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

Could you, and even you and the other tenants, look at something like this

https://liveinguardians.com/locations/london-property-guardians

you usually get to live somewhere cool and have your own space, should help you save a bit.

have you considered part buy part rent (which I did for years) https://www.sharetobuy.com/properties/

and look at housing associations like Peabody and Family Mosaic who fix their rents and they are usually less than market value

Have you looked at Spare Room website? I don't know where you want exactly but I just looked quickly and found this:

SpareRoom

If I was moving area I would consider doing this myself for a few months. Don't need to buy furniture, bills included. Deposit plus month's rent look affordable for you?

Also please look at this important information regarding your deposit and your landlord's demands for professional cleaning...

www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection

You need to check that your deposit has been registered with the scheme. It's a legal requirement. Your landlord should have given you a certificate when you moved in to show proof that it's been registered. If your deposit was not registered in the official scheme, then I believe that they are legally obliged to pay you compensation for not doing this. Please read this guidance!!

If your deposit has been correctly registered, then they cannot make deductions from it willy nilly! You do not have to pay for a professional cleaning service and they absolutely cannot penalise you for that.

Please look at the link so that you understand your rights.

I was a lodger for the last two years as I had just moved to London and the rentals market here was a mess. It was only meant to be 6 months but it ended up suiting me fine. I only moved because I felt at my age I should live alone. I did need a deposit but much lower than with a rental however I did not have to buy any furniture. That gives you breathing room to save.

Spare room.com I lived in a room in a family home for years as a Dr as we move annually so couldn't settle. Most 450/500 max a month including bills, allowed me to save for when I stopped moving

Nearly all of my furniture on getting my own rental was free or sub 50quid on Facebook then slowly replaced as I saved up

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professionalresources/legal/homelessnesssapplications/localauthorityyhomelessnessduties/locallauthoritydutyytoprovideeinformationanddadviceonn_homelessness

Please read this link. The council have to give you guidance/advice..... they really don't want you to end up homeless and costing them money, so it's likely that they will help you out with the deposit loan.

Good luck OP!

Yeah but if it's £50 a night that's £1500 a month no bills.
If it's £40 a night it's £1200 no bills etc
No deposit, leave when you want.
Hotels might do lower rates for longer stays.

I've just searched hotels Surrey for 1st-2nd Jan and set the bar to €0-€50 (I'm in Eurozone).

About 4 travel lodges came back as €30 per night (would be less in sterling) and another 4 in the below €40 bracket.

Lots of holiday cottages look for a renter to stay a few months over winter for less rent. They are advertised or asked for on Facebook in my area

I think I’d buy a motor home or rent a caravan

Our very "respected" (ha!) lettings agent said we were undercharging our tenants and that they would tell them the rent was going up by 30% and if they didn't like it could get rid of them and get new tenants in.
I did not hold back in telling them that £150 increase was the maximum i would agree too and if they attempted to turf out the tenants then i would find new agents.
OP, a good tenant is worth their weight to a good landlord. The landlord will end up with all 4 units empty at the same time, which is something they should want to avoid.

OP I think others have suggested it but have you actually looked on spareroom.co.uk, and played around with the search filters? A lot of the rooms are fully furnished, have no deposit required and no minimum term - you can set all the filters to only include what you're looking for.

I'm based in the SW but my work requires me to regularly relocate within the UK for specific projects that might last a couple of months or so, and I've easily found decent places to stay in Woking, Luton and central London through spareroom - none of them required a deposit and all were furnished etc (two even provided clean bedding weekly!) for around £5-700 pcm inclusive of bills. Worth a look as a stopgap until you find yourself something more permanent?

Motorhome off the cards because I can’t drive

another way to move stuff is boxes on a pallet ( you can pick them up for free on any trading estate) a standard pallet is 100x120cm and can be packed up to 120 or even higher, this will easily take 12-16 of those big document boxes lawyers and accountants use ( boxes are strong enough for 12-15kg each) pack your stuff in boxes on the day of collection put pallet ready for collection load on boxes wrap in two or three boxes of clingfilm round and round and round then attach courier label it can be upto 500kg and will cost less than £100
you can get an awful lot of stuff into an estate car with seats folded down as well;
hire at 8am load everything by 10 drive there by 1 just empty everything and have it back by 5pm
take video footage make sure date is on it of how clean it is at end of tenancy
good photos of oven etc

Don't panic!
Has your current landlord put your deposit into a deposit protection scheme or not? Has he told you which scheme he's placed your deposit into?

