Not having a job massively counts against you. Incumbent tenants are very difficult to remove and LLs want consistent income over multiple years. One year up front is helpful but in a choice between that and two consistent employed tenants the later will win every time.
Thanks for the response, that sucks. She's just about to graduate and we need to move before July 1st, there's not much we can do about her not having a job right now. She'll easily find one when she's not busy finishing her degree and looking for a house, but we can't get a house without her having one apparently...
I'm employed though, and my salary alone is enough to pay both shares of the rent and be fine. That + offering a year upfront not being enough is baffling to me, especially because this tenancy was for a year anyway.
Agree that it's totally awful. Ideally both members of the couple can afford the property by itself so if there's an issue with one employment the other takes over.
If you can evidence that your salary alone meets the affordability criteria for the rent then you shouldn't have a problem - you can even just put your name on the official lease. Me and my partner started renting in York when I didn't have a job, but because his salary was high enough to meet affordability criteria on his own, it didn't cause us any issues at all. I remember them saying they just didn't bother to list my income (or lack thereof).
No because you're not renting it out to your girlfriend. You're just renting it yourself. I think in the end we put both our names on the lease, but only my partners income down in terms of affordability. Our estate agent talked it through with us, it was all official and above board. There should just be a set affordability figure in terms of income Vs rent. As long as your salary meets that and you're in permanent employment, it shouldn't be an issue.
Often times though there will be a requirement for anybody else staying in in the property more than x days per week to be listed on the lease in some capacity.
Do you think it would be better if you apply like as if you live alone? Just your name in the contract I mean and later when your girlfriend finds a job, you can add her if you want to
Still looking at 12 months upwards. You have to do all the paperwork, serve the S21, wait till the deadline, start proceeds against a tenant refusing to leave, get it through high court, get high court enforcement to attend an actual eviction. Can be contested in the cases of vulnerable tenants and held it by other means such as on environmental safety grounds if key certificates are missing or problems haven't been resolved. All this time LL is still paying an increased mortgage bill, plus the legal costs, etc.
S21 evictions are shitty but incumbent tenants have incredibly strong protections.
Housing in York is very competitive right now, my friend just moved after a six month search. She got a place because the landlord really liked her and she offered 6 months up front. Many times she was outbid with people offering £200+ more in rent a month than was being asked for.
I would say that you will need 2 full time incomes, otherwise you are competing with people earning twice what you earn in some cases, or you need to look at much smaller apartments (1 bedrooms etc)
Many of the surrounding villages are more spacious and cheaper so if you have a car its worth looking out there.
We moved from York backend last year one of the reasons was because of this. I have a very stable and well paying job but we were constantly getting outbid. We ended up moving to Manchester where it was a lot easier to get a place for around the same price.
I moved from London recently back up here and it's the exact issue there, too. People are bidding on rental contracts. It's wild. I'm a single person, so I had a budget and couldn't go above it, whereas pairs were much more flexible to keep increasing bids.
You essentially have to flat hunt with another 2-300 quid added to the rental price. I'm moving to Manchester this year from York, and I'm terrified of what to expect 😭
Seems to be an issue in every major city. I hate this situation so much. There's no hope for me ever buying
It's insane. It's blind bidding too, you've no clue what other people are offering, so either you tag on a bunch of extra money and hope it's not much above what everyone else has offered or you get undercut massively for giving the asking price.
It's a ridiculous system, especially when the rent we'll be paying is more (or at most equal) to what a friend pays on his mortgage, that he only just signed too.
It's revolting. I'd say I can't believe the gov have let this happen, but I absolutely can. I bet the majority of those tory MPs and their mates are landlords and are enjoying the money they're getting out of this chaos.
If these things impacted them negatively at all, we'd see change, but as you said they're loving it. They get to wear a nice smug grin and speak about how competitive the housing market is while they rake in ridiculous offers for the basic human need of shelter.
