Feeling so tired of having FA money

[BrokeAF23]

Just want to rant/feel some solidarity as I don’t like talking about this in real life.

I work FT and landlord as of a few months ago raised the rent by a considerable amount. I’ve cut my cloth considerably, single parent (childcare fees) dad is totally out the picture.

I just want to be able to breathe

Me too it doesn’t seem worth living any more, it’s fucking shit 😢.

Yeah, I know how you feel. The only positive is my beautiful daughter! Even on the toughest days, when she says, ‘I love you mummy’ I feel like I can and must fight for us!

It must be horrible when the landlord can just do that. Private renting should be much more controlled

Private renting is controlled. You can go to trivianal if you think your rent is too high

*tribunal

Is private renting controlled in the UK? From reading about all the rent increases people are suffering, it doesn't seem that way.

OP are you getting universal credit? If you're renting and paying for childcare, you might be entitled even if you earn quite a high salary. If not, use an online calculator to check. Even if the award is low, every little helps and could mean you're entitled to extra cost of living support - there's recently been some quite substantial payouts but if you're not currently claiming, you might have missed out on these.

Other thing to do is ruthlessly go through your budget and question every expense. If you manage to cut a few costs down it can start to free up a noticeable amount of extra money.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

I'm sorry OP. I think for large parts of the population with no mortgages and savings which are benefitting from increased interest rates there is a big divide in experience and awareness currently. It is scary to be in a place where you are unsure how you can manage another increase and exhausting watching every penny. I hope you've got some real life support.

I had no idea about the tribunal option for rent increases - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/challenging-a-rent-increase/

How interesting. I don't know how well or fast it works but it is definitely worth exploring for those whose landlords are being unreasonable

The process is probably OK in particular circumstances but I don't think it's intended for the average Joe(sephine) where the landlord has put up the rent in line with market conditions. When the Assured Shorthold Tenancy was introduced a large part of the rationale was deregulatory and intended to decontrol a market landlords were unwilling to enter. I've certainly never heard of S13 being used except perhaps in cases of disrepair and landlord neglect.

What should be in the headlines, but is not, is the extent to which the amount payable in Universal Credit (or legacy Housing Benefit) for rent is less than the market rate. This is because the government has not allowed the ceiling amount, prescribed by Local Housing Allowance, to be uprated except once at the start of the pandemic. Even then, because of the way LHA rates are set, they reflect the cheapest end of the market across whole cities.

Since interest rates are lower than inflation those with savings are seeing their savings decline in spending power

Where once you might have had 6 months savings to see you through a rough time you now might only have 5 months savings