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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu to be annoyed letting agent dropped rent by £50

382 replies

toohoottoday · 30/05/2020 10:34

I have just found out my letting agent has dropped the rental for the property I rent by £50. This rental income represents over half my income, and I can't really afford a drop. He had chatted with me about rental but we didn't agree to drop it. He had said we may have to, but then rents had increased since our last tenant came in, so the drop due to the covid situation may even it out to the current rent level, and that he already had three households interested before it was even advertised. So given that, and being as we never agreed a decrease, I wasn't expecting it to be dropped. There are now several tenants who all want to rent it and he has asked me to choose this weekend. I am therefore surprised therefore after checking his website to see he has advertised it as lower than the previous rent.

AIBU to be annoyed about this? I don't suppose there is anything I can do about it now. That is £600 a year that I will be poorer off and I am already on a low income with two kids to support.

OP posts:
Moreisnnogedag · 30/05/2020 11:49

@thedancingbear housing? Not having to worry about roof repairs, boilers, other repairs? Not being tied to the housing market? I’m obviously only speaking about good landlords. When we rented we could move around without worrying about where to get money for legal fees etc. Also if the boiler broke I just rung the landlord and he sorted it out.

We rented for years and could in

Original poster
toohoottoday · 30/05/2020 11:49

So providing accommodation ISN'T a useful service. Well, there's a thing. Because I am pretty sure posters saying this have also argued that housing IS an essential service, unlike cake, I think was the phrase? But if accommodation is not an essential service, - I take it this applies to social landlords, council housing, care homes, short-term and holiday lets, renting out of business units/ retails units.

However, selling houses for profit IS a useful service.

So glad to have had that totally coherent moral philosophy explained to me, and in such reasonable and not at all goady terms too. I feel so enlightened.

OP posts:
StillCoughingandLaughing · 30/05/2020 11:50

Boo hoo, sorry you're getting a bit less free money. Suck it up or don't be a landlord.

You have to be a special kind of stupid to think being a landlord is ‘free money’.

Sparklfairy · 30/05/2020 11:51

thedancingbear I'd probably give reading it a good go Grin

I accept that rents are high, and house prices are out of reach for a lot of people. My own 'landlord' is a ltd co with multiple directors and a turnover of well into 7 figures as they have so many properties. My point is that is landlords were forced to sell excess properties, a lot of renters still wouldn't be able to get a mortgage. Prices falling sharply would make lenders reluctant to get into a position of negative equity. The slightest black mark on your credit rating can see you rejected. Then an influx of renters looking for homes would push existing rents up and the unaffordability cycle begins again. There's no right solution to this, and having a go at the OP for renting somewhere out isn't helpful.

Divoc2020 · 30/05/2020 11:57

LOL at all the landlord haters ("free money"/ "suck it up" etc), gawd, what a cesspit MN has become...

Of course the agent shouldn't have done this. There is a market rental value - you can check it on sites such as Zoopla. If, as you say, your property is sensibly priced within this range then stick to your guns. Tell the agent to say he has made a mistake and relist it at the rate you want.
Agents can be lazy buggers - of course it's easy for them to offer something cheaper to get more interest. Are you paying the agent a fixed rate to advertise it or an on-going management fee?

SuperPixie247 · 30/05/2020 11:57

The letting agent is a chancer OP and is banking on you just rolling over and letting it slide. You ought to tell him you want the £50 to be recuperated somehow each month.

Original poster
toohoottoday · 30/05/2020 11:58

Are you paying the agent a fixed rate to advertise it or an on-going management fee?

Apparently its both - ongoing fee, then extra fee when it needs to be readvertised inbetween lets. I can't get rid of the agent and do it myself as I am in a different country.

OP posts:
Ireolu · 30/05/2020 11:58

Several people have had poor experiences with LLs, me included. That is driving some of the responses on here. Change agents and re-advertise is what I would suggest. My MIL is a LL and dealing with agents can be stressful.

thedancingbear · 30/05/2020 11:59

I had a big leak that was repaired for free.

You had a very different renting experience from me. I had to pay my landlord £1200 a month ^not' to repair my boiler!

Not having to worry about roof repairs, boilers, other repairs?

You're kidding right? At least if you own you can use your money to actually get things fixed, rather than being beholden to a third party who may not give a shit about whether you have hot water or not.

And people have said that shelter is an essential. Not that it's an essential service. A roof over your head isn't a service, it's a thing that exists. It's like someone buying up all the air and arguing that the right to breathe is a service.

Sparklfairy in very brief- you're right. The process of adjustment from this point would not be straightforward, but it's an academic conversation in the literal sense, as it's not going to happen. It doesn't follow that private letting agency is a positive aspect of how society quite works. The status quo - with which we're stuck - is fundamentally exploitative unfortunately.

Ireolu · 30/05/2020 12:03

You living in a different country is possibly the reason he has done what he has. My MIL lives in the UAE and had to come back to sort her flat and change agents. EAs can be a law on to themselves (hers let the flat without telling her!! We went there to get some things to find a tenant had moved in!).

vixxo · 30/05/2020 12:05

The number of jealous posters on here frothing at the mouth at someone having the audacity to own a second property is ridiculous, hating on others is not going to get you anywhere in life is it?

OP I'd have a word with the letting agency. And honestly if it's a popular property with lots of people interested I would insist that they put the price right before getting any new tenants.

Destroyedpeople · 30/05/2020 12:09

I have had amateur private landlords with their little 'income properties' and they didn't even have the money to register themselves or fix guttering. Even when water was dripping down my bedroom wall he told me it was because I 'breathed too much'. So pardon me if I don't have time for rank amateurs.

