AIBU in thinking this isn't totally out of the ordinary?
Last October DP and I moved back to our home county after I became pregnant. After 9 years of moving practically every year in London, we were excited at the prospect of finally settling down and calling somewhere home with out little one.
Our first year lease in our perfect 2 bedroom cottage is coming to an end, so we asked our estate agent if we could please now sign a two year lease (with a 12 month break clause) so we could feel a little more secure in our home. They've point blank refused because 'we don't do that'...they've said either month to month rolling or another 12 months is all they can offer.
Is this worth fighting it or is there nothing I can do? Maybe I'm not getting the particulars here, but I don't understand what either party has to lose by signing on for another two years. We get home security and the landlord has guaranteed rent. The Landlord has full right to refuse us for whatever reason...but for the agents to not even bother asking?
FWIW we've already had issues with these agents. When we first got sent the tenancy agreement we sent it back with a couple things we would like to negotiate or change, and they responded with 'we don't do that, our tenancy agreement is standard and as such does not require any changes made to it.'
All we wanted was all the typos corrected, and a ridiculous clause removed that said we were responsible for replacing and maintaining all white goods and the boiler should they break. We were sure that wasn't legal - which we found out it wasn't! They eventually changed it after we told them that.
What do you think?