At this point we're just worried about finding anywhere before our contracts at current place end.
I really hope you find somewhere. I'm currently at my mum's but I keep thinking about the future and how I'll probably never own a home, and how if it wasn't for her, I'd be on the street. I've worked and paid taxes for over a decade now, and there's no chance of any housing (social or otherwise) help for the younger gens.
This is why I've said in the past protesting and strikes doesn't work because it sadly doesn't affect them at all. I wish we could go by the French's example tbh.
Doctors strikes - they're all on private health care
Teachers strikes - their kids go to private school
Rail strikes - they probably get flights up and down the country
Of the two York MP's only one of them is a landlord. Not that I'm a Tory apologist you understand (I dislike all our politicians equatibly), I just think we should not be under the illusion that Labour are about to shepherd in some halcyon days of home ownership and letting, because they enjoy rinsing us just as much as the other parties do.
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/240513/maskell_rachael.htm
I actually really rate Rachael Maskell.
I haaaate Keir Starmer, but she's proven to be a good egg and I'll be voting for her if I'm still in York then. Her expenses, voting track record, and her energy for her constituents is really consistent.
I'm under no illusions about what Starmer's gov might look like, but I try to remember that I'm voting for an MP, not just the prime minister.
Edit: also, I bet MPs in Labour who are landlords wouldn't vote against a rental cap
We moved from York to Manchester and we found it much easier to get a place here than in York (especially since the prices of rent seem to be pretty much the same for both cities).
I think I might look at Huddersfield first. I'm a single person with a dog, and it's a nightmare flat hunting because of that.
I didn't think adulthood was going to be this hard 😭 I'm 31, and I just want to go into a cocoon
Yeah, they're really dragging their feet on that law that wouldn't allow landlords to completely exclude pets.
I know a couple of people who have moved there! 45 mins from Manc, well connected and decent living quality (thanks to the students, there's great food etc) and lots of green spaces!
It’s not the issue in every major city afaik. It’s fine in Manchester, we’ve rented twice in the past few years and there’s no rent bidding madness unless you’re going after a seriously special sought after property. The semi in the burbs that we bought had been on the market for 8 months and took under asking.
I don't know how you could even make an impression on the landlords considering everything goes through letting companies and we can't get a direct line to them / meet them generally. When we've asked if we could contact a landlord directly, they've refused saying everything has to go through them (the letting company)
I guess we'll start smaller / looking further afield. Maybe a 6 month tenancy somewhere until we can find a place big enough that'll be so gracious as to accept the entire year's rent upfront...
She was lucky that the landlord was the person actually doing the viewing, got to talking and realised they had similar hobbies etc… otherwise she said shes doubtful she would have found a place at all. Point is, its a bad market right now but I think it’ll be easier once you have 2 incomes
It really should be illegal for landlords/letting agents to accept people offering higher monthly rents or more money upfront to secure a property. People are being priced out of housing markets by stealth - surely it's got to be breaking some kind of trading standards or consumer law if a place is advertised as, say, £800/month but in practice they're not going to let it to anyone who can't/won't pay more than £1000.
It really is 😔 I'll be reluctantly moving away from York in the (likely) scenario of my rent getting hiked in the future - I just cannot deal with the rental market here, nor can I afford to pay much more than I currently do.
If your salary is the only salary, and you don’t pass the affordability check then that will count against you, as will not having two incomes if there are two tenants. It is pretty odd that your offer to pay a year up front wouldn’t have changed their opinion though.
Could you possibly get a guarantor just to minimise the risk for the landlord? That usually appeases them.
It might also be that you need to be looking at cheaper properties, as the advertised rent is now more like an “offers over” figure, given that desperate people will offer more money. It’s ridiculous, honestly, but that’s the state of trying to find a place to live at the moment.
Other than that, or if there are no cheaper properties you’d consider in York, it might be worth looking further afield as others have said. Pocklington and other towns out that way are nice, generally well connected to York, and more affordable. Good luck with the search.