If so, he will have to pay it back, as long as the place is left clean. This is something you can do yourself (yes, even the oven and the carpet) without it costing too much. Take photos to to prove that it's at least as clean as when you moved in. Remember that he can't charge you for 'reasonable wear and tear'.

If he hasn't followed the rules about using a proper deposit protection scheme, and informing you of the details, he is liable to pay you compensation (and unless he settles before it goes to court, the court costs as well). He won't be able to issue a Section 21 notice to evict you, even if you withhold your rent.

Shelter can explain all of this to you and advise you how to make a claim. See https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_rules

If you have family in Devon, and part of the reason you're moving to that area if for support (for you or for your family members) you may be eligible for help from a local council on bidding for a housing association/ council property, but if not, at least private rented flats may be about half of what you're paying right now. And charity shops and other second-hand furniture places usually offer delivery, for an extra £10-30 depending on the distance.
Good luck!

the agent works for you and was advising their client that their property substantially below market value. What you did with that i info was your prerogative

and if you despised the “”respected” ha letting agent” so much,,,, why didn’t you leave?

thanks so much everyone. I have looked at lodging and at spare room; it’s a really good shout but a lot of places aren’t happy with someone being around constantly / working from home (the latter means I’d be the former).

but I am looking, I promise. I feel less terrible now. I’ve also looked at my local (it’s in London but that’s local enough) credit union and joined.

My landlord is short sighted here. He doesn’t use an agent and I’d hope if he had, they’d have told him what an absurd idea this is because he’s definitely going to end up advertising for four new tenants. He patronises us all a lot - a few weeks ago he told me off for having candles in the flat as they’re dangerous and didn’t I know that??? (I do know that. He must think I’m an idiot)

to answer the questions about registering the deposit - yes he has.

ive also calmed down about the end of tenancy clean. I won’t be doing this. My flat is spotless, I’m really house proud. So that’s that.

You can have boxes shipped to your new address too OP
Pickfords seems to do it but I'm sure others do too - then you could pack all your stuff into boxes, and just take a suitcase of essentials on the train?

https://www.pickfords.co.uk/international-baggage-services?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6t-6BhA3EiwAltRFGHseEZZjkKyeUBaaPVWp8VtVKUlHMpGPWx3gZFIWpLjlgrTRObZF7xoCffYQAvD_BwE

@worriedhidinginplainsight has given some very sound advice. Also I'd like the council to be aware of what your landlord is doing. Those rises don't sound correct to me - some councils are investigating landlords for fraud and other shortcomings. Think if he's done anything else you think is suspect. He's about to become £1800 a month better off. It's immoral even if not illegal

in the past I have moved and then used the boxes as stop gap side tables and shelves. To start you need a place to sleep and a table/desk and chair that can be used for eating, working, and anything else.

I did and the answer was absolutely not - which didn’t surprise me.

@ReallyStuck2024 …a tip for furniture when you get to Devon (and I know you will, your determination shines through.) There is an amazing place in Axminster called ‘The Recycling Shop.’ Fantastic quality second hand furniture, great value and they deliver too - I don’t know how much they charge distance wise.

There’ll be other places like this, people are always binning perfectly good furniture, and Devon has many auction houses that also deliver.

So don’t worry about furniture, just get yourself there. Longer term rentals on Airbnb, especially at this time of year, have some great discounts. I did this for a few months in France!

Good luck!

Hi Op- go and see the housing team at your local council and explain to them what's going on.
They won't help "house" you but they will have internal funds to prevent homelessness (which you will be because you can't afford the rent) which you may be able to access to help with moving costs etc. They are desperate to keep people in private rented accommodation and off social housing waiting lists (and out of emergency/temporary accommodation/on streets). They will be able to help form a personalised housing plan and may even have details of someone who can help in the south West.

Also- dont worry about furniture or cleaners in. I furnished my entire house nearly for free when i moved in on fb marketplace (and subsequent places) and always cleaned it myself. Super easy 😊
Good luck x

Anything Else Suspect should be his middle name. I wrote a post under a different username a while back but he essentially acts like he still lives here and he’s really intrusive. He’s never given any of us 24h notice for a visit (I know he’s meant to), he’s obsessed with the bins outside and he must be looking through them as he doesn’t use them himself - constant comments on how we haven’t flat packed the cardboard correctly etc. he’s SO intrusive and this is why I was looking to move anyway. When I say he finds an excuse to be in my flat 2 x month, I’m not exaggerating.