

If they already had that much money anyway, how could they not afford to pay that same money monthly?? Especially if they're already past the initial term (proved they actually have money). 

This is just greed. 

[Deleted User]

You do not have to renew, can be periodic?

Maybe OP can clarify what the problem is. 

housebuyer143

BobT36 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Are you signing for another 12 months? If so, they can definitely ask you to pay the same way again. You probably failed referencing which is why you paid upfront so as far as the landlord is concerned you still can't afford it monthly. 
If you are not signing 12 months then they can't ask for 12 months, so pay monthly. 

If you want to sign 12 months but not pay upfront, offer to undergo referencing to prove you can now afford the monthly payments.

If they already had that much money anyway, how could they not afford to pay that same money monthly?? Especially if they're already past the initial term (proved they actually have money). 

This is just greed. 

No it's not.. Maybe they are unemployed and had just enough for 12 months upfront. The landlord has no evidence that they can afford the rent so why would they commit to 12 months without any assurances? 
You wouldn't expect a landlord to take someone with no references, but that's what you are doing here. The fact that they have been there 12 months is irrelevant because they have no payment track record.