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iwantotleave
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi. Have been told I'm being made redundant as company is closing down and I've three months to find a new job. Well, that was two months ago, have found something to tide me over, but it's on a much reduced salary. Won't be able to afford current rent and bills and was thinking about moving into shared HMO accomodation to reduce costs.
After a month of not finding a job had told landlord and asked if he could re-advertise the house. He says he's sorry to hear about my job, but still expects me to keep paying the rent until the current lease contract is up - have signed a 12 month lease and am 5 months into that. I asked if I can get a lodger for the spare room to share costs, he says no.
What are my options really? If I do get a lodger behind his back and he doesn't like it, the worst he can do is give me a notice to quit, right?
After a month of not finding a job had told landlord and asked if he could re-advertise the house. He says he's sorry to hear about my job, but still expects me to keep paying the rent until the current lease contract is up - have signed a 12 month lease and am 5 months into that. I asked if I can get a lodger for the spare room to share costs, he says no.
What are my options really? If I do get a lodger behind his back and he doesn't like it, the worst he can do is give me a notice to quit, right?
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Comments
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He cannot stop you getting a Lodger. As you say, he can give notice but that would be at the end of the fixed term.
Have you checked the tenancy agreement for any break clause?0 -
It's worth looking into whether you'd be entitled to any housing benefit towards your rent.
If you are entitled to even a small amount you may then also be able to apply for a discretionary housing payment to help until you can find more affordable accommodation.
Try https://www.adviceguide.org.uk for information.
Put your hands up.0 -
The worst he could do is issue a Section 8 using one of the discretionary grounds for eviction but given that you would like to end the tenancy anyway I would take the gamble and get a lodger if I were in the same situation as you.0
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Its also worth going on the debt free wannabe board to see what adjustments you can make to your budget. Its surprising what you can go without when you have to. I'm afraid rent has to come first in situations like this (been there myself). But check if you will be able to get any help with HB as well although if young, you might find you are only entitled to rates for a room rather than a full flat.
I'm afraid in situations like this, when you are already short of money and you have to find a deposit to get into a cheaper place it can be quite difficult to move, so bear this in mind as well and try and keep some money aside for that if you possibly can. Sell what furniture you can. Sorry, I know this is not easy.
Is there any chance of you getting a second job to help out?0 -
iwantotleave wrote: »Hi. Have been told I'm being made redundant as company is closing down and I've three months to find a new job. Well, that was two months ago, have found something to tide me over, but it's on a much reduced salary. Won't be able to afford current rent and bills and was thinking about moving into shared HMO accomodation to reduce costs.
After a month of not finding a job had told landlord and asked if he could re-advertise the house. He says he's sorry to hear about my job, but still expects me to keep paying the rent until the current lease contract is up - have signed a 12 month lease and am 5 months into that. I asked if I can get a lodger for the spare room to share costs, he says no.
What are my options really? If I do get a lodger behind his back and he doesn't like it, the worst he can do is give me a notice to quit, right?
It is too late now but you can learn from this experience going forward. It is always a good idea to have savings and not to spend every penny you earn. It used to be called "saving for a rainy day." It was to make sure that if you got into a situation like this you could pay the rent from your savings until the end of the lease. It also meant that if you had a mortgage you could carry on paying it until you got another job.
There is a tendency for people these days to borrow money and to spend everything they earn. Where you are now is an extremely good arguement for not doing this.0 -
The OP has managed to tide themselves over whilst unemployed so it would seem that (s)he did put money away for a rainy day. However, there's only so long one can keep the umbrella open.0
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The OP has managed to tide themselves over whilst unemployed so it would seem that (s)he did put money away for a rainy day. However, there's only so long one can keep the umbrella open.
The OP hasn't been unemployed...iwantotleave wrote: »Hi. Have been told I'm being made redundant as company is closing down and I've three months to find a new job. Well, that was two months ago,
They won't be made redundant for another month. So if they had saved up an emergency fund then they could have used that to top up their rent when they moved to a lower paid job. This would have given them extra time to find a higher paid job.0 -
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It's worth looking into whether you'd be entitled to any housing benefit towards your rent.
If you are entitled to even a small amount you may then also be able to apply for a discretionary housing payment to help until you can find more affordable accommodation.
Try <removed link> for information.
I have checked - have been told there is no possibility of any HB. And the problem is not the time to find more affordable housing, that is easy enough, the problem is the landlord is holding me to the remaining seven months of the lease.0 -
The worst he could do is issue a Section 8 using one of the discretionary grounds for eviction but given that you would like to end the tenancy anyway I would take the gamble and get a lodger if I were in the same situation as you.
I will need to if I am to keep paying the rent. I just don't want any impact on my credit record that would affect future renting (he had me credit checked before I rented)0
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