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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

6 months rent in advance?

84 replies

spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 14:44

beautiful new house, we saw it and loved it and made and offer which was accepted. we then went through the application process. i passed, my dp didnt on the basis he is on a temporary contract Sad but then we are told the land lord get the last word and can sign a waiver. the landlord agrees to this if we agree to two months deposit.
its a stretch but we agree because we love the house and want to offer some security and build a good relationship with the land lord who was burned by the last tenants.
all is agreed, then the land lord has a wobble and decided that its not ok and now want 6 months rent in advance.......that would be about 12 grand give or take aibu to think this is ur. if i had that kind of money to hand i would be buying not renting and whilst i understand that they have had bad tenants previously and are offering us a chance rather than just saying "no we have changed our minds" this is a really odd demand?

OP posts:
ViviPru · 28/09/2011 14:47

Your rent is £2000 pcm?? Shock

WilsonFrickett · 28/09/2011 14:47

YANBU, that is well out of order and I can't imagine many people would have it. But I think he is within his rights to ask. So if he won't change his mind I think you won't get the house. So he's being a bit stupid...

Shutupanddrive · 28/09/2011 14:48

That's ridiculous! Shock

IDrinkFromTheirSkulls · 28/09/2011 14:51

Find a cheaper place to live and soon you'll be able to buy your own if you can afford 2k per month on rent alone!

Original poster
spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 14:58

have over played my rent its not two grand a month. but for a four bed in my area there would be no were cheaper really its 1400, so thats not 12 grand Blush that was my bad maths and shock talking.
still dont have 8 grand in my account unfortunately. i obviously said it was impossible and said we already agreed to the two months in advance and hoped that the land lord could except that. as i hope they can because it really is a beautiful place, but what can you do.

OP posts:
AKMD · 28/09/2011 15:01

Wow, YANBU, the landlord is being ridiculous even at the 8k tag. You pay double our mortage on your rent Shock

LaWeasel · 28/09/2011 15:02

No way - If you do get it have you made sure the deposit will be going into a deposit protection scheme?

On the other side of things, unless your family is massive and you desperately need the space it really would make more sense to rent somewhere small for a year or so and save for a deposit to buy. That is crazy money.

pippilongsmurfing · 28/09/2011 15:02

If you have no problems on your credit file from previous landlords and have good references from your last landlord then I think 6 months is well over the top.

Do you think he will accept your offer? Could you meet in the middle and offer 3 months if that house is that ideal?

Firawla · 28/09/2011 15:03

yanbu OP, we had the same problem when we were trying to find somewhere. people asking ridiculous things like 6 months rent upfront and hugeee deposits because we have kids and they may cause damage to the property Hmm
skulls its easy to say find somewhere cheaper but rents are a joke these days!! i am currently paying the same monthly as OP, because we just could not find anywhere in our area, the cheaper ones are snapped up very quickly, and there is a lot of demand these days for rent so they can be able to be picky and go for the 'professional sharers' with no kids, if they prefer..
i would say it gives you a hint that the landlord is an unreasonable person though if they ask soo much, so you may be best off out of it! also from experience landlords thats just come out from having bad tenants, can be soo paranoid and it makes them into crap unreasonable landlords, or is that just mine??
hope you find something else OP and with a decent landlord. it is really really irritating when you have to pay that much, to end up with an unreasonable landlord who causes problems and treats you like scum as tenants. and imo any who asks such ridiculous deposits are hinting towards that behaviour.
so yanbu it is ridiculous for them to ask it, but tbh sadly i am not suprised cos that is the state of private renting these days, it is a total pain

dexter73 · 28/09/2011 15:04

He might not be keen on you moving in so has made an unreasonable request so that you will have to pull out. He might have found someone else he prefers.

ViviPru · 28/09/2011 15:06

HIBU but he's holding all the cards here.

Hmm if you're sure its right for you I would seriously consider trying to find the money. You might get the same problems with the next place you find due to your DPs circumstances.

A house we loved fell through in a similar situation and we thought chin up, plenty of fish in the sea but there wasn't. Long story but luckily we got the house in the end and its a good job as nothing comparable has come up since.

