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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder how the hell anyone can afford to move in private rented.

43 replies

PinanNidan · 08/02/2016 10:11

Sad In a one bed tiny flat private let with children after leaving exh. Hate it here. Been on council list for years with no luck.

Found a small two bed, in an area I know but not posh and up North so no London prices. Just a bog standard terrace in a bog standard ex mining town.

Well over £1200 upfront Sad I work but don't have massive spare income left to save.

How is anyone on normal national minimum wage meant to afford a home.

So frustrating.

OP posts:
NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 08/02/2016 10:55

I earn about £18k but no kids so not entitled to any benefits or anything and no partner so pay everything by myself.

I just about manage every month in a one bed flat (after years of houseshares). But the only way I afford the initial cost is borrowing from my mum.

My work has recently started a rental deposit loan scheme to lend people the cost of the deposit (no other costs as you have to give proof of it being in a deposit protection scheme) and pay it back via deductions from salary over a year. I think this sounds brilliant but haven't actually used it myself as it came in just after my last move.

It is so expensive and there's always on overlap between getting the previous deposit back and having paid the new one, plus there may be an overlap of moving in and moving out, plus the costs of actually moving and estate agent fees etc etc etc

Instead of helping people who can afford to save up to £15240 a year (help to buy isa) I wish the government would offer loans to those of us who have no savings to move house, it's often not a choice to do so!

BadDoGooder · 08/02/2016 11:03

I live in fear of being forced to move.
I have no idea where we would get the deposit from, can't get credit, family are all as skint as we are, no help available.
We live from week to week, no chance to save, and are even worse off at the moment as I am supporting my DF while he waits for his benefits to come through.

I know I'm not the only person in this situation, but I never hear/see people talking about it.
How do you do it in our situation? I have no idea, and it bothers me that there might potentially be thousands of families all terrified of being forced out of their current home....we would be on the streets!

DoesAnyoneReadTheseThings · 08/02/2016 11:10

Landlords who rent it out themselves instead of using a letting agent tend to have less upfront costs just one months rent as a deposit and one month upfront usually. Look on Gumtree and local facebook pages as well as newsagents windows etc to find ads.

DoesAnyoneReadTheseThings · 08/02/2016 11:11

Sorry I didn't mean one month upfront I meant one month paid in cash on the due date and then a standing order set up.

BadDoGooder · 08/02/2016 11:16

DoesAnyone if it didn't overlap with previous places rent then that would work, but how many lls are there who would genuinely not want a proper deposit?

Original poster
PinanNidan · 08/02/2016 11:37

Same baddo. It has happened two times to us now. Once a sale and got deposit back AFTER had had to pay out for the new deposit.

Second time landlord went bust so we lost everything.

It is terrifying Sad

OP posts:
Owllady · 08/02/2016 11:40

I think we're in a dreadful situation Flowers

Iamnotloobrushphobic · 08/02/2016 11:47

Is the £1200 made up of £600 deposit and £600 for the 1st months rent? If it is then you are really needing to find £600 because the rent would have been payable on your current property but won't be as you are moving out and rent is usually payable in advance.
Will you get back a deposit on your current property? If you are due a deposit back could you borrow the required £600 from somebody until you get your current deposit back?

Rentals are expensive to move into but landlords do need to take a deposit to protect their own interests (and usually the deposit is a drop in the ocean to cover costs when things go wrong). And landlords are absolutely right to charge rent upfront rather than in arrears as they would be stupid to do anything else.

Iamnotloobrushphobic · 08/02/2016 11:49

To add: have you checked whether there are any rent bond schemes in your area which could help with the deposit and first months rent?

Katarzyna79 · 08/02/2016 11:49

OP whys it so much if it's not the heart of London?

my rent is too high £1500 but its a 5 bed detatched in the best area of the city, but I'm only here because in inner city there are no 5 beds for a family my size (8 of us). Pretty crap middle of no where, no amenities semi rural Midlands so should be cheaper I think.

My last rental in Scotland was a bargain I think 1200 marketed as a 4 bed, but had a full sized attic with another lounge, and 2 dinky bedrooms coming off it, so it was a bargain. Semi detatched Victorian.

I think you need to start searching rightmove, your local letting agents and gumtree I believe you're paying way too much for a small place. my brothers* renting a 2 bed flat in Edinburgh, Victorian tenement building looks bit rough outside but inside its really nice only 550, we found it on gumtree. I think you should look there you can avoid letting agent fees too.
just make sure you get a contract read it thoroughly.

Katarzyna79 · 08/02/2016 11:51

op are you entitled to housing benefit? If you're on a low income you should get it.