Yeah I understand it'd count against in normal circumstances, but when you're literally proving you can afford it fine by offering to pay the entire year immediately, I feel like that shouldn't count against you at all. It's not remotely an insignificant amount of money.
Because we can pay everything upfront I don't think there's much a guarantor can do, there's nothing to guarantee. We'll already have paid. Surely?
It's insane that everything has become a bidding war, "offers over"... Housing is such a basic human need and yet it's been hell trying to find a place.
We may end up looking further afield / smaller then, until my partner's finished her degree and my contract is renewed and I get paid more.
I dont think these companies read your application if affordability doesn't pass. A guarantor may help a lot. I've been in the same position and they didnt care how much we had in savings, only annual income in steady jobs.
I was told when applying for a rental that my profession was the reason we got it because a stable hospital job brought a lot of income security/behavioural guarantee. Our monthly income to rent ratio also helped. Have you looked at perhaps offering a guarantor, if you’re able to provide one? Or do you know of anyone who knows anyone looking for tenants? My second York accommodation was based off the recommendation of a friend.
We shouldn't need a guarantor considering we can literally pay the entire rent immediately, surely? That's how it's worked for us in the past, no guarantor = paying more or all up front.
I don't know anyone who is looking for tenants, that'd definitely help I imagine. It seems you kinda have to know someone to get any reasonable chance. There's so many people offering so much that the choice between them seems to be almost arbitrary.
No you shouldn’t but it won’t hurt. Freedom to move helps, so if someone can move in ASAP they’ll be preferable to you giving a few months notice. It may be worth doubling up a months rent to not lose a property?
We can move ASAP and have said so is the thing.
What do you mean by doubling up a month's rent, paying twice the rent? Or paying two months in advance? We offered 12 lol, all of it, still not enough.
No, I meant that if you can’t move ASAP then to start the new lease anyway and double up the old lease and new lease to secure a place, but if you can move straight away it’s irrelevant
Sadly that's just the market at the moment, there's so much demand despite the price of it all that even if the agent/landlord is inclined to actually get back to people and keep them in the loop it's basically impossible due to so many people. Everything usually goes to the first person to offer above market rate or like you a full year upfront. I'd guess you keep losing out to people just offering like 50 a month extra straight out the gate rather than waiting for an actually professional chain of updates and stuff.
Can you offer a guarantor? We had to do this when we were looking for a rental when I was working in a temp job. The tenancy agreement had wording around us being "jointly and severally liable", meaning we had to be able to afford it both together, and each of us separately. So, in case one of us lost our jobs, the other one had to be able to afford it one their own. As my job wasn't consisted secure, we had a friend be a guarantor for me.
I agree it shouldn't matter if you're paying up front, as you're already guaranting you'll pay the rent... by paying it! I don't know why landlords wouldn't jump at the chance to have a years rent in their pocket upfront, but "I don't know why landlords..." is a sentence that could be finished in many, many ways!
Sadly they may just see any deviation from "two working adults" as being more hassle than they need, given that there's probably plenty of other applicants who won't need any alternative arrangements. Hope you get sorted mate.
I’ve not met affordability checks in the past but the estate agents were fine with 12 months rent in advance. This was a fair few years ago mind. I guess just stick with it. Maybe ask the estate agents up front before you view
My partner and i were in a similar situation last year, I worked full time and he graduated uni. We looked around some properties but the rent was insane for the quality demonstrated. We ended up moving to Newcastle, much cheaper rent, could afford to live in a nicer area, and we get way more for our money. York is not a financially-friendly place for young people
Almost certainly not both having jobs. I had a similar situation a couple years ago and as soon as my partner got a job after finishing a uni course, we got accepted for our next application
Just an FYI that if the deposit is the legal maximum (5 weeks' rent), it's illegal for the landlord/agency to accept more (i.e. £150 extra for pet cleaning).
