To ask what you’d do in this dire situation?

[ReallyStuck2024]

Posting for traffic.

I live in SE England. I’m trying to move to a cheaper part of the UK and I’m making plans to do so.

I work FT and have an additional PT job. I’m working around 55-60 hours a week.

No savings, can’t get a decent credit card or even a loan due to previous poor credit (which I’m working to resolve).I’m not entitled to any benefits.
I don’t drive so can’t take on work as for eg Deliveroo or Amazon or otherwise

Family can’t help me with financial support. I also cannot stay with family in the short term due to valid but complicated reasons.

the situation is: it’s going to cost me thousands to move: in terms of arranging a move but also because my current flat is furnished and I’d have to furnish an entire new house. So I need to save for six months or so.

whilst this is all going on, my LL announced he was putting the rent up by £450 a month, effective March. I can’t afford this and will need to move. But I can’t afford to move.

I am wracking my head for solutions here - even moving into a house share and getting rid of most of my belongings but that still wouldn’t work because I’d need a months rent and deposit up front and tbh, house shares and one bed flats aren’t that different in price where I’m looking.

What on earth am I meant to do? I’m seriously panicking

So your new rent would be £1550, for a one bed flat?!?! Is that right?!

If I were you, just don't pay out your last months rent, LL can take your deposit. After all he's looking to get you out. You have to prioritise yourself in this situation.

I would pretend you’re camping and sleep on a mattress with your suitcase. You can gradually furnish, it’s not a race. Storage will give you a change to catch your breath and not be under pressure.

im so sorry op this is incredibly stressful but I believe in you xoxoxox

1450 for a one bed. Open plan living room/kitchen. So 1450 for three rooms. That’s the SE for you!

Why do you need to hire a van then? Hav you costed up the value of your possessions vs the cost of transporting them? Might be better to sell them in Surrey and replace in Devon?

The landlord needs a cause to evict, no paying increased rent that is not agreed upon by both parties is not 'rent arrears' so not a reason.

The landlord can try to evict but they are ending no fault evictions so that loophole is closing with the renters rights bill (should be closed by March).

The landlord can ask the court to enforce rent increase which they can do but they will only allow a 'fair' amount increase which in the previous year of 2023 worked out as an average of 7%.

good point

op does £27k inc part time job?

I think he will likely hold onto it but even if he doesn’t - I need it in my account before I pay the deposit and rent elsewhere because I just don’t have the money to do so upfront.

Yep. I also think buy to let mortgages should be scrapped. If someone wants to become a landlord they should have sufficient money to buy outright so that the rent is enough to cover repairs and a small profit which justifies the hassle of administering it. Seeing it as an investment vehicle when you don't even own it is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Yes PT. By belongings I mean literally my clothes. Laptop. Things like that.

Can I ask why it's so expensive to move? When I rented in central London I basically moved every year and it didn't cost me anything. Deposit - but then I got the old deposit back. Can't you move into another unfurnished flat if your furniture is the problem?

He did buy outright. He doesn’t have a mortgage. He’s a jammy get.

Unfortunately, most rental contracts have a clause stating tenants must pay for an end of tenancy clean. Whether it's truly enforceable or not is another matter, but I used to work for a horrible slumlord who would find a speck of dust on a counter as a reason not to return some or all of the tenant's deposit. None had the money (or sometimes language skills) to challenge him. At least if they could produce a receipt for an official end of tenancy clean, he couldn't shaft them out of that cost (though he would find some other spurious reason not to return the full deposit.) It's horrendous what some landlords get away with.

@ReallyStuck2024 for the areas you’ve mentioned you can get a double room as a lodger for around £500 a month and deposit is the same or less. So a lot less than a flat would cost you. You could look at being a lodger for a while and build funds up to allow you to rent a flat on your own in the future?

Also with belongings, I just stuck it in a friend's flat and moved it to the new one in batches. I never hired a van

But if you go online you can hire a moving van for around £100 anyway. But if money is v tight I'd just collect it and move it yourself in several trips (or ask a friend to help)

hiring a van is (are?) my moving costs. I don’t have furniture but I have “stuff”. Clothes, my laptop, bedding, all my kitchen stuff. Books. Just stuff. And not even a lot tbh.

You won’t need to pay new rent AND current rent and the deposit all at once.

You find a place to move in to, and then you move out at the end of a rental period with no overlap, so you use what you would have paid at your current place to pay for your new place the day you move in - that’s totally normal.
So if you normally pay rent on the 20th, you move out on the 19th and use the rent money you would normally pay the next day to pay your new landlord and either move in that day or stay somewhere overnight. Especially if you’re moving somewhere cheaper, this will give you breathing room.
You’ll have had to pay the deposit and the holding deposit (which is then discounted from your first month’s rent) in advance, but the rent can be paid the day you move in.

Can you get a 0% credit card to pay the deposit? Most agencies will take a card payment and then you can pay it off as soon as you get the deposit from your current place back. I had to do this for my current place as I had to give up my deposit in order to leave my old place. Or look at a Zero Deposit Scheme as others have mentioned.

You’ll very likely find a winter let in Devon as well as it’s such a popular holiday destination (I lived there in two places for a total of 6 years) which may make life easier.

If you take a room in a house share it will include all bills and is usually furnished.

Definitely get your fellow tenants on board and see what you can do to stop this greedy CF in his tracks! I’m a LL but here in Scotland we have stronger protections for tenants. I was able to raise my tenants rent by 3% last year after a 3 yr rent freeze since the pandemic. This year it’s max 6% or up to 12% in certain circumstances. I am shocked that no limits exist in England! I just wish the govt had acted years ago to ensure more social housing was built when so much was sold off! It would certainly have helped keep private rents in check if people had other options!

I moved an entire house fully furnished recently and it cost me £250 to hire a man and a Luton van. You can get cheaper as it probably sounds like you have less stuff and need a smaller van. I'd imagine you can get it down to about £100

Thank you for this. I can’t get a CC or loan due to previous bad credit (really previous, I’m paying it off and I’m close to doing this now). If I could get a loan or a CC this would be the solution to my (short term) problem I think.

But it takes time to get the deposit back, usually a week at least when I was renting. And if you don’t have available cash to out down a deposit on a new place until you get that back then where do you live in the interim? OP had said she doesn’t have good credit so presumably can’t use overdraft/credit card to cover costs in between.

I know this is a minor part but you can hire a van from b&q via hertz and it's £12-14 an hour and you can book it for the number of hours you need not a whole day if not necessary, and if you sign up for a b&q points card you get a discount. I didn't know this until recently but was really helpful when we had some big stuff to take to the tip much cheaper than a man with a van

Don’t worry about buying furniture. In a few months after moving you will have acquired all you need for very little money.
The possessions you do have can be posted to your new address. It’s fairly cheap to send parcels now 20 kg can be as little as £12 using a parcel website such as parcel2go.
Ask about taking numerous bags by train? If you can leave some at friends you could take at least 4 bags at once. I’ve always moved with supermarket long life bags and ikea bags.

You’d be better staying where you are!
Theres a housing crisis in the SW -Especially in Devon and rent is absolutely ridiculous, £700 for a bedsit, and £800+ for a 1/2 bedroom tiny flat then £1000 for a tiny house if you’re lucky!