Frustrating process of trying to rent - is this normal?

[GoingDownLikeBHS]

I'm in my 60s renting for the first time, so quite a scary prospect. It's in an area where demand is not as high as some areas (e.g., I know things are dire in London). Rents still ridiculous but anyway, I've begun the process, found a house I like, have lots of questions but was told landlord liked us best (met him, he's from same town as us) so we are "first" in line. Since then the agency are pressing for the deposit, but it's become clear that any questions I ask they just don't know. A sort of take it or leave it attitude, for example they wouldn't let me see a sample contract before the deposit was paid.

There's quite a few minor issues with the property - both showers are more of a trickle than a full shower, need replacing really but will "do", kitchen needs a good clean, there's no storage, there's an awful conservatory that's all glass attached to the only door to the main sitting room and no curtains so its going to make that room super hot, there's no white goods and the existing fitting for the washing machine looks like its going to need a plumber in and the agent has given a few conflicting answers about the broadband (nothing existing) but I'm thinking that these are all things you could put up with for the right location and size etc, and some things that landlord can't reasonably fix?

Finally they now say they're only offering a 6 month AST, so I could get everything sorted out and then be asked to leave in 6 months. So is all this normal, is it me being naive? The agent just wants the money, I realise that, but they are really obstructive and offhand and I just think do I really want to pay all this money for somewhere that doesn't even have a decent shower! If I ask more questions etc they just say "we have other people who want this house".

Is this par for the course?

Unfortunately that's been my experience. We've rented houses that haven't been great just because of the competition to get anywhere. If the showers aren't great now, I wouldn't expect the landlord to be fixing them so keep that in mind.
As for the 6 months, sometimes this is to protect the landlord i think so they can get the property back if a tenant trashes it. But yes after 6 months they could ask you to leave.

In my experience they also like the 6 month AST because they charge everything again to renew (landlord these days, but still)

If you have the landlord's contact details, and they seemed friendly, it might be worth asking - it's hard though, sometimes that annoys them more than it helps because they think you'll be a demanding tenant.

Yes it is and renting is getting worse. Sadly you can't be picky when looking for a rental, it's awful but that's how it is

@ICanSeeMyHouseFromHere - I don't have his details yet, but I can see how he might quickly form the opinion that I am "demanding", because the agency will probably tell him that! I think if he was stood in front of me we'd get these issues cleared up in 5 minutes.

And yes that 6 month thing I heard that agencies do it as it means they can charge a set of fees again? I'm paying 6 months up front.

Sounding like it's all par for the course nowadays then. I always like to give agents the benefit of the doubt, I don't want to just stereotype them (or landlords) but its hard to keep that attitude up!

That's why it would be better to do in a call/face to face, so they can tell that you're just asking, not demanding.

I'm both a renter and a landlord, and whilst I rent through an agency, I find that they're not great at passing on messages, let alone nuance!

My tenants for example are great - if there's something up, they'll ping me, and ask if I want them to get the agency to sort it, or if I have some other way I want to do it, and that way it works for both of us and whatever it is gets fixed in the best way. Previous tenants only went through the agent, so I often never even heard if they wanted to have a longer contract or if there was some little thing that I could have easily fixed which was upsetting them.

My landlord however only replaces stuff when it's absolutely dead - and that's pretty common - eg. in a previous place the door to the conservatory was a plate glass, non-safety door - drafty and scared me witless with a toddler in the house - but he wasn't going to replace it until it totally stopped working (or the ancient washer/dryer which randomly decided if it was going to work/boilwash/dry). And I was charged for spiders webs on a light fitting that were definitely there when I moved in (make sure your move in report is thorough)

To be honest, none of those things sound like something for the landlord other than the plumbing issue. If the other stuff isn’t suitable look for alternatives.

Yes it's normal for agents to know nothing. But also normal for the reality to be that the agent is only employed to find and secure tenants, and the day-to-day relationship will be between the tenant and the actual landlord.

Repairs in rentals are notoriously slow. If I were you, I'd try and find a property that initially at least does not have as many problems/issues. Later on the boiler may fail, and the landlord will have to deal with that, but it's better to start with everything (as much as possible) working properly.

Completely agree

Although the kitchen should be clean

Three years ago it was nothing like this. It has got increasingly worse. Now LLs don't provide white goods, ovens, curtain rails, I even had one who did a complete refurb and didn't install toilet rolls or bathroom shelves above sinks too small to hold hand soap.

I have been asked to submit closed bids. I have been asked to provide a guarantor AND six months deposit (and we have extraordinary high credit ratings). For my current house, we had to send them three months bank statements and they explicitly said 'with nothing blacked out', which is apparently legal. We had to also provide our full credit reports, not just allow a credit check. 150 pages between the pair of us. All of this is apparently legal.