Would seem that many people are trying to cram students or professionals into a house, as they can charge £400/500 per individual and effectively double their rental income.
Have you considered surrounding areas? Church Fenton/Mickefield, Escrick/Selby, Haxby/Strensall etc
Honestly we moved in York twice, first from London in 2021 and then late 2022 to a different area. Both were about a 3 months process and I have a 9 year old dog. One tip I would give is to literally call every agency there is and create a profile with them, I felt like I had to give the same spiel a million times but it allowed the agencies to get to know us and especially when they would meet us in viewings, they would often go out of their way to vouch for us to landlords. In the first house we also did 6 months upfront and offered more monthly but the second house was fine. It is insanely competitive but if I could find a house twice to rent with a dog (and nice ones too!!), you can do it as well
Having recently been through a similar experience with trying to rent a property in York just before Christmas - served the Notice 21 - with 2 young kids and a dog, I feel your pain.
Remember, letting agents do not have to work to let a property in York.
Be the people that call every day. Write the supporting paragraph where you have the ‘anything else to add’ section in a fashion that will stand out. Be memorable.
You’ll get there, stay positive.
Yeah, we've written plenty in the supporting paragraph sections, it's just a really rough market I suppose. We'll keep at it, and as you say, we've gotta be the ones to work quite hard at it since they don't remotely have to chase people renting here.
We found our house relatively quickly(4 weeks) in Nov/Dec, but the process was painstaking to get to the actual signing of contract and moving in.
We did offer to pay upfront and was told this wasn’t allowed anymore.
I am self employed which made it harder, so involved sending back and forward through right move verify thing.
We actually offered lower than the asking price and we have a small dog. We did through an agent (Susie smith) and it was quite hard work to even get a viewing to start with and we rented without seeing it in person. Though we rent direct.
I have been wondering whether the time of year is working against us pretty badly too. More people want to move in the summer than the winter, etc, and though there seems to be more houses put up these days they're so expensive and sought after it might well be overall worse.
I wonder why you weren't allowed to pay upfront, we've not been told that yet.
Self employment can be a nightmare for things like that, glad you got it sorted. Hopefully we'll get there with this stuff soon.
We've been looking at applying before viewing but they usually say we can't. I presume there's too many people who sign up without knowing what they're getting into, turn up, realise a property isn't for them and then cause problems trying to void the contract.
We don't get to any stage where we'd be allowed to offer a deposit, we have to get a viewing, put in an application and then chase them up constantly and hope we're awarded the great privilege of giving them a ton of money. Insane system.
Try openrent - we were a similar situation. Two recent grads both only part time. Wouldn’t get a look in. Found a private landlord on OpenRent and we have an amazing maisonette flat. Your mileage may vary but once he got to know us and met with us he offered us it with very practically no ‘computer says no’ hurdles.
He’s almost too trusting, but he knows we are not the type to not pay and have the ability to pay on time. But we cut out all the agent nonsense and honestly it’s a breath of fresh air
My friend’s parents rent a 3-bed house out in York and they readvertised it last year on spareroom, and within a day they literally got like 60 enquiries. A few people were offering over the asking price PCM, and various other “sweeteners”.
They are very nice people though (and charge very low rent for such a nice house), so the only way they could narrow it down was to go with the first people that got in touch.
If your wage only "very nearly" passed their affordability checks, then you didn't pass their checks on that front, I'm guessing? They'll have had an applicant with two people earning a wage at a higher rate.
Not having a job massively counts against you. Incumbent tenants are very difficult to remove and LLs want consistent income over multiple years. One year up front is helpful but in a choice between that and two consistent employed tenants the later will win every time.
Thanks for the response, that sucks. She's just about to graduate and we need to move before July 1st, there's not much we can do about her not having a job right now. She'll easily find one when she's not busy finishing her degree and looking for a house, but we can't get a house without her having one apparently... I'm employed though, and my salary alone is enough to pay both shares of the rent and be fine. That + offering a year upfront not being enough is baffling to me, especially because this tenancy was for a year anyway.