Kitsandkids · 08/02/2016 11:52

I totally agree. We desperately want to move as our landlord/letting agent is terrible about fixing repairs and we have a problem with damp and mould that is just not being rectified. But we always go into an overdraft by the end of each month as it is - we just have no money for the deposit and fee.

However, my husband has just got a promotion and his next wage packet should reflect that, so fingers crossed we will be able to start saving up a little bit soon.

eloquent · 08/02/2016 11:59

Its awful.
I need to find a new place as my landlord wants to sell as he can't afford the upkeep of the mouldy disgusting excuse for a home and most places in my area will not accept housing benefit. I am only on it because my ex cheated on me and I was a stay at home mum. And now with a huge gap in CV and kids it's hard to find a bloody job. Its discrimination. And its disgusting.
Landlords know once they have you there a not much chance of being able to move, so they hardly bother with repairs.
I wish I could afford to buy. But with no way of saving or getting a deposit that's highly unlikely.
The rental market is atrocious.

Original poster
PinanNidan · 08/02/2016 11:59

It's basically one months rent, one months deposit and £200 admin fees which was the lowest of the fees I was quoted.
Deposit here is £150 as it was only two weeks needed. Rent is £300 four weekly on current one which is tiny.

I'm looking on rightmove, gumtree and such as well as locally.

OP posts:
Original poster
PinanNidan · 08/02/2016 12:02

We were told we didn't qualify for the deposit scheme here as didn't meet their criteria.

And yes to nothing ever getting fixed Sad

OP posts:
YourLittlePlantPot · 08/02/2016 12:09

I feel your pain. In the middle of packing atm and am stone cold broke

timeKeepingOnMars · 08/02/2016 12:16

When I was renting 5-6 years ago it was one month rent - one and half months deposit and agent fees - rents for both DH and I in separate parts of SE not London one room or studio flats were 600- 700 - t was going rate.

We paid similar amount in rent in northern city for a 3 bed house.

So doesn't sound like to much to me at all.

Used to move then have to save like mad - add returned deposit to savings so had enough to move on in future Sad.

When we were saving for a house deposit we had money but still didn't want to move and incur costs so put up with some shitty landlords and poor accommodation. Avoiding moving before we wanted was a big problem in private renting partly due to cost of moving.

So YANBU OP.

timeKeepingOnMars · 08/02/2016 12:17

one and half months rent as deposit - should have been.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 08/02/2016 12:21

Borrowing money or Kipping in friends' spare rooms to save. If you have no family to borrow from or bad credit, and no people you can decamp to (probably with your kids) then you're fucked. Especially if you don't earn much and don't have a guarantor. It's hideous.
Letting agents charge huge fees, up to £500 in some cases, plus most places here ask for 6 weeks rent as deposit. I fronted up £2400 last time I moved.

happyhearts7 · 08/02/2016 12:26

We lost our (morgaged) home a few years ago & moved into private rental, no deposit needed and our landlady was lovely, £500 per month for 4 bed...
Then she decided she was selling so had to move. Through word of mouth we found this £500 per month 4 bed... to get us in when HE wanted he gave us 2 months free rent to save deposit of £1000 (all above board & in our contract for it to be returned). Landlord seems lovely, never bothers us but yet if there's a problem and there were a few problems with applicances when we first moved in he has them sorted asap (despite the fact he lives about a hour's drive away)
Ooops sorry don't mean to sound gloaty Blush all I'm saying is don't give up, there are some excellent LLs out there...

StarlingMurmuration · 08/02/2016 12:38

Same here, when I was renting before I met DP. I had to borrow from my parents for my deposit, I don't know how I would have managed if they hadn't had the cash spare - I know lots of people don't have people they can ask for help.

DontOpenDeadInside · 08/02/2016 12:39

My db and sil are having a nightmare atm. The (private) house they are in atm is full of mould, the bathroom is disgusting. They have a 1 yer old and sh's just found out shes pg again but they cannot afford to move. The same agent has offered them another house, but chances are there is going to be the same problems there. It would cost them too much to move to another letting agent.

timeKeepingOnMars · 08/02/2016 12:56

I took out a bank loan to move down to my first job - had the job all sorted. I needed deposit and rent money and new work clothes money - wasn't what I wanted to do but that how I started out.

Paid that back and made sure I had enough money in savings all the next times which wasn't easy but thank to that first loan was a priority.

lampygirl · 08/02/2016 13:07

Credit card, pay deposit, pay off when current deposit gets returned. Job done. I own now, but always did this when renting.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 08/02/2016 13:11

You never used to be able to pay rent and deposited by card because it needed to be cleared funds. Cash and postal order only. I suspect it's different now with newer banking processes.