Single mum high rent

[Topsysmum24]

I don't know what to do. Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

Single mum, 13 year old child. Private rented flat £800 per month, rolling contract. North West. All fine for years, rent has always increased by about £30 per month each year.

Landlord sold the property a few months ago. New landlord is raising the rent to £1200 per month starting next month. Also issued a Section 21 if don't fancy paying the extra £400 per month rent.

I'm a newly qualified health professional starting salary £28407 NHS band 5. I was so pleased when I qualified thinking I'd be able to give my child a better life. Due to how I qualified, my wage goes up to band 6 in a year. I thought I'd been really clever and planned to start saving a deposit for a house. What an idiot I am!

I've been viewing other private rented properties within a 7 mile radius. There aren't many. They are all expensive in terms of average wages even though the areas I'm looking at are very working class, not affluent areas at all. I’ve wasted a lot of my annual leave on viewings already. I've been knocked back from each property due to my income.

I've taken on a part time job in the evenings and weekends to increase my chances but I'm still being knocked back. I'm competing with couples in double income households. I've got no chance.

Because I'm working all the time and with the stress of it all, I'm not performing as well at work. I'm a shit mum, I barely see my child. Barely see friends. I'm not looking after myself, I'm constantly exhausted. And no, there is no one we can live with temporarily. No family.

I've thought about moving to a random place where the rents are cheaper (I know that's always the advice). But as a single mum, uprooting me and my child from everything we've ever known, our friends, school, work, hobbies. It terrifies me. And what if it doesn't work out? What then?

If it was just me, I'd move to a random place in a shitty house share with mould everywhere for a year til I'm able to save up or come up with a plan. Having a child makes it harder. I'm tied to school and it's not fair to keep moving schools, especially in high school. My child is a big part of the school community and is really thriving.

I've thought about using credit cards for living costs but I'm already paying off credit card debt I accrued whilst training. And even if I took out more credit cards, what do I do when the rents increase again in a year's time? I'll have more rent to pay and even more debt payments. I can't keep chasing my tail like this. I want stability.

I've called the council and been through their longwinded homelessness assessments only to be told I'll be waiting 3-4 years for social housing. They said I'd have to wait for a bailiff to physically evict me and my child. I'd be bloody mortified doing that! I'm not perfect but I pride myself on being a decent person who pays their way.

What should I do?

You may get help with the rent, I’d be surprised if you didn’t, go on entitled to website and enter your details.

They will put you in temporary accommodation but you can say you are working in a certain area and they will take that into consideration.

Do you have any local community groups on Facebook for your town or region? I do see posts sometimes by people laying out their situation (eg in your case, NHS worker, single income) and asking if people know of anything at a more reasonable rent. You can do it an anonymously. In our area people have responded very kindly to posts like these saying things like, oh my auntie has a flat but she has hesitated to let it out as it needs painting throughout etc. there might be a lead to a property through something like this.

This. Surely any help is better than none and £300 pm will make things a lot easier and be a better alternative than you having to work more than full time?

Plus things will be a bit easier in a year when you go up to band 6 and isn't there still the 2024 pay rise to add onto your expected salary?

You don't mention your child's father - I assume maintenance from him is a non starter?

Have you looked at social housing in your area. There may be affordable housing schemes for nhs/key workers.

Have you checked if you are paying a fair rent for the property?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fair-rents

It seems a massive increase and I feel for you OP

Do you have a spare bedroom you could sub-let? Not necessarily full time but perhaps locum professionals? I know of a lot of locum social workers for example, who travel long distances for well paying contracts and they stay in b and b’s during the week, going home at weekends. Maybe you could contact a recruitment agency to ask whether they have any specific forums for this?

Do you have kids? Would you move into a house share with your kids?

There's your answer.