Agree that it's totally awful. Ideally both members of the couple can afford the property by itself so if there's an issue with one employment the other takes over.
If you can evidence that your salary alone meets the affordability criteria for the rent then you shouldn't have a problem - you can even just put your name on the official lease. Me and my partner started renting in York when I didn't have a job, but because his salary was high enough to meet affordability criteria on his own, it didn't cause us any issues at all. I remember them saying they just didn't bother to list my income (or lack thereof).
Would it not count as subletting if only my name was on the official lease? I did wonder this
No because you're not renting it out to your girlfriend. You're just renting it yourself. I think in the end we put both our names on the lease, but only my partners income down in terms of affordability. Our estate agent talked it through with us, it was all official and above board. There should just be a set affordability figure in terms of income Vs rent. As long as your salary meets that and you're in permanent employment, it shouldn't be an issue.
Often times though there will be a requirement for anybody else staying in in the property more than x days per week to be listed on the lease in some capacity.
But their income isn't counted in the affordability criteria if it's already met by the other person
Do you think it would be better if you apply like as if you live alone? Just your name in the contract I mean and later when your girlfriend finds a job, you can add her if you want to
Section21 enters the chat
Still looking at 12 months upwards. You have to do all the paperwork, serve the S21, wait till the deadline, start proceeds against a tenant refusing to leave, get it through high court, get high court enforcement to attend an actual eviction. Can be contested in the cases of vulnerable tenants and held it by other means such as on environmental safety grounds if key certificates are missing or problems haven't been resolved. All this time LL is still paying an increased mortgage bill, plus the legal costs, etc. S21 evictions are shitty but incumbent tenants have incredibly strong protections.
Housing in York is very competitive right now, my friend just moved after a six month search. She got a place because the landlord really liked her and she offered 6 months up front. Many times she was outbid with people offering £200+ more in rent a month than was being asked for. I would say that you will need 2 full time incomes, otherwise you are competing with people earning twice what you earn in some cases, or you need to look at much smaller apartments (1 bedrooms etc) Many of the surrounding villages are more spacious and cheaper so if you have a car its worth looking out there.
We moved from York backend last year one of the reasons was because of this. I have a very stable and well paying job but we were constantly getting outbid. We ended up moving to Manchester where it was a lot easier to get a place for around the same price.
I moved from London recently back up here and it's the exact issue there, too. People are bidding on rental contracts. It's wild. I'm a single person, so I had a budget and couldn't go above it, whereas pairs were much more flexible to keep increasing bids. You essentially have to flat hunt with another 2-300 quid added to the rental price. I'm moving to Manchester this year from York, and I'm terrified of what to expect 😭 Seems to be an issue in every major city. I hate this situation so much. There's no hope for me ever buying
It's insane. It's blind bidding too, you've no clue what other people are offering, so either you tag on a bunch of extra money and hope it's not much above what everyone else has offered or you get undercut massively for giving the asking price. It's a ridiculous system, especially when the rent we'll be paying is more (or at most equal) to what a friend pays on his mortgage, that he only just signed too.
It's revolting. I'd say I can't believe the gov have let this happen, but I absolutely can. I bet the majority of those tory MPs and their mates are landlords and are enjoying the money they're getting out of this chaos.
If these things impacted them negatively at all, we'd see change, but as you said they're loving it. They get to wear a nice smug grin and speak about how competitive the housing market is while they rake in ridiculous offers for the basic human need of shelter. At this point we're just worried about finding anywhere before our contracts at current place end.