What's not legal is them refusing to provide you with a draft AST before you put a deposit down. We had one refuse to do that and we walked away from the rental. We had another concede but when I disputed several points (I didn't want 5 inspections in the first year, I wouldn't agree to professionally clean a shared 200 year drive on leaving) they simply told me they thought I should look for another house because this one wasn't suited to me. It then took a bit of wrangling to get the deposit back, I threatened them with court.

So in answer to your question, yes, this is now perfectly normal, albeit absolutely outrageous behaviour these days.

See I am trying to convince myself I can live with all that. Although I will ask for a clean before move in and ask him to check the showers. I can't ask him to demolish the "conservatory" though!

This is all standard, why would there be broadband already/the agent know about it? this is your responsibility to get, as are white goods more often than not. If the washing machine plumbing isn’t standard fittings then the landlord should sort that.

Never rented like this and haven't lived alone for over 30 years so it's a bit scary and I don't trust my own judgement. Am I being swayed by the nice area? Would most people put up with this stuff?

By the way, despite being asked for it several times, I don't actually think it's legal for them to take six months rent upfront.

I believe all they are allowed in law is five weeks deposit.

This particular agency seem to be a bit more disreputable than a lot I have come across. Most have unreasonable aspects but to refuse a draft AST and insist on six months in advance to boot has my red flag heckles up. It means your future dealings with them are likely to be unreasonable too.

I would try to hold out for a less shitty agent. It's not the LL, it's the agent.

Yup, sounds completely normal. And not recently either, we rented 2005-2015ish and it was exactly like that. Properties are not kept in good condition and you're lucky if you get a landlord who fixes things. Agencies give even less of a shit than the landlord, because they don't care about the property at all so long as they get paid.

You might get the landlord to do something about the showers, but I doubt it. Check the washing machine is included in the inventory, often they're not and will be your responsibility (we had our own). You return the property in the state you found it, so take photos to prove it was dirty. Take photos anyway when you move in, you'll need them as evidence to get your deposit back. If you want a curtain you put that up (assuming the landlord allows you to put up a curtain rail). Broadband is your concern.

I hated renting and dread ever having to again.

Regarding the showers, is it just limescale in the shower heads or low water pressure from the street being the norm which cannot be changed much or does the whole system need a pump to improve it?!
Some landlords actually like tenants that look after the place and improve it and stay for a long time. Agents love to charge renewal fees.

Just to add, this does sound like a particularly shitty agency/landlord. I would look elsewhere if you're not desperate - some are better than others. We had two decent ones and two nightmares.

It’s perfectly legal for a landlord to ask for six months rent upfront, so long as the next rent payment isn’t due until six months later. That way it’s rent in advance, not a deposit. Subsequent rental payments are usually monthly.

Ok, thanks for clarifying.

@GoingDownLikeBHS Rent a much newer house. Do not move into an unclean one. Always get a moving in condition survey. If the landlord has not fixed things, don’t expect them to. Decent ones do fix things. Move into somewhere with everything clean and working! Then you have a decent landlord . This one will drive you nuts.

(Shower trickle is probably lime scale on jets).

Also - are you on your own? Why do you need two showers? Neither of which work!

I’m with disabled DD20 and older DD22 so we need at least 2 toilets and with two bathrooms this seemed like a good choice. Most rooms have been re-carpeted and painted and they’re fine with my dog, near station and shops, nice garden, near beach. You can see why I’m keen to believe it’s “Ok”!

Being okay with your dog is a really significant issue, and would swing it for me to take it. DS is now 13, we've never had a pet growing up, because landlords won't allow. Things like station, beach and shops matter. Two bathrooms is great if it's only a three bed, many properties won't have that. Other things, like those you've listed as issues can be changed, or you adapt and cease to notice stuff.

There are likely to be issues in almost any rental. Last time I was looking about 2.5 years ago (and it took 5 or 6 months to get somewhere, it was incredibly stressful) there was always stuff like worn, stained carpets (I buy massive cheapish Ikea rugs), also crappy conservatory (I just lived as if it wasn't there), dirty (I take loads of photos, then clean!) The one before my current house had a shower which was just a dribble; we couldn't rinse our hair under it, so we sat in the bath and tipped jugs over our head for the years we lived there. They fix major things, like the kitchen window not opening, and the roof letting in water.

There's what should be reasonable expectations, what you lawfully you can expect, and then there's reality.

@Murpe is right, a LL allowing a dog is a big thing not to be overlooked. I have found that people with scruffier houses and people with countryside homes are more likely to allow pets than those with pristine houses or those in towns or cities.