I'd work out the absolute maximum you can scrape together, and try and negotiate to meet him half-way. He wants 6 months, you've offered 2. All you need to find is another 2800 to meet him halfway at 4 months. I know its a massive wedge but at least you won't have to worry about paying rent for the next 4 months.

Original poster
spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 15:09

no bad credit or rent problems before and cant stretch to the 3 months just before christmas and we have 6 children between us and one on the way so we need the space.
also to get a mortgage that would cover a house in our area we would need to be earning more than we are so that is not on the cards yet. so renting is our only option.

OP posts:
LRDTheFeministDragon · 28/09/2011 15:10

Unfortunately I have heard of this. They do it because after 6 months either of you can break the contract. He wants his rent up front until the date when he can ask you to leave, probably because he's had problems with bad tenants withholding rent.

We had one landlady do this (we could afford it at the time and the rent was not expensive), and she explained that was why she did it. After teh first six months she was happy for us to pay monthly because she reckoned she knew we were good tenants (we were, but not so sure how she knew).

It's rotten for you, but I don't see what you can do other than try to negotiate. Would more references help?

GlendaGoose · 28/09/2011 15:12

It could be the letting agents that are persuading the landlord to ask for six months.

I have a flat that I let out and when one set of tenants didn't pass the credit check it was the letting agent who made the request for six months in advance. (The reason they didn't pass the credit check was because they were Australian and only here for 18 months.)

Whatmeworry · 28/09/2011 15:13

Offer 3, if not taken walk away.

notcitrus · 28/09/2011 15:13

Can you get any other family member or friend to be a guarantor for you (someone with lots of savings or a great job)?

We nearly coughed up the rest of 6 months rent for SIL recently but luckily they accepted 6 weeks deposit and DH being a guarantor instead.

It sucks but given so many landlords are only just covering mortgage payments on their properties, and it's so hard to get rent/HB/evict tenants who stop paying rent, I can see why they do it.

Original poster
spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 15:15

yes they had a really bad lot of sharers in last time. we went in to see it and it was a total state. we couldnt even go in to one of the rooms because one of the guys was a sleep in it. cupboards were hanging off doors etc. the agents really sold us to the land lord i believe, because we could see past the state of the place got excited about it and were talking about what we would do to the garden etc.
the land lord wants a family in not shares again. we really cant put any more money up front but am really worried that nothing better will come up as a previous poster has said.

OP posts:
RhinoKey · 28/09/2011 15:15

We have a rental property so I can the LL point of view to some extent. A temporary contract is a bit of a worry, but he shouldnt have gone back on his word, and he has gone totally overboard on the 6 months in advance. Most people would struggle to find £8000. If you could afford to drop that kind of money you would probably be looking for a home of your own, not a rental property.

Are you sure its not the amount of children you have that has put him off (I am not saying that it should, but its something that some landlords would worry about - we attend a LL group and some of them wont rent to tenants with young children, or some wont rent to those with children full stop).

Original poster
spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 15:17

we offered a guarantor they didnt seem keen.

OP posts:
LydiaWickham · 28/09/2011 15:18

Find somewhere else. Can you find a property renting with the same letting agent you have been renting through in the past? They often can provide a new landlord with evidence that you have been good tenants.

Original poster
spookshowangellovesit · 28/09/2011 15:20

i think this temp contract is going to be a problem with all agency's we prob wont look again until dp is in a permanent contract. there is currently nothing else coming up and the closer we get to christmas the less likely it will be

OP posts:
ButternutSquish · 28/09/2011 15:22

YABU as if your partner can't pass the credit check then the Landlord has to protect himself. I have a BTL and my tenants couldn't pass the credit score and they paid 6 months up front twice before getting themselves a guarantor. Why would I let people live in my property and put myself at risk because there is some history of missed payments on bills or the like?

Flame me now!

ButternutSquish · 28/09/2011 15:23

Oh yes, just seen it's a temporary contract......so he could be out of work tomorrow and then how would you pay the rent?

Sorry to sound harsh but renting houses out is a business

LaWeasel · 28/09/2011 15:24

Keep looking, I know it's shit though. We don't earn enough for a mortagage either (because of multipliers) even though the payments would be less than our rent

If you haven't got the money, you haven't got it and there's nothing either of you can do.

DeepLeafEverything · 28/09/2011 15:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.