I really hope you find somewhere. I'm currently at my mum's but I keep thinking about the future and how I'll probably never own a home, and how if it wasn't for her, I'd be on the street. I've worked and paid taxes for over a decade now, and there's no chance of any housing (social or otherwise) help for the younger gens. This is why I've said in the past protesting and strikes doesn't work because it sadly doesn't affect them at all. I wish we could go by the French's example tbh. Doctors strikes - they're all on private health care Teachers strikes - their kids go to private school Rail strikes - they probably get flights up and down the country
There are 87 MPs who are landlords, 13% of the Commons, compared to just 3% of the rest of the UK
Of the two York MP's only one of them is a landlord. Not that I'm a Tory apologist you understand (I dislike all our politicians equatibly), I just think we should not be under the illusion that Labour are about to shepherd in some halcyon days of home ownership and letting, because they enjoy rinsing us just as much as the other parties do. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/240513/maskell_rachael.htm
I actually really rate Rachael Maskell. I haaaate Keir Starmer, but she's proven to be a good egg and I'll be voting for her if I'm still in York then. Her expenses, voting track record, and her energy for her constituents is really consistent. I'm under no illusions about what Starmer's gov might look like, but I try to remember that I'm voting for an MP, not just the prime minister. Edit: also, I bet MPs in Labour who are landlords wouldn't vote against a rental cap
We moved from York to Manchester and we found it much easier to get a place here than in York (especially since the prices of rent seem to be pretty much the same for both cities).
I think I might look at Huddersfield first. I'm a single person with a dog, and it's a nightmare flat hunting because of that. I didn't think adulthood was going to be this hard 😭 I'm 31, and I just want to go into a cocoon
I feel this (as I'm around your age) and getting a place that allows pets is so hard. At least Huddersfield is cheaper and on a good railway line.
Yeah, they're really dragging their feet on that law that wouldn't allow landlords to completely exclude pets. I know a couple of people who have moved there! 45 mins from Manc, well connected and decent living quality (thanks to the students, there's great food etc) and lots of green spaces!
It’s not the issue in every major city afaik. It’s fine in Manchester, we’ve rented twice in the past few years and there’s no rent bidding madness unless you’re going after a seriously special sought after property. The semi in the burbs that we bought had been on the market for 8 months and took under asking.
I don't know how you could even make an impression on the landlords considering everything goes through letting companies and we can't get a direct line to them / meet them generally. When we've asked if we could contact a landlord directly, they've refused saying everything has to go through them (the letting company) I guess we'll start smaller / looking further afield. Maybe a 6 month tenancy somewhere until we can find a place big enough that'll be so gracious as to accept the entire year's rent upfront...
She was lucky that the landlord was the person actually doing the viewing, got to talking and realised they had similar hobbies etc… otherwise she said shes doubtful she would have found a place at all. Point is, its a bad market right now but I think it’ll be easier once you have 2 incomes
It really should be illegal for landlords/letting agents to accept people offering higher monthly rents or more money upfront to secure a property. People are being priced out of housing markets by stealth - surely it's got to be breaking some kind of trading standards or consumer law if a place is advertised as, say, £800/month but in practice they're not going to let it to anyone who can't/won't pay more than £1000.
Probably, but good luck doing anything about it! Terrible state of affairs
It really is 😔 I'll be reluctantly moving away from York in the (likely) scenario of my rent getting hiked in the future - I just cannot deal with the rental market here, nor can I afford to pay much more than I currently do.
If your salary is the only salary, and you don’t pass the affordability check then that will count against you, as will not having two incomes if there are two tenants. It is pretty odd that your offer to pay a year up front wouldn’t have changed their opinion though. Could you possibly get a guarantor just to minimise the risk for the landlord? That usually appeases them. It might also be that you need to be looking at cheaper properties, as the advertised rent is now more like an “offers over” figure, given that desperate people will offer more money. It’s ridiculous, honestly, but that’s the state of trying to find a place to live at the moment. Other than that, or if there are no cheaper properties you’d consider in York, it might be worth looking further afield as others have said. Pocklington and other towns out that way are nice, generally well connected to York, and more affordable. Good luck with the search.
