I have never rented a house privately. I've had a mortgage for 6 years and before that I rented through housing association. If I go into a letting agent can I negotiate a monthly rent for lower than is advertised? Say a house is showing £700 pcm can I say I want to pay £600 and then we haggle to £650 for instance or will they just tell me to bugger off? If I was buying a house I would offer less than the advertised price so does renting work the same way? We only want to rent for 6 months until we buy again.
Renting a house
- Thread starter Hazel
- Start date
Hazel said:
Yes you can. We've never paid the advertised price pcm and I CERTAINLY wouldn't in the current economic climate. So many people have bought to let and are now finding themselves with no tenants that it's a tenant's market.
Good luck!
P.S. My friend just started renting... she haggled it down to £500 from £650!!!!!
widowwadman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2008
- Messages
- 820
- Reaction score
- 0
Stay clear of agencies, they'll take huge deposits and usually are crap. We've been ripped off by the last agency we rented from, who kept our deposit for cleaning costs, also because the cooker was allegedly dirty. The cooker was my own property and I took it with me, and I spent two weeks scrubbing the house from top to bottom so that it looked better than when we moved in 
We're now renting privately, from a very nice lady at a cheaper rate than from an agency (no cut for the agent to pay), and a deposit which was only 1 months rent. The house us lovely, well looked after and the landlady is fantastic
If you move into rented property, always make sure that you take photographs at the time of moving in, otherwise it'd be difficult to prove that any snag has already been there when you moved in.
We're now renting privately, from a very nice lady at a cheaper rate than from an agency (no cut for the agent to pay), and a deposit which was only 1 months rent. The house us lovely, well looked after and the landlady is fantastic
If you move into rented property, always make sure that you take photographs at the time of moving in, otherwise it'd be difficult to prove that any snag has already been there when you moved in.
Yep you can. I got £ 75 off our rent.widowwadman said:
Oooooh, good tip. How would I find a house to rent without going through an agent? My local paper? There's a housing estate next to my DH work, I was thinking of having a drive around there then could see if any houses had a sign outside it, if so could probably find out who owns it through the electoral role then contact directly
.You can offer lower but it depends on area and demand for that property whether you will be able to negotiate. Its not as common to negotiate as it is when buying a house.
With regards to deposits, the law from April 2007 is that the deposit has to be protected in a tenancy deposit scheme. This is all deposits privately rented or otherwise. At the end of the tenancy if the landlord/agent wants to deduct monies for damage they will contact you and ask if you want to appeal this. If so, it will be independently assessed using evidence such as initial inventory etc.
Whilst there are a lot of bad letting agencies, there are also many good ones too. Some tenants have experienced problems with going straight to landlord as there is no in-between person. If a relationship is developed with landlord it can be difficult if there are problems, likewise if your landlord is a pest, or if they are not very good at getting jobs done, you have no protection. Whereas, an agent will be regulated and there are places you can go if there is a dispute. Also, landlords can be very personal about a property if there is a history there, an agent will be more objective.
I have experience in letting and know the law very well regarding letting and am professional trained, feel free to contact me if you need any advice or have any problems x
With regards to deposits, the law from April 2007 is that the deposit has to be protected in a tenancy deposit scheme. This is all deposits privately rented or otherwise. At the end of the tenancy if the landlord/agent wants to deduct monies for damage they will contact you and ask if you want to appeal this. If so, it will be independently assessed using evidence such as initial inventory etc.
Whilst there are a lot of bad letting agencies, there are also many good ones too. Some tenants have experienced problems with going straight to landlord as there is no in-between person. If a relationship is developed with landlord it can be difficult if there are problems, likewise if your landlord is a pest, or if they are not very good at getting jobs done, you have no protection. Whereas, an agent will be regulated and there are places you can go if there is a dispute. Also, landlords can be very personal about a property if there is a history there, an agent will be more objective.
I have experience in letting and know the law very well regarding letting and am professional trained, feel free to contact me if you need any advice or have any problems x
JoAnn&Aimee
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,996
- Reaction score
- 0
widowwadman said:
I agree. Last year I was ripped off by an agency who took a £400 deposit + £350 (which was the rent pcm) and then added an extra £100 onto the deposit because we had 2 cats! When we got the keys we found out that the place was a mess. There was a cupboard in what would have been Aimee bedroom that was moldy! We weren't shown the whole flat and the found that the parts we weren't shown were a mess. Also when we were shown around there was no electricity in the meter and were shown around by the light of a mobile! Now it was partly our fault for taking the flat without seeing it in daylight but we were desperate at that time. To make it worse the woman that showed us around was the MANAGER of the agency!! I would steer clear of agencies but if you do just be wary!
widowwadman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2008
- Messages
- 820
- Reaction score
- 0
Hazel said:Oooooh, good tip. How would I find a house to rent without going through an agent? My local paper? There's a housing estate next to my DH work, I was thinking of having a drive around there then could see if any houses had a sign outside it, if so could probably find out who owns it through the electoral role then contact directly
I found mine in the local paper
