Didn’t think it would be this hard to find a rental flat

[Zaplollies]

Looking with my partner in Greater Manchester, within 5 miles of the city centre preferably.
Budget is 650 pcm max not including bills (am I right in thinking bills would be around 300pcm?)

Within a day of being put on rightmove, they seem to be gone. Been rejected for 5 flats so far in the few weeks we’ve been having viewings ,one successful tenant for instance was paying 6 months’ rent upfront which we cannot afford to do.

Can’t always make immediate viewings either due to our working hours, but most places seem to be given to the first suitable person who views it.

I’ve just enquired about a flat that was added yesterday evening, and been told I’m number 24 in the queue.

we both work full time, combined income of just under £3000 per month net, no ccjs etc, no pets, non-smokers.

It’s getting frustrating really, I feel like it wasn’t this hard a couple of years back. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm doing the same as you, also looking for a 2 bed rented flat in Greater Manchester, but I need to be in South Manchester which is unfortunately more expensive.

My income is almost half of yours but my rental budget is higher, up to £800 pm. Nearly everytime I call, the property has already gone. I've managed to book one viewing but I reckon that will have gone too by the time I view it. Quite a few have tried getting me to enter into a bidding war to pay way over the odds. I've declined because it's absolutely morally wrong in my opinion.

For £650 pm you're probably looking at North Manchester, such as Failsworth or Tameside, possibly Blackley near Heaton Park. You might be able to get a house for £650 pm.

I'm a landlord not a renter, just one house I let out. Recently available after my previous long term tenant left. Agency advertised it Sunday evening, by Monday lunchtime they had over 50 enquiries and stopped taking any further details. The level of interest was crazy.

Manchester is pretty pricey. With a complained income of £3k could you not significantly up your budget?

Yes, it seems crazy at the moment. I submitted my details for one property which was well within the affordability requirements without viewing (because I know they're going so quickly) and the landlord decided to accept someone else. I think

I feel I'm definitely at a disadvantage as a single parent, of course landlords would rather rent to a couple both working full time. Two incomes versus one, it's a no brainer. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do.

It took me 8 months to find anywhere last year. In the end I got lucky and applied for a housing association place directly. In Birmingham but I think major cities are all the same boat.
The market is so competitive, there are always people higher up in the queue.
I went to a house viewing and there were over 50 other people queuing up to view the same place!

Try looking on open rent to apply with landlords directly rather than through an estate agent. My previous flat I found via gumtree by selecting private only and filtering out estate agents.

The market is bonkers at the moment, we've just come out the other side having finally secured somewhere just before our section 21 run out (and we'd been aggressively searching for the entire 6 month notice).

We had to flex our budget upwards to an uncomfortable but just about affordable point, that's something that might be worth trying - you do have a decent budget to work with...although I appreciate it doesn't leave much for saving which is why I'm still renting in my 40s

I also got support from my management team at work to be allowed to flex to attend viewings whenever the first opportunity was allowed with agents. Still had to work my hours but meant I could pop out at 2pm on a Wednesday etc. If this is at all possible it's well worth doing.

I also provided a family 'cover letter' outlining our occupations, employers, salaries and desire to secure a long term home for our family that we emailed to agents upon securing a viewing just in case it automatically added us to a shortlist of suitable families.

Just remember, you're not being rejected. The landlords and agents can cherry pick who they'd like to apply for a property based on their own preference. Some will prefer essential workers because it gives them a warm glow to provide housing to them at an inflated price, others are more pragmatic and vet based on employer/job security. Others are clearly just about the money when they encourage bidding wars. One landlord wanted to meet us face to face so she could get a 'feel' for us as a family. It turned out her family were prominent UKIP members so getting a 'feel' for us a family was checking if we were properly white and British because she didn't trust the agent checks! (We rejected their property).

Make sure you're registered with On The Market, Zoopla and Rightmove for immediate updates. Rightmove in our experience is the last to send through the emails and very rarely has property not shown on the others.

Best of luck, and keep persevering.

3000 income and only 650 for rent? YABU increase ur max rent and u will make it easier to find something

Your budget is pretty low. You'll be competing with a lot of people.

We have just been through this with DS. I never realised how difficult it was. We had a nail biting week waiting for the landlord to choose and somehow DS was the chosen one.