OP at least get on the council list. Also contact them for affordable options either buying or shared ownership locally (SO is often far from affordable though, sadly). Sit tight and see what happens if the landlord does evict. He might not and anyway it buys you time. Potentially another six months until you get a court mandated eviction date. See what the council says then. If you need to that's the time to start looking at one bedroom places. Get a 12 month lease on one - the council would be able to guarantor if you run into problems. That's you 18 months of earning, saving and moving up the council list down the line. You'd also be overcrowded at that point which again means you can pressure the council more.

@shellyleppard that's awful advice, and causes stress and wastes the landlords money , are you aware of what it would cost them?
I'm aware the rental market is pretty wild at the moment but, that's not the answer

It's the advice the council will give. In fact, if you don't follow that advice the council will say you are intentionally homeless and are no longer obliged to help you.
it is ridiculous but it's what people have to do.

@Thistooshallpass24 i had to do it a few years ago. Our landlord kicked us out after 7 years of being a tenant. Always paid the rent, never missed any payments. They just decided to kick us out. Also it's what the local housing department told us to do

I've never been in the situation, but I have a friend who's tenant did that and it cost him thousands, I don't understand why it's ok to screw over the landlord.
( I can spell really)

It's not ridiculous, it's how tenancies are set up.

Landlords give notice they want a vacant property. That doesn't mean they just get to kick you out your home. I mean yes, you can say ok, I'll give you your vacant property and choose to surrender the tenancy on the date given notice of. But, you don't have to. The whole thing is bound by legal oversight and if neither party gives up their rights the court will adjudicate (and usually, evict). Only then does a tenant have to go. Notice is just that : notice. It's communication of an intention.

As far as public housing providers are concerned, they can't deem a person homeless until they actually are without a home. A person who is under notice of intention to repossess is, in the meantime, not without a home.

That's why they tell tenants to stay. Because it is their right to do so and a public authority can't be advising individuals to surrender their rights.

Landlords aren't screwed by the law operating as it should. If they don't like how the law operates, they can always not be landlords.

It isn't okay to screw over the landlord. But this landlord in particular has upped the rent with little notice and just in case OP won't roll over and accept it - has issued a section 21. So is threatening OP with few options.
I can't say I wouldn't be tempted to sit tight and follow advice from the council whatever the cost to the landlord. At least then she could be re-homed by them - hopefully at an affordable rent.

I'd do the same. Nothing to lose, possible gain of a secure home.

Maybe the council won't come up with anything suitable. Well, no worse off than when you started in that case, plus you've been on the list and moving up it for a fair few months.

I'm just amazed that's the advice that's given, I was considering letting property, will be doing a lot more research into both side of it.

It’s well known advice.

If you leave before you are forced to (bailiffs) you are intentionally homeless and the council don’t have a duty to house you as a priority. Every housing charity says the same thing - don’t leave until you are removed if you have nowhere else to go. At that point, you have been made homeless and are a priority to be housed by the local authority.

I wasn't thinking about starting next week, but will definitely be doing more research.

Do you think any landlord cares about a tenants personal circumstances though.

They are always going to charge the market rate. And they can always get a new tenant.

It's about business. Not about the tenants personal life.

That's the harsh reality.

OP im sorry you're suffering. A lot of people are suffering in renting.

I also pay huge rent for a tiny flat.

Is there any smaller town near you that may be a bit more of a commute, but where rents are cheaper?

The landlord has done nothing wrong. I don’t know where exactly the OP lives in the north west but £1.2K is the market rate for a two bedroom flat in Manchester. If she’s in a cheaper part of the north west she can challenge the rent increase, and possibly win her case if it’s decided the new rent amount isn’t market rate but I suspect it is. The landlord is running a business. Why wouldn’t you charge market rate?

Yeah, probably a good idea if you don't understand it.

It was something I was looking into, I've never claimed to be landlord of the year, I was looking into buying another property. Sorry I'm not renting in crisis or homeless. My experience of this is a good friend got screwed over when he had to sell his property, by thousands of pounds...... But hey ho on Mumsnet all landlords are heartless bastards!

Yeah, best do your research. Start with Google and go on from there.

Likewise a tenant doesn't have to care about a landlord. They just want to keep themselves housed. It's not personal.