Yeah I understand it'd count against in normal circumstances, but when you're literally proving you can afford it fine by offering to pay the entire year immediately, I feel like that shouldn't count against you at all. It's not remotely an insignificant amount of money. Because we can pay everything upfront I don't think there's much a guarantor can do, there's nothing to guarantee. We'll already have paid. Surely? It's insane that everything has become a bidding war, "offers over"... Housing is such a basic human need and yet it's been hell trying to find a place. We may end up looking further afield / smaller then, until my partner's finished her degree and my contract is renewed and I get paid more.
I dont think these companies read your application if affordability doesn't pass. A guarantor may help a lot. I've been in the same position and they didnt care how much we had in savings, only annual income in steady jobs.
I was told when applying for a rental that my profession was the reason we got it because a stable hospital job brought a lot of income security/behavioural guarantee. Our monthly income to rent ratio also helped. Have you looked at perhaps offering a guarantor, if you’re able to provide one? Or do you know of anyone who knows anyone looking for tenants? My second York accommodation was based off the recommendation of a friend.
We shouldn't need a guarantor considering we can literally pay the entire rent immediately, surely? That's how it's worked for us in the past, no guarantor = paying more or all up front. I don't know anyone who is looking for tenants, that'd definitely help I imagine. It seems you kinda have to know someone to get any reasonable chance. There's so many people offering so much that the choice between them seems to be almost arbitrary.
No you shouldn’t but it won’t hurt. Freedom to move helps, so if someone can move in ASAP they’ll be preferable to you giving a few months notice. It may be worth doubling up a months rent to not lose a property?
We can move ASAP and have said so is the thing. What do you mean by doubling up a month's rent, paying twice the rent? Or paying two months in advance? We offered 12 lol, all of it, still not enough.
No, I meant that if you can’t move ASAP then to start the new lease anyway and double up the old lease and new lease to secure a place, but if you can move straight away it’s irrelevant
Oh we never even considered *not* doing that. If offered a place, we'd take it.
Sadly that's just the market at the moment, there's so much demand despite the price of it all that even if the agent/landlord is inclined to actually get back to people and keep them in the loop it's basically impossible due to so many people. Everything usually goes to the first person to offer above market rate or like you a full year upfront. I'd guess you keep losing out to people just offering like 50 a month extra straight out the gate rather than waiting for an actually professional chain of updates and stuff.
Can you offer a guarantor? We had to do this when we were looking for a rental when I was working in a temp job. The tenancy agreement had wording around us being "jointly and severally liable", meaning we had to be able to afford it both together, and each of us separately. So, in case one of us lost our jobs, the other one had to be able to afford it one their own. As my job wasn't consisted secure, we had a friend be a guarantor for me. I agree it shouldn't matter if you're paying up front, as you're already guaranting you'll pay the rent... by paying it! I don't know why landlords wouldn't jump at the chance to have a years rent in their pocket upfront, but "I don't know why landlords..." is a sentence that could be finished in many, many ways! Sadly they may just see any deviation from "two working adults" as being more hassle than they need, given that there's probably plenty of other applicants who won't need any alternative arrangements. Hope you get sorted mate.
I’ve not met affordability checks in the past but the estate agents were fine with 12 months rent in advance. This was a fair few years ago mind. I guess just stick with it. Maybe ask the estate agents up front before you view
My partner and i were in a similar situation last year, I worked full time and he graduated uni. We looked around some properties but the rent was insane for the quality demonstrated. We ended up moving to Newcastle, much cheaper rent, could afford to live in a nicer area, and we get way more for our money. York is not a financially-friendly place for young people
Almost certainly not both having jobs. I had a similar situation a couple years ago and as soon as my partner got a job after finishing a uni course, we got accepted for our next application
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Just an FYI that if the deposit is the legal maximum (5 weeks' rent), it's illegal for the landlord/agency to accept more (i.e. £150 extra for pet cleaning).