Myshinynewname · 30/05/2020 12:09

Sorry you're getting such a hard time on here OP, I really don't see what you've done to deserve it!
The agent has made a mistake by advertising it for less than agreed, so I would push it back to him to let you know how he is going to cover the deficit his mistake has caused. Personally I would ask him what he plans to do and then go quiet and wait for him to suggest something. They could either reduce their fees, go back to prospective tenants and tell them the correct price or pay to readvertise for you and cover part of any gap in your rental income while they find a tenant prepared to pay the difference.
I disagree that it would cause bad feeling between you and the new tenant if the agent explains he made the mistake and told them the wrong price. Whatever you do don't suck up the deficit yourself if it would cause you such hardship, you've done nothing wrong.

thedancingbear · 30/05/2020 12:10

The number of jealous posters on here frothing at the mouth at someone having the audacity to own a second property is ridiculous, hating on others is not going to get you anywhere in life is it?

This is the classic tory line - anyone who objects to exploitation is jealous. It's a mealy-mouthed response that is used to shut down discussion rather than engage with real issues.

And the only people frothing at the mouth are those calling me a 'wanker', 'cunt' and a 'hag'. I've not abused or insulted anyone.

I managed to shift the last of my mortgage last time I moved house (I'm 41). I was lucky enough to get on the ladder in 2004. It simply wouldn't be a possibility for someone in my position now, and unfortunately that's in large part driven by the BTL market.

Fairenuff · 30/05/2020 12:10

If you are struggling to find an extra £50 a month, what will you do if the tenant stops paying their rent?

thedancingbear · 30/05/2020 12:12

Or if the boiler breaks.

OP?

AKissAndASmile · 30/05/2020 12:14

I bet all the landlord-haters on here are the types of tenants that leave the property in a mess when they leave.

Original poster
toohoottoday · 30/05/2020 12:16

@dancingbear, you are playing with words by saying housing it is a thing not a service. If I hire a horse, the horse is a' thing', but the service I am paying for is the right to ride that horse. Houses are not like air. They do not just exist, they have to be built and maintained, and to meet additional requirement, when let that do not need to be met when they are owned. No-one has a right to a particular house over their head. if you want that house and you rent it, you are paying for that accommodation service. You pay for it to be maintained to a certain standard or repair and for the items you rent inside it to be in good repair. You had a crap landlord who failed to provide the service you paid for, and was probably breaking the law. I used to live in the house I now let out. I can assure you it is in much better state of repair in everyway, including decorative, than when I lived in it. That's the service that is provided.

I used to work in council housing. At the right to buy many tenants bought their homes. Some, after buying their homes, still phoned the council to get repairs done. Upon being told they now owned their home and were responsible, they replied, 'Naw, its still a cooncil hoose.' You can bet your ass, they soon learned what services a landlord provides.

But, given your views, when you come to sell your house ( I think you said you own), will you be selling it at the price you brought it at, so as not to be exploitative of buyers in the housing market, or will you sell it at its market value, even if you profit (like those people who buy air and sell it on that you mentioned).

OP posts:
Sparklfairy · 30/05/2020 12:18

This is the classic tory line - anyone who objects to exploitation is jealous. It's a mealy-mouthed response that is used to shut down discussion rather than engage with real issues.

That's unfair. Just as it would be unfair for me to say all lefties just want something for nothing Hmm

If housing is essential and shouldn't be exploited why aren't mortgage companies getting the same venom as OP. They're the ones who actually get free money.

Whynotnowbaby · 30/05/2020 12:19

Op I am so sorry you are receiving so many negative comments in this thread. I think there are a lot of people who transfer their own negative experiences with a landlord into a belief that this is what all landlords are like. Everything you say suggests you are a good landlord who has been shafted by a letting agent going beyond their remit. Of course you shouldn’t have to lose £50 a month if you don’t have to and it should be your call whether you feel it is not possible to rent for the original price. The number of people saying you should be able to survive with this amount less is outrageous. Maybe you should just not eat for one week a month, that should cover it!

Destroyedpeople · 30/05/2020 12:19

That I a really dumb shit thing to say. A complete non sequiter.

I don't leave mess behind me.

Still my last landlord was amateurish and too 'poor' to fix the place up properly or or even put in a proper cooker connection in the 'kitchen'

Original poster
toohoottoday · 30/05/2020 12:20

Or if the boiler breaks.
OP?

@thedancingbear Seriously? I have answered this point REPEATEDLY in this thread. You really are a most dishonest poster. You invent fictions, ignore what is said and just carry on in your ideological hate bubble, pretending you haven't been obnoxious and attacking when you clearly have and decrying people for calling you names after you have poked them with sticks. You really are an appalling hypocrite.

OP posts:
Fairenuff · 30/05/2020 12:25

You haven't answered what you would do if the tenant fails to pay rent though OP. Seriously, if finding £50 a month is difficult, how will you find the whole rent?

TinyPigeon · 30/05/2020 12:28

Maybe you should get a job?

FlowerArranger · 30/05/2020 12:28

I understand your frustration. Could you offer a 6 months tenancy at the advertised rent and increase it thereafter? Though I'd explain this to the tenants at the outset, before they sign anything, so they know they score.

Clearly your agent was amiss in not discussing this with you. Do you really need an agent? I stopped using one over a decade ago and I can't say I miss whatever they were supposed to do in return for taking a fair chunk of the rental income.

Given that your margins seem quite tight, what would you do if your tenants stopped paying? It can take 6 months or more to evict...

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