Landlady accepted offer yesterday but now leaning towards another made today

[helpadvice]

Hi I'd really appreciate some advice here

DH is having to move away for work for the next year and I plan on carrying on working in my role until next summer to be with him.

We found a studio flat for him which I went to look at on Wednesday afternoon. It's tiny and only has a single bed but DH is 6'6 so I asked if landlady would be able to move the bed out so that we could fit in a sofa bed. Also ideally needs a chest of drawers to move out in order for sofa bed to be able to be pulled out.

Asked agent all this yesterday and he confirmed that the landlady had agreed and that our offer had been accepted. I asked if there would be a break clause (just in case DH not happy in a few months but it was me just checking but wasn't a deal breaker). Agent said he would come back to me today

I hadn't heard back from agent today but at 18.10 picked up an email sent at 17.10 saying that the landlady doesn't want a break clause and that she has received another offer for 18 months contract, no furniture to be moved and so she is leaning towards that.

I am so gutted as I had believed that the offer had been accepted so really unsure why the agent showed it to someone else. Is there anything I can do? I have offered to move the furniture ourselves if need be but just on an email. No idea when I'm going to hear back

I feel totally sick as it means DH has nowhere to live and even though it's tiny it's exactly where he wanted to be, any ideas of what I can do?

The studio flat doesn’t sound really suitable for your DH tbh. Think about it from the landlords point of view, your DH is already asking for furniture to be moved ( which might incur a cost for the landlord to store ready for the next renter) and presumably you and your DH are not professional movers so have no insurance when moving stuff and where were you going to take the furniture anyway? You’ve signalled that he might not be staying long by asking about a break clause, and he’ll want to move out next summer anyway when you join him. Perhaps the landlord also worries that you’ll be visiting and the two of you will be squashed into the studio flat. Alternatively the landlord has an offer for someone else to take it as it is and they definitely want it for 18 months. The other person offering might have seen it before you did but have only just made the offer.
Which would you pick if you were the landlord?

Are you really surprised?

If it was a friend you were renting from that's different, but a landlord is running a business

I think I’d email back saying you don’t want the break clause, not to worry about the furniture, and you’ll pay an extra £10 a month if the landlady goes with you. Explain you are desperate and say you had turned down opportunities to view other properties as you believed your offer had been accepted on this. Beg, basically, and appeal to their better nature. Good luck!

Nothing has been signed so the landlady can pick who she pleases and realistically who would you pick .

I agree with all three of the above replies!

This. The rental market is brutal at the moment! We were trying to rent last autumn and even when we offered the first six months rent upfront and an extra £100 a month, we were still rejected because someone else offered more. And that was just for a shitty 2 bed in a fairly shitty area (we were desperate). Hope you get it sorted op!

It could be that wit the furniture request and break clause request, she's thinking you're going to be tricky to deal with - I'm a LL and I'd probably go with the other person only because they definitely want it long term, whereas you may not - handovers cost money so its in her best interests unfortunately.

This

Mine were considering another offer after agent took my holding deposit, so nothing's confirmed until contract signed.