Elusive deposit that secures an affordable mortgage
IUSED to think that renting was easier and cheaper than buying. Ten years ago, when husband and I could have walked out of a bank with a 120 per cent mortgage, bought a veritable palace and gone on a round-the-world trip, we instead decided to let an agent/landlord deal with the hassle and expense of keeping a property.
Aside from the fact we might by now have been repossessed (or at least be in huge amounts of negative equity), we've often regretted our decision. Our "home" does not feel like our own. And we've never had a landlord or letting agent treat us with respect, or given us anything like the kind of service our rent should command.
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Over the years, not a penny of those savings has been tapped into to fix, among other things, a broken kitchen sink, broken showers, leaking toilets or faulty boilers. All of those bills were picked up by the landlords, via letting agents. But we've bought paint, decorated, and had carpets fitted, knowing no one else will do it for us and we'd only lose our entire deposit if we don't. We've never (and I mean never) had "reasonable wear and tear" taken into account when moving out, no matter how many years we've lived somewhere.
We've been at our current address for nearly six years, all the while saving for the elusive deposit that will secure an affordable mortgage. We live in hope.
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About four years ago, in early autumn, we reported a leaking sink waste pipe to the agent. We chased them up with numerous phone calls until finally, at the end of November, a plumber visited said: "You need a new sink unit". As we waited for the landlord to approve the expense, we kept a bucket under the sink and constantly mopped the floor.
A week before Christmas, I lost my rag, went into the letting agent office and demanded something be done. We had family coming for Christmas dinner. It simply wasn't good enough.
We heard nothing for days and came home on Christmas Eve to find the sink removed and on the floor and a new one propped up on the side.
I rang the agent's emergency number, was told the new sink unit didn't fit, the old one couldn't be put back and it wouldn't now be sorted until the New Year. Christmas was cancelled and there was nothing we could do about it. And yet we stayed, as the low rent/nice area outweighed the hassle.
But this year it took six months to get a broken shower replaced (yes, six months) and when they did it caught fire, nearly electrocuting the husband. A week later a different plumber came, showed me the burnt-out connector, melted beyond recognition thanks to a badly connected mains cable "sparking" inside the shower unit.
I emailed the letting agent the next morning, convinced they'd be horrified, offer an apology and urgently seek an explanation from their contractor. Almost a week later I received, by reply: "Thank you for letting us know."
Renting is not the easy or cheap option. It's hideous and I can't wait for it to end.
Comments
by GoveKnows
Thursday, November 01 2012, 3:50PM
“"If your landlord/letting agent are not fulfilling the requirements as listed in your contract then you have the right to withhold rent"
You couldn't be more wrong.”
by Spiggett
Thursday, November 01 2012, 2:58PM
“"If your landlord/letting agent are not fulfilling the requirements as listed in your contract then you have the right to withhold rent"
-Not unless contracts have changed drastically since I finally escaped living in renting slums!”
by robynj88
Thursday, November 01 2012, 1:56PM
“oh how stupid. If your landlord/letting agent are not fulfilling the requirements as listed in your contract then you have the right to withhold rent. How silly must you be to live six months without a working shower and pay for the privelige?! What would have been a better story is advice on what to do should this kind of thing happen to you, not just put up with it and then have a moan to the local rag.”
by Bristolexpat
Thursday, November 01 2012, 1:48PM
“I own two properties, same as Redmike they are an investment and considered my retirement fund.
I have never tried to look after them, and pay agents to manage them for me.
I pay their fee and they take the responsibility for finding tenants, passing on rent etc.
As far as I know the agents are as responsible as can be expected and I have always been willing to work with them to provide what is required so as the tenants have as little hassle as possible.
But that is pretty much it. I dont much care who the tenants are, and as long as the agents are running it properly I leave them to it.”
by BristolDJ
Thursday, November 01 2012, 1:16PM
“P.s. EP, the shoddy photoshopping of that photo is actually hilarious. What is this paper becoming!”
by Paulienash
Thursday, November 01 2012, 1:14PM
“Under EU law rental agreements are legally considered to be the same as any contract you enter into. It's been simplified recently, the basic's are you have entered into a legal agreement with a landlord, your end of the deal is to pay the rent as agreed. The landlord's end of the deal is supply with accomadation and the associated services in a "reasonable" manner.
EU contract law is based around whats reasonable, if there is a leaky sink it would be reasonable to expect it to take a few days to sort out. However under EU law the events listed above are unreasonable, therefore you are more than within your rights to stop paying rent and not to pay any further rent until the problem is fixed. You are also entitled to claim compensation.
There was a similar story on here a few weeks back about the Virgin broadband service, its really, really simple if you are not receiving the service you are paying, you simply stop paying until its resolved.
EU contract law is incredibly simple, pretty much anything you buy, rent, lease is covered. As far as I'm aware the only things not currenty covered are council tax, business rates, income tax, etc.
120pc mortgages were ony available from about 2002 - 2008, when I applied for my first mortgage in 1999 a 20% deposit was the norm across the industry. I also had to pay £950 upfront for them to process the application and if the application was refused I lost the £950.
I know the current media narrative on the housing market is bad, bad, bad. However if you bought a house in most part of Bristol at the height of the market in 2007 chances are the value of your house has increased about the rate of inflation.”
by redmike
Thursday, November 01 2012, 12:38PM
“lets look at the article again. If you had taken the mortgage out 10 years ago, even with the recent dip in house prices, you would not be in negative equity now. I am fed up with seeing people moaning about how hard it is to raise a deposit. Have a look to see how many have a contract Iphone or Galaxy at £35 a month (£400 year), cable tv at £50 a month (£600 year) and eat countless takaways and drive around in new cars. I rent a house to provide for retirement and as such do without certain things now. I find that most tenants are fine for 2 years then think they own the house and start playing up, inviting friends to stay, carry out "improvements". Stop getting at Landlords, if you do become relaxed and allow the tenant more liberties, all they do is take the P***.”
by BristolDJ
Thursday, November 01 2012, 11:58AM
“The previous poster is right. If you let landlords take the proverbial out of you then it's a disaster. I have had two landlords, one amazing and one useless. The useless one had calls from the local authority and I threatened legal action and witheld rent when problems became unanswered. Compensation and amazing service followed! Just keep at them and find out your rights!”
by ooojamaflip
Thursday, November 01 2012, 11:33AM
“Why are you telling the evening post?? Contact your local environmental health officer or the council's tennancy relations officer. The landlord can be fined or even given a criminal record in cases such as these. It is up to you to make a fuss, if you don't then they will keep taking you for granted. I complained about an old landlord once (about noise from work that was going on next door in a property they also owned) and we came to a mutually beneficial agreement.
http://tinyurl.com/aujbwx7”
by Spiggett
Thursday, November 01 2012, 10:44AM
“Most Landlords are worse than the Mafia...”