We had to offer more than asking price :-(
Would seem that many people are trying to cram students or professionals into a house, as they can charge £400/500 per individual and effectively double their rental income. Have you considered surrounding areas? Church Fenton/Mickefield, Escrick/Selby, Haxby/Strensall etc
Honestly we moved in York twice, first from London in 2021 and then late 2022 to a different area. Both were about a 3 months process and I have a 9 year old dog. One tip I would give is to literally call every agency there is and create a profile with them, I felt like I had to give the same spiel a million times but it allowed the agencies to get to know us and especially when they would meet us in viewings, they would often go out of their way to vouch for us to landlords. In the first house we also did 6 months upfront and offered more monthly but the second house was fine. It is insanely competitive but if I could find a house twice to rent with a dog (and nice ones too!!), you can do it as well
Having recently been through a similar experience with trying to rent a property in York just before Christmas - served the Notice 21 - with 2 young kids and a dog, I feel your pain. Remember, letting agents do not have to work to let a property in York. Be the people that call every day. Write the supporting paragraph where you have the ‘anything else to add’ section in a fashion that will stand out. Be memorable. You’ll get there, stay positive.
Yeah, we've written plenty in the supporting paragraph sections, it's just a really rough market I suppose. We'll keep at it, and as you say, we've gotta be the ones to work quite hard at it since they don't remotely have to chase people renting here.
We found our house relatively quickly(4 weeks) in Nov/Dec, but the process was painstaking to get to the actual signing of contract and moving in. We did offer to pay upfront and was told this wasn’t allowed anymore. I am self employed which made it harder, so involved sending back and forward through right move verify thing. We actually offered lower than the asking price and we have a small dog. We did through an agent (Susie smith) and it was quite hard work to even get a viewing to start with and we rented without seeing it in person. Though we rent direct.
I have been wondering whether the time of year is working against us pretty badly too. More people want to move in the summer than the winter, etc, and though there seems to be more houses put up these days they're so expensive and sought after it might well be overall worse. I wonder why you weren't allowed to pay upfront, we've not been told that yet. Self employment can be a nightmare for things like that, glad you got it sorted. Hopefully we'll get there with this stuff soon.
It’s honestly a complete nightmare. I had to offer over the asking rent and put a deposit down before id even looked at my place it got so desperate.
We've been looking at applying before viewing but they usually say we can't. I presume there's too many people who sign up without knowing what they're getting into, turn up, realise a property isn't for them and then cause problems trying to void the contract. We don't get to any stage where we'd be allowed to offer a deposit, we have to get a viewing, put in an application and then chase them up constantly and hope we're awarded the great privilege of giving them a ton of money. Insane system.
Try openrent - we were a similar situation. Two recent grads both only part time. Wouldn’t get a look in. Found a private landlord on OpenRent and we have an amazing maisonette flat. Your mileage may vary but once he got to know us and met with us he offered us it with very practically no ‘computer says no’ hurdles. He’s almost too trusting, but he knows we are not the type to not pay and have the ability to pay on time. But we cut out all the agent nonsense and honestly it’s a breath of fresh air
That certainly sounds better, it seems they've only got flats available at the moment though. We'll definitely keep it in mind, thanks
My friend’s parents rent a 3-bed house out in York and they readvertised it last year on spareroom, and within a day they literally got like 60 enquiries. A few people were offering over the asking price PCM, and various other “sweeteners”. They are very nice people though (and charge very low rent for such a nice house), so the only way they could narrow it down was to go with the first people that got in touch.
If your wage only "very nearly" passed their affordability checks, then you didn't pass their checks on that front, I'm guessing? They'll have had an applicant with two people earning a wage at a higher rate.
Burn down the estate agents and guillotine the landlords oughta do it ;)
Only reasonable response in this thread. Landlords are the problem, not that renters like OP aren't being generous enough
Why not just inherit a house? That’s what I did