Landlord here, 1 property.
I put my property on open rent and within 2 hours there were over 30 interested people. I took it down as soon as I saw this.
It was really horrible seeing so many people desperate for nice affordable housing, the local authorities and social landlords need to do something.
I only accepted 2 viewings, I gave the house to the second, a single girl on benefits with a child. I prioritised her because she wanted to stay in the area for her daughters school.
I had messaged off people offering more rent and to pay months in advance. It is really bad for renters at the moment.

Try looking in Edinburgh! 2 bedroom flats are double your budget and still impossible to rent - resulting in an open market for greedy landlords and ruthless scammers BBC expose

I'm not sure what people are meant to do? My oldest has a good job and a healthy deposit, but flats are ridiculously expensive to buy, the mortage available is too low due to lack of credit history and you cannot rent for love nor money. What has happened to our basic social infrastructure?

Good flats will go in a few hours not days. To get one, you need to phone up as soon as they go online so have your notifications set to ‘instant’ and not daily.

Then you need to go to the first set of viewings
Be very polite and enthusiastic to the viewing agent
Register your interest straight away / ask for an application form
Return the form straight away
Have all your references / bank statements ready to send when required
Sign the form and pay the deposit quickly

If you don’t do all of these things, the flat will go to someone else who can. I know it’s not always convenient but that’s the harsh reality of life.

An agent isn’t going to keep the property sitting empty for another week to let another 100 people view it at a time that suits them. That’s time and money wasted for the agent and the landlord.

Don’t apply for properties if you don’t meet the criteria eg a smoker, pets, student, benefits etc and hope you can wing it / persuade the letting agent. You won’t and they will mark you down as a time waster.

Thanks for the replies, we will keep trying. That budget was to allow us to save a good amount of money at the same time but maybe we will have to increase. We cannot always get to the first possible viewings due to work, but will keep trying. I honestly found it easier a couple of years back

The housing market is in a huge mess. I've been helping a friend who is currently separating from their partner and looking to rent and it's the same scenario. She has a substantial income, it's just her and 4 weeks later, we're no further at progressing!

Every house that comes on the market has a waiting list for viewings. Some from the moment they are listed...

And LL can pick and choose and discriminate all they want it seems as there are no rules. They pick whoever they like the look of.

@Zaplollies

Thanks for the replies, we will keep trying. That budget was to allow us to save a good amount of money at the same time but maybe we will have to increase. We cannot always get to the first possible viewings due to work, but will keep trying. I honestly found it easier a couple of years back

DS was relocating 200 miles away and WFH here 9-6pm every weekday, they wouldn't agree to the rental without him viewing but he did have a guided Facetime tour thankfully.

Good luck, I had no idea how difficult it was was proper eye opening.

It’s a supply and demand problem.

Financial, legal and tax changes mean that it’s a legal minefield and often not very profitable for small landlords, some even make a loss. So they are selling up.

COVID Rules mean that tenants could stay in a property for a year without paying rent . Landlords had to go on paying their mortgage, insurance, agents fees and then legal costs to get the tenants out. Then many of them trash the flat before they are evicted so it needs refurbished.

Small landlords can’t afford the money and the stress, so they are leaving.

Rent caps etc will make it even worse.

Yes it's definitely become a lot harder. 10 years ago I was moving all over the UK for work and in every area I had my pick of flats to rent and took my time choosing. I was on half your income.
My mum rents and recently had to move, she has a similar experience to you, competing with 20 other applicants for every property and being turned down. Previously she had no issues.
You're wise to be saving, get on the property ladder ASAP, renters are really screwed in this country.

To me it’s obvious why. Many landlords are going to Airbnb. They can charge more for their properties and get it.

If a guest is anti-social they can be got rid of that day. Payment is upfront so if the guest can’t pay they’re gone.

The way we did it (looking low budget, long term, rural with garden, had lots of pets and a child) was to put an ad in the local paper with what we were looking for and a rough budget.

Our landlord contacted us directly having been toying with the idea of renting out but hadn't yet put on the market, she said the ad and meeting us helped her make her mind up to go for it.

Been here years now and get on well with landlord

Have you tried doing similar? Catch a rental before it gets marketed to the public? For us looking for rural the paper made sense, for you looking in a city, perhaps social media would be the place to advertise a wanted post

From experiences with friends and family trying to rent recently not far from Manchester, the market is insane right now. One friend ended up getting somewhere because someone she knew knew a landlord, and the other found somewhere because she told the landlord she wanted a 2 year minimum contract. Could you tell them you want a long contract? It seems to sway some landlords

Did you find somewhere?

I've been looking for six months now and I'm no further forward.